Here's how I saw a scrap yard do huge quantites of these: 1) Place them on a 4'x4' drainpain and drill a hole in the bottom of each compressor to let the oil drain out. 2) Use a plasma cutter suspended from above and put the compressor on a lazy susan to rotate it. Takes about 30 seconds to cut each compressor open. 3) Place in a vice. Cut the windings on one side of the motor with a reciprocating saw. 4) Place the half cut motor on a table with two arms to hold the steel portion. Run two pieces of rebar through the motor windings and attack the bars to an electric winch mounted above. Winch pulls the copper out no problem.
This was a good experiment for Thub and he got a video out of it, but I would caution anyone out there not to bother with this sort of thing if they live in the first world and care about their health. Burning any refrigerant with chlorine in it, i.e. R-12, R-22, etc. is going to produce phosgene gas, and compressor oil WILL have small amounts of trapped refrigerant in it, in addition to a lot of other nasty acids/by-products. Phosgene gas was used in the trenches of WWI. It damages the lungs and causes respiratory diseases like COPD and lung cancer.
My uncle owned a flat roofing company and we had a ton of these things. He had a different system than you but he definitely still made money off of scrapping them.
I once opened one compressor and had enough. So when I saw the title of your video, I had to watch it because for me, it sounded a mess. And in fact, with the dust, the smoke, the messy oil, the aluminium motor deception, it was a mess. Fortunately, this experience brought some good money. The one thing I will remember dough, is that you had the power, the courage to finish the job ! Five stars !
Thank you! I did it for the story haha, it paid decently well but I’m not gonna be suggesting other people do the same. It felt like it would never end!
I watch Non-ferrous Jeff every week. His videos feature along with numerous dinosaur-sized machinery but uncountable bins of Non-ferrous goods. One bin is the closed compressors. Always wonder wouldn't someone would make more money by breaking down the compressor. Now, I wonder how a buyer would break down thousands of the units and still make a profit. Great video!😂
When I'm breaking down motors I used to cut off the end and hammer out too, but then I came across a way that was way faster and didn't need any electrical equipment a simple large knife and a stone hammer placed in the middle of the unit would split it in half and the best part is no waste in copper recovery or needing to buy cutting blades, hope this helps.
@multidave2650 i think what would help people best, as this info u mentioned above, can only be seen as a comment - make a video and post it. That way, when people search for ways to scrap these, yours comes up. Then your help will reach so many more than this comment could ever do.
@@paulcoenen7918 definitely. I got over 2000lbs of copper and sold the steel for number #1 prepared. Very dirty and hard work though. I’d be pretty sore at the end of those days
I bought a $200 plasma off of Amazon just for these sealed units. I have processes roughly 20 tons so far (40,000lbs). Torch 'em open, abrasive cutoff for one end of the motor, air hammer to knock the rest out. Plasma torch is the way to go. Bonus when they still have the oil in them. I boil it on my wood stove and save it to clean and lube hand tools, oil hinges on trailers, and keep an oil coat on my outdoor equipment before winter.
Yeah if someone's gonna do scraping you gotta have a trailer. It's a must. Not having one ends up costing you more in damage to your vehicle, lost scrap opportunities, increased difficulty loading and unloading, wasted time, added gas costs, etc. Than a trailer costs
First off, thank you. I enjoyed your video, it was an ordinary man's thorough evaluation of whether scrapping compressors is worth the time and effort. Brings back memories of when I was a kid and saved newspapers, scrap metal and glass bottles for spending money.
I was a shear operator for some years and have worked in many different scrapyards. The way most scrapyards grade prepared is if it's less than 3 feet by 18 inches and is mostly made of iron. Typically after the shred feed gets bailed all the iron on the ground that meets the size requirements gets thrown into the prepared pile no matter the thickness. I'm not sure about your local scrapyard, but a few pieces that don't meet the thickness required in the prepared pile wouldn't be an ordeal, in fact you might be helping them out.
My truck is a Tundra 5.7L. It's only a half ton truck as well. But it's rated for pulling up to 12000lbs. And I do general junk removal now as well, and my very first customer back in spring just donated his trailer to me too. It's a 5.5x14ft cargo trailer. I haven't bought any metal yet but I've been thinking about it, but I'm not sure how to get started. Back in the spring this year, the county gave me 7 hydraulic oil pumps. It was probably 2 tons. It was a lot of oil I had to drain out. But it was worth it. I had a about half a ton of motors alone. The biggest weighed 180lbs by itself. I took 3 of then apart for the copper but gave up, it was too much work. If I remember correctly I got about $500. Funny thing was I hauled it all on a little uhaul trailer I rented! My cargo trailer now helps so much. It's only single axle, but it's good for bulky things like appliances.
greetings, here's my advice after I opened thousands of different compressors, the important thing is that you work on the floor and hold the compressor with your foot 1- take a large grinder and make cuts on one side (it's half of the compressor), put the grate on the bucket and let the oil drain drain it, until then continue with the next compressor, etc. 2- when you take out the engine and disassemble it, cut only one side where the copper is, light the fire and put all the engines on it to burn the varnish, then it's easy to pull out the copper with pliers... you can cut them with a burner - with oxygen and gas, but for me it's a more expensive option, this is the fastest... 
I took in 1400 pounds of copper this summer that came out of compressors. i use a plasma cutter to cut the casings open. takes me 10-15 seconds to open them up in my hay day but last week it was taking me a bit longer but still under a minute, i was having to do it 1 handed while holding my goggles closed with the other hand. picked up new goggles over the weekend, so we will see if I can get it back down at least less than 30 seconds would make me happy again. I already owned the plasma and to cut open the compressors/condensors i use my worn out bits that don't cut without leaving a jagged edge anymore so it was a way to finish burning up half used up tips I don't want to use on a project where I need clean even cuts. who cares what the cut looks like on scrap that is going in. So technically I have no expenses like cutting blades to include. back again in my hay day when prices were down, I was buying them from my competition scrappers here in the country and i would cut them open and take them in when prices went up. quite a few thought I was losing money but my pockets said something different. i retired for a while but I am starting to come back out of retirement and do this again. seeing you already have an air hammer, the bigger ones instead of cutting the one end of copper off and try to pull the whole thing out the other side just take your straight edge blade(hopefully you have one) and slice that sleeve of copper right in half down the center and now you only have to pull the copper wire out half the distance. yes you need to do it twice seeing it is cut in half but it is so much easier pulling it out half the distance. if I had to depend on grinders, blades and torches to open them up, then I would probably not do it either but with the plasma it is a piece of cake. best tool i ever brought.
