What does Copper wire sell for?... Lou

[Lou66]

Well this was one of those bitter sweet Christmas,, All the family showed up on Christmas day. around thirty,. we had a excellence dinner,, exchanged gifts,, had a real nice time setting around talking and laughting..
Then I when over to the land where I keep my equipment, tractors, balers, cutters, electrical underground #6 copper wire that runs from the street to the barn (700 feet times 3=) 2100 feet,,
I was little pizzed at first because I had just replaced the lighting inside the barn and I thought the lights had all burned out at once,, boy was I relieved when I traced it back and found someazz holes stole all the underground wiring.. plus the 400 ft left on the spool.. that was setting on a table in back on the barn next to the switch gear..police was called the report was filed,, now I guess I can add another item to my wish list.. Lou

 

[tcartwri]

Go up one gauge and use aluminum. It's 1/3 to 1/4 the cost.

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

found someazz holes stole all the underground wiring.. plus the 400 ft left on the spool..

you mean they pulled 700 ft of cable out of the conduit... after cutting live connections, I'm assuming.?
that takes balls... not many brains, mind you...how are we supposed to guard against this kind of criminal activity ?

Pete

 

[murphy1244]

I had a friend of mine forward a photo of what was left of two guy's stealing wire from a main distributor trunk. Very hard to tell that there was two people in those photo's all melted up.

 

[Lou66]

you mean they pulled 700 ft of cable out of the conduit... after cutting live connections, I'm assuming.?
that takes balls... not many brains, mind you...how are we supposed to guard against this kind of criminal activity ?Pete

yep.. they cut it at the power pole I have my own pole about 200 feet from the road,, then it drops down under ground into rigid conduit for about 700 feet before it comes back up at the barn.. they pulled up about 50 foot of conduit,, cut it loose at the barn and pulled it out of the conduit.. they had to use a truck or car.. no one saw anything.. they did the same thing at a local church.. Lou

 

[kenmac]

This is why I used Alum. wire at my rual property

 

[Pete Judd]

Bright copper right now is selling for over $3 bucks a pound around here. That is a few hits for the tweakers.

 

[texasjohn]

Dang...A real bummer...sorry to tell you that statistics are that once you've been hit it is likely you will be hit again within a year, most likely within 3 months...either by same people or someone they told about it. Maybe install an invisible game camera?

 

[Lou66]

Will be going back with 2/2/2/4 alum. wiring,, two 60 amps breaker at 120 volts,, 700 ft. also having concrete poured for about 20 feet on the conduit at the service pole and where it comes up at the barn.. rigid conduit at the service pole and barn in and out of ground,, locks on both switch boxes.. plus installing lights at both service points.. plus land mines..lol.. about seven thousands dollars in damage plus rework.. I am thinking if they are going to steal from me make them work for it.. Lou

 

[Lxg7]

In the Midwest, St.Louis area... No 1 burned wire is around $3.00 a pound..with insulation still on it will bring around 1.80 a pound... If they took 300 pounds of burnt wire they got around $900.00 at the scrap yard.. Some scrap dealers do take record of I.D an have video surveillance.. Really only helps if you have some suspects in mind...usually it's somebody that knows you an what you have around your property...

 

[kenmac]

We have new laws here. New scrap yard law, you aren't allowed to burn insulation off electrical wire. You can only sell so much( weight) without showing a state certified electrican card. To sell copper tubing , you must show a state certified plumbing card. to sell A/C you must show state certified HVAC card. If the scrap dealers get caught buying with out proof of cerification. It's a big fine plus the chance of loosing their operating license

 

[podagrower]

NOTHING will stop these types. I've seen too much of it in my work. Lock on the panel is harder than the panel cover, they'll go thru the cover and around the lock, its amazing how much work they will do to avoid working for a living. I saw a 20,000 square foot warehouse they had stripped about 50%. Ac coils, feeder cables, everything that wasn't bolted down, and about half of what was bolted down.

They cut the 800 amp, 600 volt feeder wires, shorting them out in the process(main was tripped, not turned off), then stood on the metal roof to cut the primaries from the transformer.

That takes balls.

 

[powerpace]

Locally the recyclers need your ID, Vehicle Plate and will mail the amount due to a address in 3 to 4 days. This is for anything other than non-ferrous. Any local government that doesn't have that requirement in place is not doing their job. Copper and aluminum theft has been almost nonexistent since those restrictions have been instituted. All people bringing in ferrous still need to record all information but get paid on the spot.

 

[kenmac]

Here, the new law has all but stopped A/C & copper thefts. I have seen /felt the drop in business since the law took effect . Alot of Insurance companies started paying a theft claim only once

 

[Lou66]

As for as I know here in Texas if you walk up with one pound or a thousand,, they weight it and pay.. The police told me that sometimes they stop people with copper in the back of their trucks or trailers with out of state tags.. They can't do much unless they have a reason.. so I guess the bad guy win.. the hard working honest people are the problem because we trust everyone and believe everyone is like us.. We got to be a dumb lot.. but I sleep well at night.. Lou

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Recycling stuff is pretty profitable. I got $125 for my old washing machine and dryer when I replaced them, and didn't have to part out the copper. When I get the time I'm going to take a sawzall to an old vintage 1960 aluminum utility body I have sitting around. There's probably 500 lbs. of aluminum in it.

Lou, Texas needs to clean up their act. There's no reason why scrap dealers should get away with acting as a fence for stolen property. If it's any consolation, the thieves never end up with anything. They'll make hundreds of dollars a day vandalizing your farm, but if you could see the way they live you would be disgusted.

 

[kenmac]

I have replaced the plumbing & A/C system in homes that these scum bags have hit. They may get $200.00-$500.00 for scrap price. It may cost the owner of the home $10-20 K to have things replaced.I have seen where they go along the house with wire snips & cut the electrical wire. They even knock holes in the walls just to get to a small amount of copper elec.wire.They cost the owner thousands of $$ & only get a few hundred for their effort. As I said in my other post. This activity has dropped off a great deal since the State passed the new laws that put great risk on the scrap dealers

 

[Lou66]

Texas may have some laws governing copper wire sale Larry, I really don't know for sure.. May have made a statement out of frustration but you are right about a thieve he lives from day to day,, unless he really good like a politician or attorney comes to mind..:laughing:.. Thanks Lou

 

[grsthegreat]

Here in Idaho, weve been getting up to $4.50 per pound of stripped #1 clean copper.

A few years ago i striped and scrapped out my huge pile of jobsite leftover copper (im an electrical contractor)...and i received aprox $2,400 for the lot.

I purchased a 48" metal roller and metal working 48" box brake with the proceeds.

Here if your NOT an electrical contractor, they take all your info, DL#, etc and mail you the check. Being a contractor, i got paid in cash on the spot. Ive had copper theft from several of my jobsites over the years. it does suck.

No one bothers with the alum wire.