looking at Scrapmonster for the first time. not sure if thats what cat.5 is classified as.
New Guy
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looking at Scrapmonster for the first time. not sure if thats what cat.5 is classified as.
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really depends on your yard. 1 of my yards its #2 at $1 per pound, another its 30% at 50 cents, another (speciality place), its Telco at about $1.25 per pound. You need to check your yard.
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Ask around! As has been mentioned before, different yards grade the same thing differently. Call around and more importantly, sell to different yards to make sure you're getting the best prices
"Don't try to be a great man, just be a man. Let history make its own judgments"
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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The yard I used to hit up in Chelsea Mass considered it #2 insulated. The one yard I hit down here tells me to throw it in with my other insulated copper (power cables, ribbon cable, etc) and last time I went he was paying .80 a lb.
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As others have said- you'll need to speak to your yard direct or ask around.
Here my buyer classifies it as "data wire" at about .25/lb because there is so little recoverable wire vs insulation.
I'm so into scrapping.. When my Steel Toe Boots Wear out, I cut the Steel out of them and recycle the Toe!
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Figure out the recovery percentage yourself and bring the samples to show your Buyer...ant good yard will buy biased on recovery percentage.
Recyclable Material Merchant Wholesaler
Certified Zip-Tie Mechanic
"Give them enough so they can do something with it, but not too much that they won't do nothing."
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Doesnt matter where they grade it just depends on price..lol
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Cat 5 and telephone wire SHOULD go for slightly more than #2 wire, but many yards are all over the place on it. One yard I go to pays 10 cents/lb more than #2, the other pays 10 cents less. It is sold copper wire inside and recovers better than #2.
Should be close to 50% recovery.
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You need to find a buyer and ship that stuff. I'm getting about 1 dollar a pound more than you.Originally Posted by sledge
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I don't run into it very often.. but I think Cat5 has the yards ALL in a panty twist at least here. Some look at it as Phone Line. Some say "It's LIKE #2-- but it isn't #2" So they have invented this "We don't know what to call it-- so let's pay .25 cents for it" Add to the mix the fear of "Are we buying Cat5? Cat5e? Cat3? or Ethernet cable?" You see how the ignorance can run rampant? They refuse to buy out of fear of buying a gaylord of Cat5e at the wrong price.. so none of us around here can get a fair shake at selling it!
I'm not sure if you have a buyer where you are for RG5 or RG6 where you are- but here not one yard will touch it for anything other than it being thrown into the sheet steel shred pile. The recovery rate on it is so low- they refuse to buy it for anything other than sheet steel pricing. It has a VERY low recovery rate of copper- and some of it has none at all- same thing- they won't buy it for fear they will get burned on it- so they just don't!
Sad but true!
Last edited by sledge; 09-16-2014 at 08:48 PM.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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One of my buyers grades it as low grade data, $0.39# another grades it as comm wire, $1.05#
Similarly, but completely reversed, one of those buyers pays $1.10# for Cu/Al heat sinks, the other pays $0.30#. Go figure.
It pays to call around.
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Sledge,
I have a buyer (about 1.5 hours away in CT.) that will buy coaxial cable, but it has to be copper core. Most of what is out there is a magnetic core. They pay 40 cents for it. They will come to my house to pick up wire if I have 500 pounds or more.
New Guy
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Good morning everyone, in regards to cat 5 wire, it's up to the buyers discretion on grade. Value (intrinsic) is 35% of (3.10-.08). It's a little early to do the math but that's what a yard could get. When I buy usually lump it with lower grade icw (insulated cu wire) like cords with no plugs and offer (currently) 80-1.00. One thing that all scrapers should be aware of is this...I'd really isn't important WHAT grade it is only the price per lb. I will CALL it #1 insulated if you want me to and it makes you feel better. But for "THAT" kinda #1 ins. Price would be 80-1.00 pp. iow don't worry about grade just price.
The recovery rate for cat5 is Approx 53%-%57% depending on if its Cat5, Cat5E or Cat6 being the highest of the yields.. so yes it is considered #2ICW...
Last edited by manchvegassalvage; 09-17-2014 at 02:29 PM.
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Cat5e is about 50% recovery, Cat 6 is about 45% recovery (same gauge wire in non plenum as cat5e), has a tighter twist and more copper per ft inside, but has an additional "spline" or pair separator in the center that is PVC) RG59 and RG6 are usually not worth much unless the buyer knows that it's a SCC (Solid Copper Core) wire, as about 80% of the Coax cable out there is actually copper clad aluminum, without trusting the outer jacket markings or taking the time to carefully inspect the center conductor, you just can't trust it, so shred it is most of the time.
Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana - Bill Gates
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Belden is one of the big brand names for copper coax but there is a few distributors bringing copper coax in from China. Tram/Browning and Workman just for a few. Amateur(Ham) radio, CB radio, business band (think local plumber, taxi) and smaller broadcast stations will have copper all the way around. The larger stuff is a heavy stranded center, and sometimes double shielding (copper).RG59 and RG6 are usually not worth much unless the buyer knows that it's a SCC (Solid Copper Core) wire, as about 80% of the Coax cable out there is actually copper clad aluminum, without trusting the outer jacket markings or taking the time to carefully inspect the center conductor, you just can't trust it, so shred it is most of the time.
P & M Recycling - Specializing in E-Waste Recycling.
If you enjoy your freedom, thank a vet.
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yeah mech that bigger stuff is rg11. has a 95% copper braid around the inner insulator instead of the common 40% aluminum that most rg6 and rg59 have. belden is a big name, but that's all it is... a name. same composition as Mohawk, general, and a ton of others. there is some garbage category wire out there too, clad aluminum under the false pretense of calling it a solid conductor, tricks people into thinking it is solid copper, when all it refers to is not being a stranded wire like you find in a cat5e patch cable... idk... I am going way deeper than most people need to know or care lol
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Phred-
Don't worry about going deeper. THESE are the conversations that people on the forum can learn from.. and we ALL can take this information TO our buyers and educate them.. I have had to do this multiple times. I get a buyer who doesn't want to touch something I can use my knowledge I've harvested to educate them and begin to sell to them at a good price. If THEY are educated- in the long run I am profitable! This works with smaller buyers much better than a large "don't give a crap about you" yards/buyers!
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and I have to correct myself on the coax stuff, i said most of it is copper clad aluminum, that's the problem with the low grade category cable, the coax is either solid copper core or copper clad steel, not aluminum.
And just to make a clarification on the cat 3 vs cat 5 and cat5e, almost NO difference when talking scrap value, there is a huge difference when actually using it though. the construction is virtually the same, all 24AWG solid copper, slighly more twist per ft in cat5e than cat 3, but that amounts to pennies on 1000', they should grade the same. And the common misconception that there is more copper in cat6 cable, yes there is, per ft, but it is a lower percentage of the overall weight due to the center PVC spline as i mentioned before. Now if the cat6 cable is plenum rated (CMP printed right on the outer jacket instead of CM or CMR) then it is almost guaranteed to be 23AWG, and catches up percentage wise with the cat3 and cat5e copper content.
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