For info i have scrapped out lots of motors. Like you I cut off the windings on one end first. I usually pull the windings out with a big pair of waterpump pliers or drive them out of the slot with a punch and hammer. But its so slow and hard on the hands. That said watching you use a impact tool to drive them out is something i don't think I have ever tried. What i have tried with minor success is drive a tapered round prybar under a loop of winding then across and under a loop on the other side to try and start the winding moving. Here's the fun idea inspired from watching you use the impact! If I were to drive the bar in as stated then run the impact thru the INSIDE of the windings and drive against the bar. I wonder if I could push out most all of the windings at one shot🤔 Always trying to find better ways😊
I like the shave, the drip and the project.. this was my favorite Thub video yet.. I'm inspired now to do something similar thank you 🙏 and keep up the hard work 🤙
You need a respirator on the entire time or else you are at high risk of developing lung cancer. Even after the air looks clear there are still vapors floating around, metal gasses if you will. Stay safe! 💪
You best video yet thub! Lots of sparks, oily mess and your smooth, calm David Attleboro-like narration! Props! Btw, saw dust or kitty litter makes good oil absorbents. 👍
I just have to say, you are making awesome content. Well done. Super knowledgeable stuff and love watching your videos! 🙌 from a fellow Canadian scrapper!!
Make a metal drain pan to put the motor in, on top of a lazy susan. Put a drain on the pan going into a storage container for the oil. Mount the grinder on a fixed mount sideways wi9th adjustable height so all you have to do is rotate the lazy susan around to cut the casing in half. I did this many years ago when I was scrapping. It saved a large amount of time and no mess/ fire hazard from the oil being spilled all over the place. The lazy susan was on a metal plate and I could slide it in the pan for different sized compressors to get to the grinder. IIRC, I had it down to 1-2 minutes max per compressor. It also worked great for oil filled transformers. Then I could recycle the oil in several ways. I had a 2nd drain pan I put the compressors in upside down to finish draining all the oil out.
Hello. Harbor Freight has a 7" grinder that I use. I can knock down about 100 lbs of aluminum control arms per blade. And they come in 5 pks for about $10 bux. Can't see it having a problem destroying those motor housings either. But is a real gem compared to changing the disks every 5 minutes on the 4.5" grinders. My .02 cents.
Ohhh - I have so much to say here. First . . who are you and what have you done with my Thub? Grow it back, dude. Second . . What were you thinking? That looked sooo difficult. Third . . I hope you could recycle the brass shell casings from all those bullets you sweated while transporting all that stuff. You are something special, Thub. Keep up the good work. What a fun video!
That's a heck of an experiment Thub! No one can say you don't earn it. Atta boy! Winter will be here soon, you should regrow your scarf. Have a good weekend broski.
plasma cutter is my favorite cutter by far, torch i only see as useful for cutting excessively thickwall metal and oxywelding thin gauge panels (which it actually does waay nicer than tig'ing) Since I started watching lots of welder videos I am paranoid about Heat-affected zones, torch would tend to anneal things whereas the plasma does the job before it can heat-soak into the material and soften it. (BTW Airbag time for both of us!) My plan involves air-springs and fitting extended length radius arms. Coil-spring Leaf-spring it don't matter, once you max them out they lose that nice memory and get sloppy.
Wonderful video. It was very enjoyable. The best part for me was seeing you open a compressor that I might have helped bulid. Keep doing these kinds of video.
I actually buy these all the time and cut them open with a the same angle grinder. Not sure the disc you are using but I don't waste as much as you. I cut a hole at the top of every unit to drain the oil before I cut. It's always interesting to see how other people process these units.
So I learned something the other day while scrapping. I do alot of Plumbing scrap. The yellow flex Gas lines for Water heaters with Steel ends i Always thought they were aluminum or stainless tube with the metal end so I have always just thrown them out not worth the time and space to me. Well one had a big ball valve I wanted so I cut it off Turned out that flex line was Brass I Had 8 of them and 5 of the 8 were Brass. I will be checking those from now on I dont even want to think about how many I have left behind or thrown in the dumpster without checking.
Wow you’re doing it the hard way. I use a portable band saw for the ac compressors. I also do it differently. I guess I should make a video of the way I do it it might help people that do it.
More videos like this would be neat. Not necessarily compressor motors but making connections and buying unprocessed scrap from businesses. Then processing it a being the middleman. Im sure its easier said than done but itd cool none the less.
I’ve been a welder for a couple of years and a torch guy at a scrap yard and from what I saw your technique could use a little work granted the torch you have isn’t that great but try and make a hole keeping the torch at a 90 degree angle heat the metal in the direction you want to cut to red hot then turn the torch to 180 degrees. This will cut a straight line and the oxygen will push all the molten iron away leaving a clean cut. Cutting your time from 8mins easily down to 2-3 mins (granted this will vary depending on your torch and how good it actually cuts). But great video over all I have thought about this many times working at a scrap yard. What I could buy for cheap and process down and make a little profit keep it up❤
Note you wanna keep your torch 180 degrees the entire time the only time it should be at 90 is when your starting a new cut or poking a hole. Hope this helps 🫡
ive tried with the plasma and burned out a tip on a larger one, though it is a cheap one and I have a hard time keeping the tip from touching cuz I m not steady
@@riverboat28it’s not as dangerous as it sounds as long as you start the cut away from you so don’t get sprayed with oil. I cut huge hydraulic cylinders all the time & the flames can easily get about 10ft tall when you start cutting it but with a little experience it’s no problem to keep the flames away while you cut it
If you're running a torch, holding the flame sideways to the steel hosing instead of 90 degrees square to it, you'll rip through them like noones business. Hard to explain exactly, I hope you know what I mean... Try holding the torch as if you want to blow along the length of the steel instead of poking straight through it. It takes a bit to get used to but you'll sped up a ton once you get the groove. You also don't get near as much slag holding it together when you're done torching. If you've got the means, a plasma cutter might be slower than a fast guy on a torch, but the cost of operation of plasma Vs. torch might make it up. You'd still be pretty quick with plasma.
I own a 4 door 4x4 longbed Duramax truck and 2 trailers , a 5’x8’ & a 20’x6’ x4’ landscaping trailer. And yes I filled the box w scrap metal and loaded a refrigerator on top of the box and filled it with metal and the same with washers , dryers and fridges . I’ll stack the gutted dryers on top of the washer that I’ve also gutted and filled with scrap metals . In my last trip to pick up scrap metal, late at night I picked up a dual wheeled landscaping dolly & she’s a beast .
Yes please to more videos like this. I always need a dose of reality with the ideas i have for scrapping . I love doing it infact you were a cheif influence to me but the cost must come into it. Love your stuff its the best on the internet.
If you need some rough numbers, consider compressors to have 8% copper, 1 or 2% oil, 90% steel. Electric motors have roughly 10% copper, rest is steel, or steel and aluminum combined.
I love it when you do these test runs. Conclusion: It was a decent return, but not so much that you would want to do it again. That's not so bad, and a fun experiment to try.
