Stainless Alloy in HVAC Units

I have a question for the board that I hope someone on here may be able to answer. I searched previous threads to see if it has been addressed in teh past and could not find my answers.

I break down old HVAC units that I get through work. Specifically speaking on the package units, the ones with the heater units has these little spiraled stainless steel wires (picture of a bucket full of them attached). I used to leave these on the schreddable steel scrap from the units but a fellow peddler at the scrap yard said that they are some kind of SS alloy and worth separating.

A while back, I took some to the scrap yard and the guy tried to pay just standard stainless price. I explained they are supposed to be a premium alloy and he tried to use his little ID gun on it however it was inconclusive since it was such a small surface area it was testing. Since at that time it was only 3#'s, he went ahead and purchased it as Inconel (paid way more than regular stainless). Now that I have a considerable amount of it, I wanted to try and be a little more informed on it when I take it in.

I know there are alot of guys on here that break down HVAC units. Can you advise on what type of allow it is? Thanks in advance.

It's NiChrome and worth 2 - 4 dollars a pound.

Thanks Freonjoe....

I had taken it to the yard before and their little guns could not properly zap/test the metal since the round wires didn't have enough surface area. I knew these are typical since they are on many old package HVAC units. No one I work with know anything more than they are stainless and they are basing that on the fact a magnet doesn't stick. I knew there had to be folks on here who have dealt with this before.

This is what most of it tests out as.




Took in wire samples from a dryer heating element and an electric furnace to get shot by the gun. Both came back as HW 6015.

58% nickel
28% iron
17% chromium