Results 1 to 9 of 9
  1. #1
    GreenTruckR started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Milwaukee Wisc.
    Posts
    71
    Thanks
    35
    Thanked 44 Times in 22 Posts

    Shout Out to All Scrap Metal Forum Members -and- Mercury Recovery **Important**

    Regarding Mercury switches: Mercury switches / viles should be carefully removed before scrapping the equipment or item containing mercury switches and old thermostats etc.

    Throughout the years I have run into ocassional mercury viles/ switches, but I hardly had to worry about it until we started liquidating this commercial & Industrial salvage yard. The photo's show some of the industrial electrical control units we have srapped and out of approx. 45 control cabinets & boards, almost all of them had at least two per cabinet... thats a lot of mercury.



    Photo Bucket pictures I posted today:

    http://s1209.photobucket.com/albums/...ry%20Recovery/


  2. #2
    hobo finds's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Nov 2010
    Location
    tucson, az
    Posts
    4,758
    Thanks
    6,037
    Thanked 5,910 Times in 2,556 Posts
    Are you able to sell them? I have a few but no luck finding a yard that will take them

  3. #3
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Florence,Co
    Posts
    240
    Thanks
    93
    Thanked 161 Times in 86 Posts
    I was getting $1.00 per switch through a state program awhile back. All recovered mercury is returned to industry for reuse. If you ever scrap a Porsche they have mercury filled TUBES hidden in the rocker panels on some models..very dangerous( helps with weight transfer on curves). Nasty stuff since it turns to vapor at room temps.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to Area67 for This Post:


  5. #4
    eesakiwi's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Dec 2010
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    2,531
    Thanks
    2,909
    Thanked 2,556 Times in 1,227 Posts
    I have found a few in hospital machinery, I think its to do with needing a arcless switch in a flammable (ether & oxygen) atmosphere.
    & industry switchboards. A scary find amongst all of the brass buss-bar.

  6. #5
    newattitude's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Hinckley Ohio, home of the buzzards
    Posts
    2,163
    Thanks
    1,431
    Thanked 2,497 Times in 904 Posts
    is the switch the piece the green wires are connected to?

  7. #6
    injunjoe's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Central, FL
    Posts
    1,309
    Thanks
    1,249
    Thanked 1,194 Times in 594 Posts
    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

  8. The Following 5 Users say Thank You for This Post by injunjoe:


  9. #7
    GreenTruckR started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Milwaukee Wisc.
    Posts
    71
    Thanks
    35
    Thanked 44 Times in 22 Posts
    I need to apologize regarding the Mercury Post / Shout -out. The intended article did not actually post. I had used micro-Soft word to write about the mercury and then I copied and pasted it onto the forum and I obviously did not high-lite my whole article properly, that was my first mistake, my second was uploading some of the wrong photo's, and third big mistake was myself not proof-reading and checking the post thoroughly once it was on.

    What originally prompted me to write about the mercury in the first place was because of a incident that occurred on this site a couple weeks ago. Long story short, we are liquidating / scrapping an entire old salvage yard in Northern Wisc. It is located in a small community where everybody knows everyone in one way or another. While at a local restaurant I was approached numerous times by two of the local scrappers and they mentioned seeing a load of UN-scrapped/ (not broken down) appliances that we sent out . So anyways they were ecstatic when I offered them 35 appliances for them to scrap providing they give me 30% Now these guys knew what they were doing, they seemed like seasoned scrappers, within two, two and a half days they had the 35 scrapped out and they were happier than heck. Since they were quite proficient I had them break-down some of the Industrial control units/ large electrical boxes. A couple days later I walked over by them while they were taking a break and I was shocked to see these mature men (Probably in early twenties) had a couple clear plastic cups with about a inch and a half of mercury and they were pouring it from one cup to another back and forth, essentially playing with it? So anyways a few days ago I began to wonder how many other scrappers out there might not be aware of the hazards of Mercury etc. Well..... that was exactly what prompted me to write something about it in hope that it brings needed awareness.

    Truly,
    GreenTruckR

  10. The Following 4 Users say Thank You for This Post by GreenTruckR:


  11. #8
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Florence,Co
    Posts
    240
    Thanks
    93
    Thanked 161 Times in 86 Posts
    Mercury is no joke, one of my regular scrap customers was upgrading to non-mercury thermostats and broke 2 on the tile floor after removing them, it was a hot day and it turned to vapor fast. He called hazmat and they had to de-contaminate the whole house since the dog drug mercury everywhere. No one got sick, but it is a threshold toxin that builds up and 'gets ya later in life. This line of work is dangerous to begin with.

  12. #9
    chrenton's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Feb 2018
    Location
    california
    Posts
    9
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 2 Posts
    We buy White-Rodgers brand mercury flame sensors found on gas valves, furnaces and water heaters and boilers.
    Buying Mercury Flame Sensors, $30 each (= $150 lb!) Limited time only!
    White Rodgers brand ONLY. Models 3098-134, 3098-xxx, 3049-xxx, 3094-xxx, (xxx can be any number after dash) 3046-5, 30A46-5.


    Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: https://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scra...#ixzz5tKimtac3


  13. Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum

    1. Forum members to the rescue !!!!!
      By EcoSafe in forum General - Let's talk business
      Replies: 4
      Last Post: 02-13-2012, 06:57 PM
    2. new to scrap metal forum
      By happyscraper in forum Introduce yourself
      Replies: 6
      Last Post: 02-05-2012, 11:39 AM
    3. Hello Scrap Metal Forum
      By Stacy Duty in forum Introduce yourself
      Replies: 16
      Last Post: 07-15-2011, 07:05 AM
    4. GOOD DAY forum members
      By terrrificsense in forum Introduce yourself
      Replies: 0
      Last Post: 11-04-2010, 10:23 PM

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

 
Browse the Most Recent Threads
On SMF In THIS CATEGORY.





OR

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

The Scrap Metal Forum

    The Scrap Metal Forum is the #1 scrap metal recycling community in the world. Here we talk about the scrap metal business, making money, where we connect with other scrappers, scrap yards and more.

SMF on Facebook and Twitter

Twitter Facebook