Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Just guessing, but i think these would more likely be lift station grinder pumps for a septic system. It might not make much of a difference though. Almost all of the fresh water jet pump motors i've seen are aluminum wound.Originally Posted by greytruck
It may be that aluminum is the preferred choice for certain applications that involve handling water.
Thornton Scrapper
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Those big green ones i was saying are the septic pumps. i believe they are called "the waste eater" which is printed on the box. Those are always very gross, slimy, stink, and usually have toilet paper stuck to them. yuck.
The other day i was thinking about well pumps, those are encased in stainless and are always copper wound from what ive come across. The stainless may be a telling sign of an copper motor.
Oh well, off to mess with a 10hp motor i got. wonder if mike has ever split any larger motors with his Hammer drill.... i do get these time to time and sell them as is cause i cant pull the copper by hand and i dont have hydraulics like i see others use on youtube to split and pull the copper out of larger motors.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I see quite a few submersibles. The pump part attaches to the motor with four stainless steel bolts. They usually come apart easily enough. The old pump sections had a fair amount of brass in them but i don't see them very often. The new pump sections have gone to stainless steel now. It's quality stainless.
The motors would be hard to do. I've only attempted one. The windings were encased in a white waxy / plasticy substance to waterproof the whole works. My guess would be that it's loaded with PFAS to enhance the waterproofing. Franklin Electric always used to be the standard motor brand you would see. That's the kind i dismantled. They seem to have gone to ITT nowadays. Those ones don't hold up as well as the old Franklins.
Anyhow ... i think i would recommend the upper pump sections of the submersibles as being the better chance for some scrap value.
Later edited to add:
I found a youtube on scrapping the submersible pump motors.
Last edited by hills; 04-06-2025 at 05:39 PM.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Don't remember what it was for sure a 5hp or a 10 hp either way it was before I got the hammer drill they say that the copper content is lower on the big ones not sure if it's true I don't usually get big ones like that. I did a motor for a ac fan the smaller ones work good then the bigger ones are harder to do but doable my chisel bit is not quite wide enough so I have to move it back and forth but it cuts through or shears it off I think takes time but beats doing it by hand. Or a sawzall since that makes a mess. I have done a sump pump or two kinda nasty tho.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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If I was able to aquire a 10 hp motor then I would do a video and see how it does I just don't get them I have only had one ever.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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With the larger motors & generators ... it seems to be common practice to burn them out with a torch or wood fire because they're so heavily varnished. Torch or furnace with a vent hood here in the states. They go old skool with a wood fire in India or Pakistan.
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Hmmmm. maybe i will do that. I never got to the motor, ended up going to pick up an oven that day. Just to find some time to make a video.
Thornton Scrapper
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Seen a video of a guy using charcoal to burn off the varnish. he put the coals in the middle of the stator. But this stator was from a 8,900lb generator
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Cut one end of the copper coils off first, after incinerating the coils are easy to remove.
I used a wood chisel bevelled edge down to wards the lamination to cut the copper ends off one end.
Thornton Scrapper
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This guy dont even cut the ends off, he splits the stators with a press and uses hydraulics to pull the copper out. if he cant pull the windings, he does the "when in doubt, cook it out" method.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
The perfect tool for the back yard scrapper.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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It was a pretty good video. He posted his totals at the end. A bit over five grand for three or four days work was a nice score.
Thornton Scrapper
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He does a good job. His channel is inspiring. Watching him split those stators is why i was asking if mike cut any larger motors in half. I figured if its possible, i could pull windings from larger motors because those large motors are very hard to do. if half the size, maybe the windings will actually come out. i saw another video of a guy cutting copper ends off 15 and 30hp motors with a electric jackhammer with sharpened blade. cut threw pretty easy, but then he burnt the stator to pull the copper out. im not really into burning motors, especially here in the suburbs. Someone might complain of the smoke / smell. i mean thats alot to burn them, might as well sell as motor to avoid all that toxic smoke and such.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Right yea I don't really like burning it either. I figure you could try it with a thinner haer drill chisel bit if you can find one that's really wide or you can get a thin set one like mine I got mine off of temu lol. I sharpened mine though I had to move back and forth to get it to go took some time but did the job I'm now pulling copper off the strings I have 25lbs of copper with strings and plastic and some insulated wires on it left to do i got 32 lbs cleaned already so not bad I guess. Wish I could test it on a bigger motor though. You can use the chisel bit for all sorts of things it's crazy if goes through think tubes as well not sure if it would go through a copper house pipe though but maybe. I like it alot though good thing I got it money well spent id say. Same with the ocilator I went with corded tools though except my impact is battery and I also have a battery drill and another sawzall. Drill is mainly used for wire stripper haha.
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Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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I dunno ... a lot of this is trial & error for me. Been accumulating sealed units for awhile. The weather is a little warmer so the time has come to get outside and process them. The window ac compressors seem to be the hardest to do. I tried a pipe cutter for getting the stator out. It makes a nice cut but it takes awhile. The sawzall is another way but you really need to clamp your work down or it shakes & vibrates all over the place. The sawzall really isn't the tool for cutting the crown off the windings once you finally do get the stator free. It generally won't give you a clean cut.
It seems like it's back to the 4" angle grinder with a 1/16" thick cutting wheel as the best all around tool for processing smaller motors. It just sucks because you need to gear up with coveralls, a respirator, hearing protection, and a face shield.
At least the windings come out easily enough with an electric motor stator that was used in a sealed unit. Just cut the crown off with the grinder and the windings come out with very little effort because they're all lubed up with compressor oil.
I'm with you guys on the burning. It's rural here so it could be done ... but i would prefer not to make all that toxic smoke. There are other ways of doing the job that are less harmful to the environment. This video was probably shot in India or Pakistan. It's footage from a longer video that was up on youtube for awhile. Anyway ... it's no wonder why they're having some awful smog and air pollution problems in that part of the world. It's making the people there sick with breathing problems.
Last edited by hills; Yesterday at 12:49 PM.
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I just watched that video the other day, I couldnt believe they we doing that in the street
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