I have been saving the heater elements out of hot water heater's. Getting ready to take my first load in and was wondering if I was going to get paid for Nichrome? Has anyone here ever sold these?
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
I have been saving the heater elements out of hot water heater's. Getting ready to take my first load in and was wondering if I was going to get paid for Nichrome? Has anyone here ever sold these?
Last edited by Big Tex; 01-11-2012 at 08:57 PM.
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Call first..... Make sure your yard will pay you nichrome prices.....mine will only pay shred for them. I haven't called anywhere else yet because I don't have that many.....but definitely call around to find one!
Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.
Thomas Jefferson
Experienced Scrapper
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Those elements are mostly insulation,(electrical). The NiCR is only a thin wire in the center.
When the white man discovered this country Indians were running it
no taxes, no debt, women did all the work.
White man thought he could improve on a system like this. - Old Cherokee saying
I did not surrender, they took my horse and made him surrender. - Lone Watie
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Same here. I got 5 yards in a 30 mile radius. 1 very large, big time yard. All of them only pay shred price for them. But I've seen others on the forum get better pricing so you gotta give it a shot.Originally Posted by Hypoman
AMERICAN BORN, AMERICAN BRED! AND I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!
Experienced Scrapper
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The NiCR wire itself is worth somewhere in the ballpark of $6.00 a pound.
Elements that that look like wire are NiCR. They are insulated by hanging from ceramic insulators.
For example the the element from a hair dryer is a bare wire element.
Water heater elements are like stove top burners. Burners have a heavy insulation on them so you don't get electrocuted when you set the pan on it! You can just picture what the result would be if the water heater element was to contact the water directly.
I never tried but I'm sure you would have to beat the hell out of it to get to the center wire.
Last edited by injunjoe; 01-12-2012 at 07:15 AM.
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I tried getting the wire out once. Definitely NOT worth it. Not to me anyway.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Me too -took an age. It was a steel coated element with a densely packed white powder in the middle makin removal of the nichrome very difficult. Got about 80g of nichrome for one element. There are however ceramic covered nichrome in some elements that can just be smashed off with a hammer. Nichrome will also be found uncovered in toasters, heaters, hairdryers and other electrical appliances that are designed to produce heat.
Experienced Scrapper
Can anyone take a picture of the Nichrome in toasters and the such. Toaster ovens? I can get a lot of toasters, toaster oven and hot water heater elements. I mean about 100 a week.
Experienced Scrapper
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your kidding copperhead !! You don't know what a heating element looks like ?? Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you, but I just think you do, you just had a lapse. It's just a coiled wire in most cases. I don't fool with that covered stuff with the powder in in but I have a nice collection of the coils. Get the toasters, etc, but as someone, joe I think, said, the water heater elements aren't worth it.
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Stuff that turns red when you put the shingle down.
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."
Experienced Scrapper
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It is the thin wire that as mentioned turns red when hot. You know the wire that electrocutes you when you use a butter knife to get the stuck toast out.
I am experimenting with new phone and new way to post pictures. As soon as I get things worked out I will be posting helpful pictures.
They sold me a smart phone and there wasn't even a test!
Experienced Scrapper
Ok. I know what it is now.
eWaste Hunter
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copperhead - it's probably not economical to buy the toasters from the yard, remove the element and the mains lead and then sell the rest as shred. I could be wrong though - perhaps it's worth a teardown comparing weights before and after
On the ceramic coated elements, I wonder if cutting them to size and putting them in a ball mill would get me anywhere. Guess I'll find out when I get to it. Sitting on a tote of various elements from stoves, dryers, some toasters, and a few furnaces. I don't pull water heater elements because I don't have an element socket and I can't get a pipe wrench in there.
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I bought a "smartphone" too, injunjoe. With the mistakes it makes though I really don't see how they can call the sucker "smart"!
Experienced Scrapper
I work at the scrapyard so I don't have to buy the toasters.
IdahoScrapper, Have you checked prices for them in the valley? I mean stove elements and nickel/chrome wire.
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I will seperate elements if others are getting more than steel price for them! Has any one?
Experienced Scrapper
Water Heater Element= 1.5 inch socket.
I have not checked other than a few sites online awhile back. Of which I can't locate at the moment. Should have book marked them. If I had to guess, the local yards will pay stainless prices at most. IIRC one site I came across was paying $6/lb on nichrome.
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