Do all computer wires have copper in them
New Guy
Do all computer wires have copper in them
After thousands of computers I can't think of one wire that wasn't copper. 73 Mike
"Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}
Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked
Copper Head
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It's a delicate multi-strand bunch of copper on the flat ribbon , the plastic ends must have a bit of gold on the pinsOriginally Posted by jameswag6657
other then that , all wires are copper. Thin AL wires are not an industry standard I assume due to AL wire could melt
in unique situation's of heat and copper is still superior.
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/members/copper-head.html
Copper Head and CopperHeadAKA (same person)
I am back to my skill set from the 80's Painting & all that follows it
I removed myself from the trash company I worked for as of 2 years ago
I find scrap non the less
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Aluminum isn't used because it has a lower data transfer rate than copper.
Copper Head
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Well yes on the data transfer .
Still another observation I've seen
is AL wire fail with the result of a type of fire melting of wire
that is limited to the area it happens
the flash point of AL can't compare to Copper
New Guy
Yes, in most of the electrical wiring, copper is the conductor for power generation, transmission, distribution, telecommunication, circuitary. Copper sets standard for conductivity. It is very efficient than many other conductors.
New Guy
Yes. I agree with you.
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Even in Power supplies, right?
Yes.
Scrape any suspect wire with a sharp blade and you will be able to see a redish color(you can also use some fine sandpaper etc).
You will learn that much of the stranded wire has a "silver" color to it but is copper. The outside silver color is what is called "tinned" wire. The "tinned" makes soldering much quicker, better, faster especially for automated machines. That's why the entire wire is tinned so that no matter what length of wire is being used by a manufacturer the wire is tinned and ready to solder.
If you want to understand more about why you should tin wire prior to soldering do a search on youtube. Mike
Experienced Scrapper
So I have wire I'm starting to have pile up from disassembling some computers and general electronics and my concern is how short they are. Is this an issue when you try to sell to a yard or anything? I'm usually clipping them off of boards and sometimes it's just a bunch of little wire that went from one board to another so they are all of 2-5 in. long. Is there a common practice with these types of wires? Always leave insulated/stripped? Kept separate from anything?
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Shove it all in a bucket and sell it to your yard. What I do though is mix in some power cord wiring too so it isn't only tiny wires. They pay 30% copper which has been $0.50 a pound. Or sometimes I bag it, then stuff it in a box I am shipping out to ewasted to help pay for shipping charges (if there is extra space that needs filling).
Copper, brass, and Leather. 3 of my favorite things.
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I think he asked about stripping the wire, I have never removed the insulation on these 30 percent wires , to much time
Old dogs care about you even when you make mistakes;
God bless little children while they're still too young to hate
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I have only found Aluminium wires in....
Modern microwaves, and dual Grill/Microwave microwave ovens, in their main transformer.
In some heatpump compressors, and one single fridge compressor.
In clothes driers electric motors.
Some, not often, washing machine motors.
Some CRT TV degaussing cables.
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firewire is fiber optic.
Currently looking for a job in or related to scrap/recycling. Relocation is possible for the right offer.
Experienced Scrapper
So here's another question regarding these wires. I have wires that were connected to boards with those plastic ends that SOMETIMES have gold plated pins. Well what do you do with the ones that don't have the gold plating? Do you toss them in with something else?
Don't cut them off. Mike
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It all depends on what your yards are paying and if they want the ends removed or not. My yard pays .625 a pound for my mixed computer and phone wire with the plug ends still on. I can't justify the time spent cutting the gold plated ends off and only getting .70 a pound.
I'm not saying that's how you should do it, that's just what works best for me.
Experienced Scrapper
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What do you guys do with Copper Clad AL (CCA) wire?
New Guy
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Personally, I think the overall actual value of Copper Clad AL is negative.
Why? For honest people, it increases management cost for preventing it from contaminating copper stream. This mistake will cost your reputation and sometimes large fines from big end customers.
No doubt, “smart” guys always win in the real world. 99% percent chance it will end up in the copper.
I really hate copper clad al.
By the way, the right place it should go is alloy like A380. price should be higher than alu.
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