@@lavitikis100 I’m not sure yet! I’ve got one on my list of teardowns but I haven’t ever taken one apart. I think probably yes? Maybe not the stator, that part would take the longest
@@thubprint for sure.. thank you. I just watched a video on it and it looked fairly easy. Little brass and dirty brass. Some cast aluminum and copper with a tad of prepared steel. I found a few ultinators on my property and saving them aswell. My angle grinder I found was out of service so when I'm able to snag one and a respirator I'll be in business :)
Great Job. On the subject of your "getting ready for winter" video, I was surprised how much you made. I thought it would be worse.... I think that's good information to have... In the dead of winter, when there's no dumpsters, and not a lot to find, you can go get 2700 pounds of compressors, and make some money.... I know, you said you wouldn't do it again, but.... I think there is value in doing the work, crunching the numbers, and seeing what it really yields.... Going forward, you can fully grasp your options, evaluate your options, and make better decisions....
Absolutely! I won’t pretend I loved every part of the job, but knowing that’s one thing that I can do if I need a “quick” $500, it’s just another option that’s great to have in the tank. Making noise in your own space isn’t the worst way to spend a couple afternoons either! I don’t think it’s something a lot of scrapyards will want to facilitate as it’s not a great use of their labor, but it’s there.
😊 I did lot of copper scrapping when I was younger. Without power tools/gas cutter etc. When the copper was stuck. I just put it inside the fire.after it cools It takes only 10 minutes to get the copper. The fire burns non electric fibers in the coil copper comes loose easily. Hammer and chisel one side and pull out on the other side that's it. Ofc copper thin layer that covers the copper burns but it's way easier. To get the coils I just used bruteforce "sledgehammer". Or opened screws/nuts. Ofc I didn't demolish compressor motor .That might be harder...
I was wondering if anyone would notice that! 😆 when I’m recording it all seems like very relevant information but then in editing it, all those words don’t seem nearly as important aha
I don't think that's the best product to try to buy and process.. But however, I think a new wire stripper with a motor is in your future.. I think if you could find a electric log splitter is that you can put some tongues on and you can pull out the windings.. Then it would be more profitable in faster to do electric motors..
Thank you for sharing this video as it puts a realistic view on the broadview of doing this. For many this would be worth it as a side hobby for extra cash. Love the commentary throughout the video! Love the detailed shots, thank you again
I always shy away from sealed units simply because of the oil. Seeing the amount of cutting wheels needed just adds to my - no thanks list. Thanks for the info!
Ive always found with the electric motors to chisel from the inside of the motor to the outside. This gives a cleaner cut. I also cut the copper with a air chisel. This gives a much clearer cut for the copper to come out easier.
I remember scrapping a whole factory. Cutting out copper pipes 8-10 hours a day climbing in insulation. Wasnt fun but i was making 1500 a week off the scrap copper
17.50 those parts are easy to dismantle when you find the welding seam and put that block on a diagonal position and hit it with sledgehammer. That is the easiest way of getting the copper out
In my experience by doing something similar, this was way harder than scraping most other things (like electric motors and transformers) also it cost a lots of materials and energy plus it leaves a ton of mess. I would recomend if you were doing this at least make 5 pounds of cooper a day witch I easily achive by making a machine that rotated a big angle grinder around the fixed compresor and I use a big jack hammer to break the core in half and the extracting the copper with the same tool. Also I did try to drain all the oil in the scrap yard before weigthing it.
Albeit i am a welder, but i can usually have those apart in three minutes with a thinner than average cutoff wheel. Heres a trick to sort aluminum from copper, before you start cutting the seam, cut in till you hit the windings and check through the slit with a flashlight. Thats how i sort mine. Cutting the windings with a thin kerf metal blade on a sawzall is great because the dust can be taken in at least at my yard. Air hammer or my favorite, a five pound cross peen hammer will usually bust them out in three hits.
I enjoyed watching this a lot. Money is hard to come by and this showed how with some ingenuity end effort cash can be made. It may not be easy but what is easy in life. I would love to see more of these videos.
I don't bother cutting up compressors. I worked out a few years back that the extra money isn't worth the time. I worked out that I was making an average of $2.50 per compressor and that's counting on the windings being copper, not alloy. Each one took me about 20 minutes to process so that's not a good use of my time. However, if you still want to do this, try a plasma cutter. It has almost no consumables and is faster than either of the options you used. Trim cut the copper tubing first because that's number 2 copper. Then drain the oil before attempting to cut the casing open. This reduces the oily mess and smoke.
I charge around $1000 for labor to replace a compressor. Takes 2-3 depending on accessibility, vacuum time, etc…. Majority of the time is waiting for a vacuum pump….so sitting around. Something to consider. Many years ago I used to load the compressors into a junk cars trunk since the cars junk value was based on its weight at a value higher than the compressor alone. Don’t know if that or something similar is still a thing but it’s something else to consider. I think my methods are much better unless you factor in your Adsense revenue from UA-cam. In that case I have a feeling you’re winning. 😂 Good video!
I can give you a tip I'm a manager at a scrap yard in south Africa... After cutting the one side off of the copper motor we normally make a fire and chug them in there to burn all the glue and plastic off then cool it in water pulls out like butter after burning them
I used to watch my dad burn the plastic off copper as a kid. Scrap yards don't take burned copper anymore in the US. If they did, I would definitely try your method. Great advice though thanks.
My buddy scraps and I stop over and help him out from time to time. We generally break down HVAC units into parts and end up with a pile of these compressors. We have considered breaking down the compressors, but you have covered a lot of the pitfalls we encountered. The big ones are aluminum and the oil. In your case, the number of aluminum windings weren't bad, but in several of our test runs we hit nearly 50%, which can turn this project upside down quick. The ratio of aluminum to copper is likely to increase as time goes on. The other is the oil. You didn't happen to mention the quantity, but we estimated somewhere in the drum territory for what we had
Oh that’s true actually, the aluminium ratio is definitely only going up.. the oil isn’t a big problem for me as I have free places to drop it off, but it’s still extra work.
I used to tear down electric motors at a repair shop. We had a horizontal chop saw to cut one end of winding off then we would bake the motors to remove the varnish coating. Then pull the copper out east enough.
great video thub, really enjoyed it. You sold me on cutting open the compressor motors I have. I do have a plasma cutter so hopefully it takes less time. Again, great video!!!!
Definitely did this many years ago. Electromagnetic same size motors similar to these without the oil and mess. 2x Volvo 240 trunk loads of them. Don’t recall the number of hours, but think in the end I was in the $350-400 range on the return.
Walter cut off discs last a lot longer, worth the extra couple bucks. Also a little tip I do.....cut a 5 gal bucket in half , put on under a milk crate. Cut the compressors on the milk crate , oil goes in to the bucket. You Will also get a better price if you burned the coating off the copper.
Hello Thub,, Sweden here again and scrapping still rocks.. Found a local buyer for higher grade circuitboards and things like that. Some yards would have payed shred price for those compressor housings I'm sure, good thing you got prepared steel for it. I get prepared price for any clean steel If it's separated,, nuts, bolts, screws and you name it,, even the covers on AC units. Fun video 🙂
I haven't gotten to the end of the video yet, did you figure out your profits taken out the cost of consumables? Power, Cutting discs, Gas, O2? And anything else like fuel for your truck?
I would recommend a plasma cutter. They are way cheaper than they used to be. Few hundred for a cheaper one but should have no problem running through those cases. Maybe you could rent one first and see how you like it.
