Huge industrial electric motor.

New to the scrapping forums here thought I would post a few questions about a big industrial type electric motor I aqcuired while scrapping.

This thing weighs at least 150-200lbs and is about 30" in diameter. Probably from the 60's as it is cast iron and pretty old looking.

My question is would it be worth breaking down to get the copper out? I know smaller motors sometimes arnt worth the time but as big as this thing is It might be worth trying to take this beast apart.

Any tips or info would help!

The only way to truely know the answer is break it down. If you read the breaking down section of the forum you will learn what others have done. Each motor model is different than the next but experience will teach you the most.

I recommend you read through the new member section, read all the sticky threads then make an introduction in the introduction section. You will not be sorry for taking the time to read, Mike.

Hello Hash, Welcome to SMF! You might find it helpful to say hello in the "introduce yourself" section on the main page. I'm sure it would be worth breaking down, Probably just a few bolts to get inside it, but others can tell you a lot more about that than I can.

This might help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jamnddhStsg&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtwkv0_SsAs&feature=plcp

Thanks for the replys guys! I have been lurking around the site for a few months now and decided to finally make an account and join in on the action! I will be sure to introduce myself and read through the site contents some more.

I got a picture of the beast of a motor, Though not nearly as big as the one in the video. Looks like its an induction type motor and it has a 2 inch shaft and is 3 phase. I will be cracking it open some time tonight to see what is inside. Ive attached the photo.


I am not new to scrapping, just havnt ever come across an electric motor of this size and figured I would ask the experts. Thanks again for the quik responses!


http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/...9/9318273c.jpg

Sell it as is it's worth more like that unless you want to break it down. If it was my first one like you said then I would break it down just so that you can see what you get out of it and it will help you gauge on any that you get in the future.

Probably going to be some good copper if it's that old.

Ok, this might help more, as the motor is almost exactly the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HODmogtTzwk&feature=plcp

Hope this helps!

I ended up scrapping the entire motor whole. It just seemed like to much work to get that beast apart. It actually weighed in at 397 lbs and brought in just over $103.

Cant be happier with the turn out. Can only imagine how much copper was in that thing.

Well, scrapping is work...

your motors price is way better than mine... called today and they quoted me 14cents per #...

I believe I read the copper return on larger motors is 20-25%, that would've been near a hundred pounds of pure copper ; )

Its not the work Im scared of, This thing would of taken all day to break open. It was rusted so much it would have to be torched down the middle and pried apart. Im sure I would of made a few dollars more but the work required just wasnt worth my time. Trying to manhandle a 400 lb motor by myself with an angle grinder just for a few bucks didnt make sense to me. The case on this thing was at least half inch steel. Im sure someone else would of had a field day but I'll pass.

I'm more than happy with the $100 bill they threw at me for the 5 minutes it took me to roll it up on the trailer.

Be careful with large motors.. I bought one the other day and was going to sell it as is.. Then the guy working for me decided to maximize and clean it and there was hardly any copper in it. If bears formula was right the 600# motor should have had 150# of copper.. but nope.

If you are breaking down electric motors for copper the avarge will net you 10% copper on motors the avg will e about 14% on motors weighing 15-29 lbs