# whole relays, contactors, etc. Anybody buy them?



## silversaddle1 (Dec 6, 2011)

So I'm thinking I should really be keeping all these relays, contactors, and breakers seperate from the steel scrap. I know they all contain PM's, but I will never recover them myself. I get many of them, in all different sizes, from basketball sized down to little ones about the size of a pack of smokes. What would be the value to a refiner in their whole form?


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## Oz (Dec 6, 2011)

Silver content.


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## Smack (Dec 6, 2011)

Copper & Silver


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## johnny309 (Dec 6, 2011)

In the "whole" form ...still need to do manual job to get the "goodies".....meaning separanting first all the plastic and iron(the main ingrediants in the "recepie"...and some Al)....
On a large scale....with copper cell it's OK
On small scale ....it's a hobby and a learning material .

Just my opinion....but ask Manuel...he is the expert on silver and thio leaching procedure(he has experience....and experience comes with time...and a lot of hard work).


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Dec 7, 2011)

I have posted a few manuals about relays,including TELEDYNE,some points contain gold,others contain silver,you have got to check those manuals,they are here in the Forum.

The way to process relays could be a hard work because you have to cut the points and process them,do not ever drop a whole relay into acid!

Kindest regards.

Manuel


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## darshevo (Dec 7, 2011)

Silver, in my area they take them as a general breakage (a mid grade that includes computer power supplies) and currently I think it's about .25/lb. You might also check ebay and see if they are selling on there in larger weight lots, I have seen them do well on occasion


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## rusty (Dec 7, 2011)

silversaddle1 said:


> So I'm thinking I should really be keeping all these relays, contactors, and breakers seperate from the steel scrap. I know they all contain PM's, but I will never recover them myself. I get many of them, in all different sizes, from basketball sized down to little ones about the size of a pack of smokes. What would be the value to a refiner in their whole form?



Whole relays would be classified as breackage or motor scrap depending on what your local scrap yard calls this grade of scrap, there is no consideration for the precious metals content.


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## MMFJ (Dec 15, 2011)

I recently purchased a lot of larger sized electrical relays.

While the resale value on this is very high, the fact is that they are S L O W sellers - at best... - and they take a lot of room to store and are HEAVY, so selling them on fleabay or somewhere is out of the question as a scrap item because of the high shipping.

So.....

I started tearing them apart for the scrap - some of them are pretty good with PM, some just a lot of 'mixed metal' as our scrapper folks call it ($.08 per pound or so).

At any rate, I put together a video series on taking one apart - perhaps it will help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9cvr5jfmpE

I'm saving all the 'bits' into a "low grade" pile, to be sorted through _someday_....


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## gold4mike (Dec 15, 2011)

MMFJ,

I noticed in your Video #5 that you throw the transformers into your mixed metal bin. You might check with your local scrap yard and see, but my local yard pays the same on them as electric motors. I've been getting $0.35/pound for them. I also throw all my plastic computer fans in with them.


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## MMFJ (Dec 15, 2011)

gold4mike said:


> MMFJ,
> 
> I noticed in your Video #5 that you throw the transformers into your mixed metal bin. You might check with your local scrap yard and see, but my local yard pays the same on them as electric motors. I've been getting $0.35/pound for them. I also throw all my plastic computer fans in with them.



Thanks for the tip - I'll try that with them next round!

Seems each yard has their own 'rules' - which seem sometimes to vary from person to person! 

Yesterday, I had a friend take a small load of 'mixed', 'aluminum' and 'copper' along with the aluminum cans he had to sell over to his favorite scrap yard, since he was going anyway.

The guy looked into the aluminum box and saw one piece that was painted and another with a small piece of brass (which brings more than aluminum and thus, accepted at my standard place) and REFUSED to take the whole box - including the 'whistle clean' aluminum plates and parts (which he offered to separate and get back in 'line')! Same with the copper bin, as we had motors as well as a small amount of 'dirty' wire in there (which is taken at my standard place as 'motors'). They did take the mixed metal, (which included PC carcases with plastic on them!) and paid the $.08/lb for them - I figured that, if anything, these would be what they'd return.....

I have never kept a separate 'motors' bin, but from your tip, I think I'll start and see how the yard responds. 

Each person does need to 'balance' their bin storage/separation area with the amount of any type of scrap they get, the price the yard pays and most importantly, the time they put into it all!


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## kurt (Dec 16, 2011)

I pay 10 cents a pound more then the going price of copper breackage when I buy "whole" mixed lots of contactors (relays, magnetic disconects, timers, etc.) The exception to that is curcuit breakers which I only pay 5 cents a pound more then copper breackage for - so I tell all my clients to keep them in a bucket or barrel of there own because if I see alot of them in the mix I factor that in which will drop the price of a mixed lot to 7 cents over copper breackage.

I have processed a little over 1,200 lb of whole contactors this last year. Its a "LOT" of work & I have concluded those are fair prices. Its a price that gives my clients the incentive to sort them from there other scrap & its fair for what I get in return. --- If I had to pay more I don't think I would mess with it.

Kurt


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## silversaddle1 (Dec 16, 2011)

Kurt,

When you say "copper breakage" I'm guessing that is the same as electric motor scrap? Would you be interested in 500 or 1000 pound lots?

PM me.


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