We are going to tackle the question: is it worth stripping your wire? Often, scrappers come in wondering about insulated vs bare wire. The factor they overlook is recovery. They think if they strip it, they will get, let’s say, $3.40/lb. However, that is just the value of what you get out of it. Let…
We want to discuss a common industry question: what size wire chopper should you get? When people first contact us, they often aim for the largest model like a C4 or C5, envisioning substantial chopping volumes and material handling. This inclination is understandable, especially if they already have a consistent material source or captive material,…
About a decade ago, some customers visited us, including a couple of executives. As we passed by our alligator shear, one of them asked if they had any of those at their yards. The other executive mentioned they did have a few, but only at one of their facilities, despite being a large, successful scrapyard.…
We want to discuss the distinctions between a granulator, vertical mill, and touch upon the turbo mill and their respective applications. Granulators and wire choppers have long been synonymous, typically used together for four decades or so. Over time, granulators have predominantly featured D2 steel blades in various blade configurations—staggered tooth, flat, or scissor-cut. One…
We get contacted a lot by people asking if they can use a wire chopper for processing aluminum-copper radiators. And, the answer is yes and no. There are several differences we use in our approach to processing aluminum-copper radiators. When dealing with aluminum-copper radiators, the deck of your screen can quickly become clogged, mostly due…
We often receive questions about the effectiveness of zig zag separators, particularly whether they are worth investing in. The answer really depends on your specific application. For instance, if you are aiming to roughly sort a shredded stream to separate lighter materials from heavier ones—like aluminum from copper in aluminum-copper radiators—then a zig zag separator…
Today, we are going to talk about the inner mechanics of an air separation table with one of the systems we are preparing to ship for processing aluminum-copper radiators, also known as ACRs. One unique feature we implement for recycling aluminum-copper radiators is a screener before the air table. On the air separation table is…
We are moving forward with part two of evaluating whether it is worthwhile for you to chop your wire. We will start by putting some formulas on the board. Recently, someone got in touch with us about this. They receive around15,000 lbs of auto harness every two weeks, totaling 30,000 lbs/month of insulated copper wire.…
A question we often get is whether it is worthwhile to chop wire. This decision depends on several things, including your location, electricity costs, the current selling price of the wire, and the potential selling price of the chopped wire. You need to consider all these factors to find out if chopping wire could be…