Copper Wire Granulator

**IntrepidMuppet** · 08-21-2011, 03:55 PM

Hi all,

Does anyone own, or have access to a wire granulator?

My question being, are they effective with electrical cords like those that are attached to microwaves etc..

I am relatively new to scraping but am getting close to 50lbs a week of cords and obviously hand stripping them to maximise my money would negate any profit in time spent.

I realise they are EXPENSIVE but in the long term I think it would be a great asset as we grow and we build up the quantities we are recieving.

Any thought or information greatly recieved

Mike

**IdahoScrapper** · 08-21-2011, 04:05 PM

There's one on ebay for $49,500. If you buy it, can I use it?

On a serious note, I have wondered if I could grow my business quicker by owning a granulator. Buy up insulated all day long and let the machine do its thing.

I am not aware of any yards around here having a granulator.

**easyrecycle** · 08-21-2011, 04:12 PM

Yes they are worth it. We are working on getting one sooner or later our self.

The work good on any cord from phone wire to power cables of all kinds. Its based on the screen you are using.

**IdahoScrapper** · 08-21-2011, 04:59 PM

Not that I have any money, but if I was in the market for a chopper, I wouldn't even know what a good one would be. Are some better at copper recovery than others?

**easyrecycle** · 08-21-2011, 05:09 PM

Ask for a demo. But the end you will want to keep the eye on is the "dirt" end of the system. You want to make sure no copper is going out the back side of the unit. The next thing you want to see is how clean the copper is when its coming out of the unit. If you are in the market for one...you go to show room or something an check out there demo....or a video..something!

**IntrepidMuppet** · 08-21-2011, 05:43 PM

Thanks for the replies, going to do some digging and see what is available and at what prices and then work some figures out and see what I am looking at but from some rough workings in terms of productivity and value of product (resale) it sure looks like worth the investment..

**TheHoss** · 08-21-2011, 08:50 PM

Found this website from a local electric company, called them up asking where they get their wire strippers. They gave me this site.

http://www.striptec.com/stgranulator.htm

They have LOTS of stuff, unfortunately they do not list prices. I'm guessing you have to call for that.

**PartTimeScrapper** · 08-21-2011, 10:22 PM

Daddy always said if you have to ask what the price is you cant afford it

**CharlieMAWS** · 02-07-2012, 11:28 AM

We've crunched the numbers and for the machines that our company distributes (MG Wire Granulators), it seems to work out that you'll be turning a profit with anything over 52% copper in it. Of course, if you have a small amount of christmas lights or extension chord mixed in with higher quality wire, go ahead and run it through. I just wouldn't waste time with only this quality of input.

**thortek** · 02-07-2012, 01:04 PM

Ok...So I'm new to the copper side of things. What's the general price spread between insulated copper, and stripped copper? I mean if the price spread is wide enough, you could buy insulated from other scrappers at a price higher than the yards, run it and sell it as #1...and all you have to do is run the machine and count the money.

**CharlieMAWS** · 02-07-2012, 01:50 PM

That's the idea. The machines we sell handle anywhere from 175-2,650 lbs/hour of input material. Many yards don't have enough material to keep even the smaller machine running all day. So, they scoop up wire from wherever they can get it (preferably close and cheap).

**Mechanic688** · 02-07-2012, 04:13 PM

What's the general price spread between insulated copper, and stripped copper? I mean if the price spread is wide enough, you could buy insulated from other scrappers at a price higher than the yards, run it and sell it as #1...and all you have to do is run the machine and count the money.

Scrap #1 Copper $3.31 lb, Scrap insulated Light Wire 50% Recovery $1.22 lb, Over $2.00 a lb more for just running a machine whether it's a wire stripper or granulator. You do the math, but there has been a few on here that have went that route, buying from other scrappers and putting their wire stripper to work.

**CharlieMAWS** · 02-07-2012, 05:00 PM

Well, $2/lb would be great but you have to take into consideration that only 50% of that wire is copper. So, what you bought for $1.22 is really only worth ($3.31/.5) = $1.65. Still a little profit but you have electricity, labor, etc..