That last compressor reminds me of a Toyota transmission that had a AWD transfer case still on it I wanted to scrap, I got so aggravated trying to open it up because of all the funky bolts Toyota used on it . An American Transmission is so easy to open up. I think I had a hairline fracture in my wrist from hitting it with a 10b sledgehammer for what seems like hours. I didn't have a proper place to deal with it at the time, I was unfortunately living out of an Old GMC conversion van, at the time. Thankfully I own a house now. 😅.
Believe it or not I have split those copper motors with a kitchen knife and a hammer. I thought it was nuts until I tried it and it worked. I could cut them directly in half which made getting the copper out easy with a screw driver as a pry bar. A cleaver may be a sturdier option, but the old dull kitchen knife is still splitting. Great experimental video!!
I've always calculated that each kilogram of compressor is worth about 1$. Depending on the stock market prices it goes up or down, and then depending on the prices of the scrapyard it goes down even more. Right now copper has fallen so I'd say you're looking at roughly 75 cents per kg, which is about 35 cents per pound. Then there's the question of how much you pay for the compressors. So roughly speaking 2775 lbs is 1250 kg. Usually people will sell compressors for 40 cents per kg, sometimes less, which is just a bit higher than scrap steel prices. So if you extract 1$ per kg, but spend 40 cents and 3 days to open them up, it usually isn't worth it. There are, however, machines designed to quickly and efficiently open the compressors, so you reduce your time from say 20 hours, to maybe like 4 or 5 hours. Also worth noting that the percentage of copper is usually 7-8% with about 1 to 2% of the weight being oil, again sometimes more, sometimes less. I don't think clearing them without machines is overall worth it, especially when you include the mess you make with the oil. But if you get them cheap enough it can be a good project for the weekend to make some extra cash.
Had my 86 slammed full of alternators, starters etc that I bought from a a mechanic. Needless to say I was riding the axle all the way home. Just had to make sure not to hit turns too fast and to start braking in advance. Man I miss that truck. Thing was bulletproof and got me thru a lot of crazy salvage missions.
Great vid thub, I don’t blame ya one bit not doing it again lol. That’s some tuff hard messy work there. I also herd that heat and 410A can create a mustard type gas, but I seen you with the respirator which is great. I get $0.24 a lb on seals units. Which brings it to $8 to $15 each. I just leave enough copper to smash and fold to hold in fluids and dump as is. Besides the loading and unloading it’s the easiest way to deal with them jokers I think. Plus the smell from R22 & 410A smells like a bag full of mashed up A holes, and I have a weak sense of smell. So if I can smell it it’s bad lol. Love your content as always brother. Sub# 380 something Dumpster Jerry ✌️
My dad is a scrapper/demo contractor, so its second nature for him to gut-out anything that has precious metals inside. Rarely its gold unless the electronics are old and military-grade, but theres plenty of copper to scrap, even stainless steel but he scraps usually copper now. It can be an honest living if you have a set of tools and a truck, emphasis on *can be.* He definately prefers cutting things with a rotary disc, i never really see him use a torch
If you do try this again may I suggest you set up several steel drums with corrugated steel on top of them, then turn your compressors on their side and drill a hole in their center bottoms and then place them right side up on the corrugated steel and let the oil drain in the barrels. The oil may be sellable to some one local who wants that specialty oil and they may come to pick it up and or drain your oil from the barrels on site.
I have just started going for copper as a side gig and something to do. I am going for wires right now. I was at auction, and they were selling 16 milk crates full of power cords from small electronics, and I got all those crates for $10 total. I figured if nothing those milkcrates help a ton when buying from auctions. I also got a rather large box with cable wire (about 300 feet) for $6. I am removing the copper core from the cable. Most of my power cords are too small to run through auto stripper when removed from the coating so I am creating a tub of them. I do not think I will ever do what you are doing in this video because I do not have my own space and I also have nerve damage in the hands so not as maneuverable as I would like.
Here's how I saw a scrap yard do huge quantites of these:
1) Place them on a 4'x4' drainpain and drill a hole in the bottom of each compressor to let the oil drain out.
2) Use a plasma cutter suspended from above and put the compressor on a lazy susan to rotate it. Takes about 30 seconds to cut each compressor open.
3) Place in a vice. Cut the windings on one side of the motor with a reciprocating saw.
4) Place the half cut motor on a table with two arms to hold the steel portion. Run two pieces of rebar through the motor windings and attack the bars to an electric winch mounted above. Winch pulls the copper out no problem.
Recipro saws aren't very clean- a 5" angle grinder with 1mm cutting discs are the go.
This was a good experiment for Thub and he got a video out of it, but I would caution anyone out there not to bother with this sort of thing if they live in the first world and care about their health. Burning any refrigerant with chlorine in it, i.e. R-12, R-22, etc. is going to produce phosgene gas, and compressor oil WILL have small amounts of trapped refrigerant in it, in addition to a lot of other nasty acids/by-products. Phosgene gas was used in the trenches of WWI. It damages the lungs and causes respiratory diseases like COPD and lung cancer.
Yes it is@@poa2.0surface77, when unbrazing a compressor it is a danger.
My uncle owned a flat roofing company and we had a ton of these things. He had a different system than you but he definitely still made money off of scrapping them.
I am interested for compressor scrap buying
I once opened one compressor and had enough. So when I saw the title of your video, I had to watch it because for me, it sounded a mess. And in fact, with the dust, the smoke, the messy oil, the aluminium motor deception, it was a mess. Fortunately, this experience brought some good money. The one thing I will remember dough, is that you had the power, the courage to finish the job ! Five stars !
Thank you! I did it for the story haha, it paid decently well but I’m not gonna be suggesting other people do the same. It felt like it would never end!
I watch Non-ferrous Jeff every week. His videos feature along with numerous dinosaur-sized machinery but uncountable bins of Non-ferrous goods. One bin is the closed compressors. Always wonder wouldn't someone would make more money by breaking down the compressor. Now, I wonder how a buyer would break down thousands of the units and still make a profit. Great video!😂
@@MadelineRose-ep7fj I’ve wondered the same! I think that’s why most local scrapyards sent them overseas
When I'm breaking down motors I used to cut off the end and hammer out too, but then I came across a way that was way faster and didn't need any electrical equipment a simple large knife and a stone hammer placed in the middle of the unit would split it in half and the best part is no waste in copper recovery or needing to buy cutting blades, hope this helps.
@multidave2650 i think what would help people best, as this info u mentioned above, can only be seen as a comment - make a video and post it. That way, when people search for ways to scrap these, yours comes up. Then your help will reach so many more than this comment could ever do.
I’ve done about 16,000lbs of those. Plasma cutter is the best tool
That's a lot,
Was it worth it?
