Doing the bathroom and will be doing the boiler in the spring. I've got all the old pipe, offcuts and fittings and was thinking about whether
it'd be worth weighing it in (well once I have the old hot water tank definately). I just don't know where to go with it all!
I know the local scrappy takes away car shells etc etc but where do I go with copper? Should I just google or search yell.com for scrap metal
merchants? Do they take small/domestic quantities? Is there normally a minimum weight they need?
Will they only take copper pipe and tank o will they take compression fittings etc aswell?
cheers,
Ned.
Most scrap yards will take ferrous and non-ferrous scrap. They will post todays rates on the board.
The problem you might have is it may be graded as mixed scrap as i guess there will be brass fittings on the copper bits, also some tanks are
pre-lagged.
Might not be worth the hassle of seperating it all off but i havent weighed stuff in for a long time.
You do hear of plumbers and electricians keeping a few sacks and weighing in from time to time and getting 10 or 20 quid etc (tips!).
yep, i'd just look for scrap metal merchants in the yellow pages.
the ones near us take pram fulls of 'bits' off tramps, so i'd imagine they'd be happy to take a bathroom load.
you'll want to cut the compression fittings off, and weigh it in as pure copper and mixed. i'm not quite sure how much the reductin in value
is, but we usually just chop it up with bolt croppers so it's no big deal. if you're hacksawing it may change your mind though.
i'm sure there'll be some plumbers on here that'll know better.
hth
tom
Copper prices have gone up considerably in the last few weeks so it's worth doing.
Its roughly £2 a kilo for scrap copper at the mo.
With metal prices with what they are you probably will do well. I took painted tin selves (very very old shop selves) and a small trailer load (about
3 sections) worked out to be £40 about two years ago. Copper I believe has been worth more than tin in recent years.
As to where to take it, Im not too sure in your area. I know Slyfield Waste Exchange station used to have several different scrap boxes and would
guess or rely on you saying how much was there. Mind you I heard they finally built the incinerator there since.
If you had a decent load Id suggest you take it to EMR (European Metal Recyclers) in Southampton. They are one of the few who operate boats that leave
the country so your cutting out the middle man and the shipping middle man as they own their own. That basically means they will give you probably the
best price in the country.
Only thing is the M3 would drink all the money you made.
Have you tried calling the Guildford (or where ever) city/bourogh council? They surely must have to liscence these places. Have to for everything
else!!!
J
Sorry for the spelling. Not with it.
Google gives 3 not too far away.
-> link <-
[Edited on 8/12/06 by iank]
Try and keep the pure copper and bits with joints in seperate, that way you get a much better price for the stuff without joints.
Dave
Empty out the kids' piggy banks guys - I heard on the news the other day that a 2p piece is worth 3p as scrap metal !
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Google gives 3 not too far away.
-> link <-
[Edited on 8/12/06 by iank]
bah, sorry
Being more careful
http://www.woking.gov.uk/environment/waste/waste?letter=m
has
Non-ferrous metals such as copper, lead and brass, as well as aluminium, can be taken to any scrap metal merchant. S.J Scott and Co buy
commercial/domestic non-ferrous metals (large and small) and old electrical cable; Unit 11A, Martlands Industrial Estate, Smarts Heath Lane,
Worplesdon, Surrey, Tel. 01483 233777.
Just one caution - I took an old hot water tank to a scrappy many years ago... he weighed the thing, muttered a bit, then whacked the outside with a
big hammer for a few minutes. He then emptied out all the limescale and weighed it again - about a fifth of the original weight!
They're a lot lighter when the scale's taken out... 
David
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
Just one caution - I took an old hot water tank to a scrappy many years ago... he weighed the thing, muttered a bit, then whacked the outside with a big hammer for a few minutes. He then emptied out all the limescale and weighed it again - about a fifth of the original weight!
They're a lot lighter when the scale's taken out...
David
what glue can I pour into it to hold the scale in then? is this cost effective?
ps on a serious note would they have issue with taking a galvanised (and still rusty!) cold water tank?
[Edited on 8/12/06 by ned]
At the moment, Copper is worth its weight in, well Copper I guess. Was article on news recently that folks are ripping up HV railway cables to get
at the copper inside; one bloke came home to the smell of gas as some b*st*rd ripped the copper gas pipe from outside his house
we lost a load of telco cables in dundee 3 times in one weekend
Lots of issues with the power to Jo'burg recently, people keep stealing bits of the national grid
Here and Italy are
victims too. 16000 homes were blacked out in the Black Country as well. There was an attempted
theft round here recently where one youth was electrocuted and died and his accomplice was badly burned but it was only reported in the local rag. It
was up from around £1,000 a ton at the beginning of the year to £4000 mid year, get in quick Ned before it drops again.
[Edited on 8/12/06 by Peteff]
i collect all my scrap from work, not weighed any in yet cos i keep cleaning and using it! got a small pile building up. £2 per kg doesnt sound
much but a kilo isnt many feet of pipe. My mate rewired a warehouse and got £400 of scrap wire!
Tell me about it, we use bronze, and as that's 80% copper......
ATB
Simon