Scrapping starters and alternators...

[Lankytim]

I have a big pile of "spare" starters and alternators in my garage going rusty, mostly from Volvo's but there are a few others mixed in too. Has anybody here got any experience with dismantling them and separating out the copper, ally, steel e.t.c? I stripped a 740 alternator today and it was very hard going, it took ages to chop the windings out of the stator and it looks impossible to strip out the rotor. Should I just weigh them all in as they are, or maybe just take the rotor and stator out so I can scrap the ally separately, or is it really worth my while getting covered in shit and sweat slowly picking out the copper field windings. If I do that I'll be busy until 2014!

[autofive]

alli prices are very low at present, better to weigh them in as 'motors' complete

[TimothyClaypole]

And you'll miss an iron filing on one bit and the gits will bum you as "irony" rather than aluminium.

[Lankytim]

Isn't copper wire worth extracting?

[Volksy]

A mate of mine recently spent a couple of days extracting a load of copper and various metals from a variety of stuff, and old washer, TV, motors, bikes etc. took him forever.

When he weighed it all in he made a bit of cash, but as he's self employed he'd have earnt far more going to do his regular work, and dropping it all off for nowt at the local recycling centre.

[mrcitroen]

Isn't copper wire worth extracting?

 

Must be. The pikey gits round my way seem to go to extra ordinary efforts to extract it from the ground leaving me without communication!

[autofive]

Isn't copper wire worth extracting?

 

not really

 

say, 30 minutes per alternator or starter motor to strip them of the copper

 

60-75p per kilo of alli casings (must be clean)

and copper wire a maximum of 4 quid a kilo

 

or weigh them as motors for around 2 - 2.50 per kilo and save your self a lot of work and cut fingers