@@paulcoenen7918 definitely. I got over 2000lbs of copper and sold the steel for number #1 prepared. Very dirty and hard work though. I’d be pretty sore at the end of those days
Richtig.l Do IT with a plasmacutter,too.😊
Greedings from Germany
I bought a $200 plasma off of Amazon just for these sealed units. I have processes roughly 20 tons so far (40,000lbs). Torch 'em open, abrasive cutoff for one end of the motor, air hammer to knock the rest out. Plasma torch is the way to go. Bonus when they still have the oil in them. I boil it on my wood stove and save it to clean and lube hand tools, oil hinges on trailers, and keep an oil coat on my outdoor equipment before winter.
Refrigeration oils are hygroscopic. Meaning they absorb moisture and they also create acid in open air.
Yeah if someone's gonna do scraping you gotta have a trailer. It's a must.
Not having one ends up costing you more in damage to your vehicle, lost scrap opportunities, increased difficulty loading and unloading, wasted time, added gas costs, etc. Than a trailer costs
First off, thank you. I enjoyed your video, it was an ordinary man's thorough evaluation of whether scrapping compressors is worth the time and effort. Brings back memories of when I was a kid and saved newspapers, scrap metal and glass bottles for spending money.
I scrap them one at a time when I get them. I would never buy a large amount at once for a set price to risk the chance of getting aluminum windings
I was a shear operator for some years and have worked in many different scrapyards. The way most scrapyards grade prepared is if it's less than 3 feet by 18 inches and is mostly made of iron. Typically after the shred feed gets bailed all the iron on the ground that meets the size requirements gets thrown into the prepared pile no matter the thickness. I'm not sure about your local scrapyard, but a few pieces that don't meet the thickness required in the prepared pile wouldn't be an ordeal, in fact you might be helping them out.
A honest report about recycling. A rare perspective.
My truck is a Tundra 5.7L. It's only a half ton truck as well. But it's rated for pulling up to 12000lbs. And I do general junk removal now as well, and my very first customer back in spring just donated his trailer to me too. It's a 5.5x14ft cargo trailer. I haven't bought any metal yet but I've been thinking about it, but I'm not sure how to get started. Back in the spring this year, the county gave me 7 hydraulic oil pumps. It was probably 2 tons. It was a lot of oil I had to drain out. But it was worth it. I had a about half a ton of motors alone. The biggest weighed 180lbs by itself. I took 3 of then apart for the copper but gave up, it was too much work. If I remember correctly I got about $500. Funny thing was I hauled it all on a little uhaul trailer I rented! My cargo trailer now helps so much. It's only single axle, but it's good for bulky things like appliances.
Pulling 12,000 yes. Definitely nowhere near that loaded in the rear though
@@xninja83x67of course, it's only a half ton truck. But even then I try to keep the load below 50% of that, so I tow no more than 6000 at a time.
Just a tip...while a cordless Sawzall are so popular, everytime I use my corded Sawzall I'm amazed how much a far better tool it is
Have you ever thought about writing a detailed book on how you scrap, where you look, what to avoid, what tools you need, safety, etc? Id buy it
I actually have thought about that! Haven’t gotten around to it yet lol, but I appreciate the vote of confidence!
Thank you for taking the time. John.
level Israel and its people
greetings, here's my advice after I opened thousands of different compressors, the important thing is that you work on the floor and hold the compressor with your foot 1- take a large grinder and make cuts on one side (it's half of the compressor), put the grate on the bucket and let the oil drain drain it, until then continue with the next compressor, etc. 2- when you take out the engine and disassemble it, cut only one side where the copper is, light the fire and put all the engines on it to burn the varnish, then it's easy to pull out the copper with pliers... you can cut them with a burner - with oxygen and gas, but for me it's a more expensive option, this is the fastest...

I took in 1400 pounds of copper this summer that came out of compressors. i use a plasma cutter to cut the casings open. takes me 10-15 seconds to open them up in my hay day but last week it was taking me a bit longer but still under a minute, i was having to do it 1 handed while holding my goggles closed with the other hand. picked up new goggles over the weekend, so we will see if I can get it back down at least less than 30 seconds would make me happy again.
I already owned the plasma and to cut open the compressors/condensors i use my worn out bits that don't cut without leaving a jagged edge anymore so it was a way to finish burning up half used up tips I don't want to use on a project where I need clean even cuts. who cares what the cut looks like on scrap that is going in. So technically I have no expenses like cutting blades to include.
back again in my hay day when prices were down, I was buying them from my competition scrappers here in the country and i would cut them open and take them in when prices went up. quite a few thought I was losing money but my pockets said something different. i retired for a while but I am starting to come back out of retirement and do this again.
seeing you already have an air hammer, the bigger ones instead of cutting the one end of copper off and try to pull the whole thing out the other side just take your straight edge blade(hopefully you have one) and slice that sleeve of copper right in half down the center and now you only have to pull the copper wire out half the distance. yes you need to do it twice seeing it is cut in half but it is so much easier pulling it out half the distance.
if I had to depend on grinders, blades and torches to open them up, then I would probably not do it either but with the plasma it is a piece of cake. best tool i ever brought.
zomfg. plasma cutter.... how dope would that be.....
Used a 120v plasma cutter. But had a unreliable air source at the time
For info i have scrapped out lots of motors. Like you I cut off the windings on one end first. I usually pull the windings out with a big pair of waterpump pliers or drive them out of the slot with a punch and hammer. But its so slow and hard on the hands. That said watching you use a impact tool to drive them out is something i don't think I have ever tried. What i have tried with minor success is drive a tapered round prybar under a loop of winding then across and under a loop on the other side to try and start the winding moving.
Here's the fun idea inspired from watching you use the impact! If I were to drive the bar in as stated then run the impact thru the INSIDE of the windings and drive against the bar. I wonder if I could push out most all of the windings at one shot🤔
Always trying to find better ways😊
I like the shave, the drip and the project.. this was my favorite Thub video yet.. I'm inspired now to do something similar thank you 🙏 and keep up the hard work 🤙
You need a respirator on the entire time or else you are at high risk of developing lung cancer. Even after the air looks clear there are still vapors floating around, metal gasses if you will. Stay safe! 💪
Also..love the production quality of the video! And the clean shave!!
You best video yet thub! Lots of sparks, oily mess and your smooth, calm David Attleboro-like narration! Props! Btw, saw dust or kitty litter makes good oil absorbents. 👍
I just have to say, you are making awesome content. Well done. Super knowledgeable stuff and love watching your videos! 🙌 from a fellow Canadian scrapper!!
Make a metal drain pan to put the motor in, on top of a lazy susan. Put a drain on the pan going into a storage container for the oil. Mount the grinder on a fixed mount sideways wi9th adjustable height so all you have to do is rotate the lazy susan around to cut the casing in half. I did this many years ago when I was scrapping. It saved a large amount of time and no mess/ fire hazard from the oil being spilled all over the place. The lazy susan was on a metal plate and I could slide it in the pan for different sized compressors to get to the grinder. IIRC, I had it down to 1-2 minutes max per compressor. It also worked great for oil filled transformers. Then I could recycle the oil in several ways. I had a 2nd drain pan I put the compressors in upside down to finish draining all the oil out.