That's where the 52% recovery comes into play. We've found anything about 52% makes sense to run. Of course, if you are doing this by hand and have some free time, might make sense for someone else at a lower recovery rate.

**Mechanic688** · 02-07-2012, 05:15 PM

Of course, if you are doing this by hand and have some free time, might make sense for someone else at a lower recovery rate.

You'll find out after awhile that the majority of us on this forum are small 1-2 man operations. We're not all large corporations.

**High Voltage Processing** · 02-07-2012, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

You'll find out after awhile that the majority of us on this forum are small 1-2 man operations. We're not all large corporations.

Not all of us. :-)

I run three machines and am about to put in a new line. What I have found is you can do power cords and such, just don't expect to see a lot of profit. My machines are some of the best in the industry and I try to avoid this wire if I can. Easy is right about looking at the back, just understand that you will lose copper with just about every system.

When you chop you create dust. This can be anywhere from 1-5% of your recovery. We are working on a system where we will be able to recover 100% of the copper using a liquid solution instead of a shaker table.

**thortek** · 02-07-2012, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by High Voltage Processing

Not all of us. :-)

I run three machines and am about to put in a new line. What I have found is you can do power cords and such, just don't expect to see a lot of profit. My machines are some of the best in the industry and I try to avoid this wire if I can. Easy is right about looking at the back, just understand that you will lose copper with just about every system.

When you chop you create dust. This can be anywhere from 1-5% of your recovery. We are working on a system where we will be able to recover 100% of the copper using a liquid solution instead of a shaker table.

Glad to see someone is making money in Allentown! I used to recruit for B.Braun and everyone else was going out of business! or moving operations!

Does anyone know how much a low price unit like that goes for?

**High Voltage Processing** · 02-07-2012, 09:33 PM

Allentown is really making a comeback. Its a nice alt to Philly.

I have seen low level hammer mills for under 10k. I am sure used could get cheaper.

**CharlieMAWS** · 02-08-2012, 09:21 AM

I did get that impression Mechanic. While I'm trying to gather information for the job, I also find myself personally interested in scrapping opportunities. Funny, I was walking the dogs this morning and saw two tvs sitting next to a trash can up the street from my house. Almost thought about driving up there and tossing them in the truck on the way to work. Never would have thought about it until visiting this site yesterday! hahaha.

**devo** · 02-08-2012, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by CharlieMAWS

I did get that impression Mechanic. While I'm trying to gather information for the job, I also find myself personally interested in scrapping opportunities. Funny, I was walking the dogs this morning and saw two tvs sitting next to a trash can up the street from my house. Almost thought about driving up there and tossing them in the truck on the way to work. Never would have thought about it until visiting this site yesterday! hahaha.

Sounds like a low level scrap bug bite at this point. There is no cure, but you can learn to live with the illness!

Just out of curiosity, is a granulator just basically a hammer mill at its heart. I realize there is more to it like the separation etc. Just wondering.

**CharlieMAWS** · 02-08-2012, 10:39 AM

To be honest with you devo, I had no idea what a hammer mill was until HVP made that comment. Googled it this morning and it seems to be similar. The wire enters the granulator where it is chopped (granulated) in a scissor action between 2 fixed sets of blades and 5 rotating sets. There is a screen beneath the granulator that can be changed out to maximize efficiency based on input material (2mm - 8mm). From the search I performed, this seems to be the extent of the hammer mill. The granulator however has several other components. From this point, the granules are sucked into a vortex and the copper that has seperated from the insulation is dropped into a collection area and the insulation is blown into a filter system and collected in bags. The material that is not seperated in the granulator is then taken into a pulverizer where the granules are beat with a paddle like turbo system. This will seperate any insulation from the remaining material. This material is then taken into another vortex where copper is seperated from insulation. Resulting material is dropped onto a seperation table from there where copper (or aluminum) is drawn up the table to the front and insulation is taken out the back.

Here's a video of one of the machines at work that may help explain:

Easier for a visual sometimes. As High Voltage commented earlier, there is copper dust lost in the seperation process and I'm interested to hear about ways to recover. With our machines it is very minimal but at the capacity they're running, it could add up. Hope this was clearer than mud. Haha.

Copper Wire Granulator

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