6:16 The sweet coppery filling
You know it!
That was really interesting. Thanks Thub!
I would love to see more like this! That was great!
I am so glad to have stumbled upon your channel! Keep up the great work fellow canadian!
Hello. Harbor Freight has a 7" grinder that I use. I can knock down about 100 lbs of aluminum control arms per blade. And they come in 5 pks for about $10 bux. Can't see it having a problem destroying those motor housings either. But is a real gem compared to changing the disks every 5 minutes on the 4.5" grinders. My .02 cents.
Maybe that’s the next upgrade I should be doing! The 4.5 has been good to me but it definitely has its weaknesses when doing large piles like this
@@thubprint you lose the bite
Ohhh - I have so much to say here. First . . who are you and what have you done with my Thub? Grow it back, dude. Second . . What were you thinking? That looked sooo difficult. Third . . I hope you could recycle the brass shell casings from all those bullets you sweated while transporting all that stuff. You are something special, Thub. Keep up the good work. What a fun video!
Dude's beautiful inside and out. Are you actually trying to smooth-face shame him? No, honey, we don't do that here
Oh lordie.@@medicbabe2ID
Videos like this are interesting from a business prospective
That's a heck of an experiment Thub! No one can say you don't earn it. Atta boy! Winter will be here soon, you should regrow your scarf. Have a good weekend broski.
plasma cutter is my favorite cutter by far, torch i only see as useful for cutting excessively thickwall metal and oxywelding thin gauge panels (which it actually does waay nicer than tig'ing)
Since I started watching lots of welder videos I am paranoid about Heat-affected zones, torch would tend to anneal things whereas the plasma does the job before it can heat-soak into the material and soften it.
(BTW Airbag time for both of us!)
My plan involves air-springs and fitting extended length radius arms.
Coil-spring Leaf-spring it don't matter, once you max them out they lose that nice memory and get sloppy.
Wonderful video. It was very enjoyable. The best part for me was seeing you open a compressor that I might have helped bulid.
Keep doing these kinds of video.
I actually buy these all the time and cut them open with a the same angle grinder. Not sure the disc you are using but I don't waste as much as you. I cut a hole at the top of every unit to drain the oil before I cut. It's always interesting to see how other people process these units.
So I learned something the other day while scrapping. I do alot of Plumbing scrap. The yellow flex Gas lines for Water heaters with Steel ends i Always thought they were aluminum or stainless tube with the metal end so I have always just thrown them out not worth the time and space to me. Well one had a big ball valve I wanted so I cut it off Turned out that flex line was Brass I Had 8 of them and 5 of the 8 were Brass. I will be checking those from now on I dont even want to think about how many I have left behind or thrown in the dumpster without checking.
Wow you’re doing it the hard way. I use a portable band saw for the ac compressors. I also do it differently. I guess I should make a video of the way I do it it might help people that do it.
How’d you do it??
Did you ever make a video of how you do it? I'm sure tons of people would want to see.
You're doing good work for the planet recycling important metal resources
pours oil into tree roots. YUP!
@@BulletTuna I mean, if you think about it, it kind of came from the earth. Just sending it back home.
More videos like this would be neat. Not necessarily compressor motors but making connections and buying unprocessed scrap from businesses. Then processing it a being the middleman. Im sure its easier said than done but itd cool none the less.
Thanks for doing this. Fun to tag along as always. Like these video’s
Thank you for doing this! I've often wondered what it would yield. And I've not seen anyone else post a true analysis like you did. TY, TY, TY!
If you need a rough guideline, they're made of roughly 8% copper, 1 to 2% oil, and then there's 90% steel, so you can do your math on those numbers.
I’ve been a welder for a couple of years and a torch guy at a scrap yard and from what I saw your technique could use a little work granted the torch you have isn’t that great but try and make a hole keeping the torch at a 90 degree angle heat the metal in the direction you want to cut to red hot then turn the torch to 180 degrees. This will cut a straight line and the oxygen will push all the molten iron away leaving a clean cut. Cutting your time from 8mins easily down to 2-3 mins (granted this will vary depending on your torch and how good it actually cuts). But great video over all I have thought about this many times working at a scrap yard. What I could buy for cheap and process down and make a little profit keep it up❤
Note you wanna keep your torch 180 degrees the entire time the only time it should be at 90 is when your starting a new cut or poking a hole. Hope this helps 🫡
Easier to just use a plasma cutter- cheaper too and safer with less fire.
ive tried with the plasma and burned out a tip on a larger one, though it is a cheap one and I have a hard time keeping the tip from touching cuz I m not steady
Not so sure the use of a cutting torch with an oil filled compressor is the safest way to go. Just my two.
@@riverboat28it’s not as dangerous as it sounds as long as you start the cut away from you so don’t get sprayed with oil. I cut huge hydraulic cylinders all the time & the flames can easily get about 10ft tall when you start cutting it but with a little experience it’s no problem to keep the flames away while you cut it
If you're running a torch, holding the flame sideways to the steel hosing instead of 90 degrees square to it, you'll rip through them like noones business. Hard to explain exactly, I hope you know what I mean... Try holding the torch as if you want to blow along the length of the steel instead of poking straight through it. It takes a bit to get used to but you'll sped up a ton once you get the groove. You also don't get near as much slag holding it together when you're done torching. If you've got the means, a plasma cutter might be slower than a fast guy on a torch, but the cost of operation of plasma Vs. torch might make it up. You'd still be pretty quick with plasma.
I own a 4 door 4x4 longbed Duramax truck and 2 trailers , a 5’x8’ & a 20’x6’ x4’ landscaping trailer.
And yes I filled the box w scrap metal and loaded a refrigerator on top of the box and filled it with metal and the same with washers , dryers and fridges . I’ll stack the gutted dryers on top of the washer that I’ve also gutted and filled with scrap metals .
In my last trip to pick up scrap metal, late at night I picked up a dual wheeled landscaping dolly & she’s a beast .
We have done this over a 55 gallon drum cut in half the long way with steel mesh over it to drain the oils into a 5 gallon pail worked great
If you cut a v notch in your air chisel i think it would help tremendously
Yes please to more videos like this. I always need a dose of reality with the ideas i have for scrapping . I love doing it infact you were a cheif influence to me but the cost must come into it. Love your stuff its the best on the internet.
If you need some rough numbers, consider compressors to have 8% copper, 1 or 2% oil, 90% steel. Electric motors have roughly 10% copper, rest is steel, or steel and aluminum combined.
I love it when you do these test runs. Conclusion: It was a decent return, but not so much that you would want to do it again. That's not so bad, and a fun experiment to try.
Haven't even watched the video yet and I'm already stoked haha. Love the vids
Thanks so much!
@@thubprint of course my friend. One questing tho. Im stacking motors to do and was wondering if car ultinators are worth doing.
@@lavitikis100 I’m not sure yet! I’ve got one on my list of teardowns but I haven’t ever taken one apart. I think probably yes? Maybe not the stator, that part would take the longest
@@thubprint for sure.. thank you. I just watched a video on it and it looked fairly easy. Little brass and dirty brass. Some cast aluminum and copper with a tad of prepared steel. I found a few ultinators on my property and saving them aswell. My angle grinder I found was out of service so when I'm able to snag one and a respirator I'll be in business :)
Great Job.
On the subject of your "getting ready for winter" video, I was surprised how much you made. I thought it would be worse.... I think that's good information to have... In the dead of winter, when there's no dumpsters, and not a lot to find, you can go get 2700 pounds of compressors, and make some money....
I know, you said you wouldn't do it again, but.... I think there is value in doing the work, crunching the numbers, and seeing what it really yields.... Going forward, you can fully grasp your options, evaluate your options, and make better decisions....
Absolutely! I won’t pretend I loved every part of the job, but knowing that’s one thing that I can do if I need a “quick” $500, it’s just another option that’s great to have in the tank. Making noise in your own space isn’t the worst way to spend a couple afternoons either! I don’t think it’s something a lot of scrapyards will want to facilitate as it’s not a great use of their labor, but it’s there.
Right now at the scrap yard I work at, we are doing 60, 1250 HP electric motors, over 2000 lbs of copper in each
😊 I did lot of copper scrapping when I was younger. Without power tools/gas cutter etc. When the copper was stuck. I just put it inside the fire.after it cools It takes only 10 minutes to get the copper. The fire burns non electric fibers in the coil copper comes loose easily. Hammer and chisel one side and pull out on the other side that's it. Ofc copper thin layer that covers the copper burns but it's way easier. To get the coils I just used bruteforce "sledgehammer". Or opened screws/nuts. Ofc I didn't demolish compressor motor .That might be harder...
This video was really well put together. Appreciate you comparing the torch to the cutting wheel.
Appreciate the forethought of you fast forwarding the waffling. Much appreciated my brother
I was wondering if anyone would notice that! 😆 when I’m recording it all seems like very relevant information but then in editing it, all those words don’t seem nearly as important aha
You are appreciated. Thank you for your instructive slice of life videos.
I don't think that's the best product to try to buy and process.. But however, I think a new wire stripper with a motor is in your future.. I think if you could find a electric log splitter is that you can put some tongues on and you can pull out the windings.. Then it would be more profitable in faster to do electric motors..
LOVED this video, amazing effort thub!
Thank you for sharing this video as it puts a realistic view on the broadview of doing this. For many this would be worth it as a side hobby for extra cash. Love the commentary throughout the video! Love the detailed shots, thank you again
I always shy away from sealed units simply because of the oil. Seeing the amount of cutting wheels needed just adds to my - no thanks list. Thanks for the info!
drill a hole in them , let them drain out 1st.
Where did you buy the motors from and how much did you pay per pound?
Cutting torch and oil. I'm surprised you didn't catch anything on fire. Good experiment and I'll avoid these like the plague. Thanks Thub
Ive always found with the electric motors to chisel from the inside of the motor to the outside. This gives a cleaner cut. I also cut the copper with a air chisel. This gives a much clearer cut for the copper to come out easier.
Gotta love all the sparks on the oil soaked cardbard
It's not going to catch fire.
I remember scrapping a whole factory. Cutting out copper pipes 8-10 hours a day climbing in insulation. Wasnt fun but i was making 1500 a week off the scrap copper
Thumbs up for the hard work
17.50 those parts are easy to dismantle when you find the welding seam and put that block on a diagonal position and hit it with sledgehammer.
That is the easiest way of getting the copper out
2160p60 looking shhweeeet nice shots !
Thank you! I’ve been enjoying playing with more interesting angles 👍
My potato cant handle that resolution Snarf snarf!
In my experience by doing something similar, this was way harder than scraping most other things (like electric motors and transformers) also it cost a lots of materials and energy plus it leaves a ton of mess. I would recomend if you were doing this at least make 5 pounds of cooper a day witch I easily achive by making a machine that rotated a big angle grinder around the fixed compresor and I use a big jack hammer to break the core in half and the extracting the copper with the same tool. Also I did try to drain all the oil in the scrap yard before weigthing it.
Dhhp where we q we’re
Albeit i am a welder, but i can usually have those apart in three minutes with a thinner than average cutoff wheel. Heres a trick to sort aluminum from copper, before you start cutting the seam, cut in till you hit the windings and check through the slit with a flashlight. Thats how i sort mine. Cutting the windings with a thin kerf metal blade on a sawzall is great because the dust can be taken in at least at my yard. Air hammer or my favorite, a five pound cross peen hammer will usually bust them out in three hits.
Always copper though in these compressed motors
@@stripperchalky not always, newer units have definitely contained aluminum windings, he also found some in the video.
I have cut a few to my horror which is aluminum. All the work down the drain.
Most fridge compressor are aluminum verse ac condenser compressor.
Ill re-faze that sorry, there are. But I've cut through hundreds and never came across one lol
I enjoyed watching this a lot. Money is hard to come by and this showed how with some ingenuity end effort cash can be made. It may not be easy but what is easy in life. I would love to see more of these videos.
I don't bother cutting up compressors. I worked out a few years back that the extra money isn't worth the time. I worked out that I was making an average of $2.50 per compressor and that's counting on the windings being copper, not alloy. Each one took me about 20 minutes to process so that's not a good use of my time.
However, if you still want to do this, try a plasma cutter. It has almost no consumables and is faster than either of the options you used.
Trim cut the copper tubing first because that's number 2 copper. Then drain the oil before attempting to cut the casing open. This reduces the oily mess and smoke.
Super cool video! I come across alot of compressors and was curious.. then boom your video pops up! Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching!
I charge around $1000 for labor to replace a compressor. Takes 2-3 depending on accessibility, vacuum time, etc…. Majority of the time is waiting for a vacuum pump….so sitting around. Something to consider.
Many years ago I used to load the compressors into a junk cars trunk since the cars junk value was based on its weight at a value higher than the compressor alone. Don’t know if that or something similar is still a thing but it’s something else to consider.
I think my methods are much better unless you factor in your Adsense revenue from UA-cam. In that case I have a feeling you’re winning. 😂
Good video!
I can give you a tip I'm a manager at a scrap yard in south Africa... After cutting the one side off of the copper motor we normally make a fire and chug them in there to burn all the glue and plastic off then cool it in water pulls out like butter after burning them
😂😂😂 funny you say that but all the scrap yards say we don't buy burned copper. there goes all your hard cash down the toilet.
I used to watch my dad burn the plastic off copper as a kid. Scrap yards don't take burned copper anymore in the US. If they did, I would definitely try your method. Great advice though thanks.
That's actually gotta smell great. Like when my shed catches some oil, just a tad though!
My buddy scraps and I stop over and help him out from time to time. We generally break down HVAC units into parts and end up with a pile of these compressors. We have considered breaking down the compressors, but you have covered a lot of the pitfalls we encountered. The big ones are aluminum and the oil. In your case, the number of aluminum windings weren't bad, but in several of our test runs we hit nearly 50%, which can turn this project upside down quick. The ratio of aluminum to copper is likely to increase as time goes on. The other is the oil. You didn't happen to mention the quantity, but we estimated somewhere in the drum territory for what we had
Oh that’s true actually, the aluminium ratio is definitely only going up.. the oil isn’t a big problem for me as I have free places to drop it off, but it’s still extra work.
I used to tear down electric motors at a repair shop. We had a horizontal chop saw to cut one end of winding off then we would bake the motors to remove the varnish coating. Then pull the copper out east enough.
great video thub, really enjoyed it. You sold me on cutting open the compressor motors I have. I do have a plasma cutter so hopefully it takes less time. Again, great video!!!!
Definitely did this many years ago. Electromagnetic same size motors similar to these without the oil and mess. 2x Volvo 240 trunk loads of them. Don’t recall the number of hours, but think in the end I was in the $350-400 range on the return.
Walter cut off discs last a lot longer, worth the extra couple bucks. Also a little tip I do.....cut a 5 gal bucket in half , put on under a milk crate. Cut the compressors on the milk crate , oil goes in to the bucket. You Will also get a better price if you burned the coating off the copper.
Check with your yard before you burn your copper! They may not take it at all. EPA stuff.
Hello Thub,, Sweden here again and scrapping still rocks.. Found a local buyer for higher grade circuitboards and things like that.
Some yards would have payed shred price for those compressor housings I'm sure, good thing you got prepared steel for it. I get prepared price for any clean steel If it's separated,, nuts, bolts, screws and you name it,, even the covers on AC units.
Fun video 🙂
This was quite an undertaking, I have 13 of these compressors right now in my scrap but they are going in whole lol....
I haven't gotten to the end of the video yet, did you figure out your profits taken out the cost of consumables? Power, Cutting discs, Gas, O2? And anything else like fuel for your truck?
I would recommend a plasma cutter. They are way cheaper than they used to be. Few hundred for a cheaper one but should have no problem running through those cases. Maybe you could rent one first and see how you like it.
great educational video.
subscribed just because of your good nature. Well done
Also masonry cutting discs I found work really well and then you can sharpen them
That last compressor reminds me of a Toyota transmission that had a AWD transfer case still on it I wanted to scrap, I got so aggravated trying to open it up because of all the funky bolts Toyota used on it . An American Transmission is so easy to open up. I think I had a hairline fracture in my wrist from hitting it with a 10b sledgehammer for what seems like hours. I didn't have a proper place to deal with it at the time, I was unfortunately living out of an Old GMC conversion van, at the time. Thankfully I own a house now. 😅.
Believe it or not I have split those copper motors with a kitchen knife and a hammer. I thought it was nuts until I tried it and it worked. I could cut them directly in half which made getting the copper out easy with a screw driver as a pry bar. A cleaver may be a sturdier option, but the old dull kitchen knife is still splitting. Great experimental video!!
I tried that with poor luck. I determined it was too much work. Maybe I was doing it wrong.
Machetes are even better
True dat!@@melissamacpherson5820
ripley;s said "not"
Pretty dam cool!!!! I would also think about doing just electric motors!
Great video. I was thinking about this and wondering if it would be worth it. Thanks for posting.
What a lovely mess! 🤣 At least you made bank! 👍
You look younger without your beard. 🥸
God bless 🙏🏼🇺🇸🇨🇦🇮🇱
nice! thats much better than i expected
i collect the rubber feet from them babies, got a big old fat zip lock bag. love your work, from one scrapper to another.
The Red Diable saw blades are now designed for cutting metal. I've used them on thick metal and the are very efficient.
Hi Just love the new image, with no beard. Keep up the good work, and love your videos. Regards John from UK
Thanks John! The beard will be back but it’s fun to switch things up sometimes🙂
1:10 I like all the trailer lifts up into the air as you unloaded it... 🤣
I've always calculated that each kilogram of compressor is worth about 1$. Depending on the stock market prices it goes up or down, and then depending on the prices of the scrapyard it goes down even more. Right now copper has fallen so I'd say you're looking at roughly 75 cents per kg, which is about 35 cents per pound.
Then there's the question of how much you pay for the compressors. So roughly speaking 2775 lbs is 1250 kg. Usually people will sell compressors for 40 cents per kg, sometimes less, which is just a bit higher than scrap steel prices. So if you extract 1$ per kg, but spend 40 cents and 3 days to open them up, it usually isn't worth it.
There are, however, machines designed to quickly and efficiently open the compressors, so you reduce your time from say 20 hours, to maybe like 4 or 5 hours.
Also worth noting that the percentage of copper is usually 7-8% with about 1 to 2% of the weight being oil, again sometimes more, sometimes less.
I don't think clearing them without machines is overall worth it, especially when you include the mess you make with the oil.
But if you get them cheap enough it can be a good project for the weekend to make some extra cash.
Had my 86 slammed full of alternators, starters etc that I bought from a a mechanic. Needless to say I was riding the axle all the way home. Just had to make sure not to hit turns too fast and to start braking in advance. Man I miss that truck. Thing was bulletproof and got me thru a lot of crazy salvage missions.
Great vid thub, I don’t blame ya one bit not doing it again lol. That’s some tuff hard messy work there. I also herd that heat and 410A can create a mustard type gas, but I seen you with the respirator which is great. I get $0.24 a lb on seals units. Which brings it to $8 to $15 each. I just leave enough copper to smash and fold to hold in fluids and dump as is. Besides the loading and unloading it’s the easiest way to deal with them jokers I think. Plus the smell from R22 & 410A smells like a bag full of mashed up A holes, and I have a weak sense of smell. So if I can smell it it’s bad lol. Love your content as always brother.
Sub# 380 something Dumpster Jerry ✌️
the torch and freon make phosgene gas.
The landlord's favorite tenant.
My dad is a scrapper/demo contractor, so its second nature for him to gut-out anything that has precious metals inside. Rarely its gold unless the electronics are old and military-grade, but theres plenty of copper to scrap, even stainless steel but he scraps usually copper now. It can be an honest living if you have a set of tools and a truck, emphasis on *can be.*
He definately prefers cutting things with a rotary disc, i never really see him use a torch
If you do try this again may I suggest you set up several steel drums with corrugated steel on top of them, then turn your compressors on their side and drill a hole in their center bottoms and then place them right side up on the corrugated steel and let the oil drain in the barrels. The oil may be sellable to some one local who wants that specialty oil and they may come to pick it up and or drain your oil from the barrels on site.
I have just started going for copper as a side gig and something to do. I am going for wires right now. I was at auction, and they were selling 16 milk crates full of power cords from small electronics, and I got all those crates for $10 total. I figured if nothing those milkcrates help a ton when buying from auctions. I also got a rather large box with cable wire (about 300 feet) for $6. I am removing the copper core from the cable. Most of my power cords are too small to run through auto stripper when removed from the coating so I am creating a tub of them. I do not think I will ever do what you are doing in this video because I do not have my own space and I also have nerve damage in the hands so not as maneuverable as I would like.