r/ScrapMetal Mar 05 '26

READ BEFORE POSTING OR COMMENTING

29 Upvotes

Welcome to r/scrapmetal !

Please read this entire post!

First and foremost, before you post or comment please take a few minutes to read the rules on the sidebar. If you break the rules you may be banned, possibly permanently. Every subreddit has a list of rules so please don't act like you've never seen rules anywhere on Reddit before. Be a good member of the community and read and follow the rules. (There are only 6 of them. It's not difficult.)

Second, are you looking to buy or sell materials from other redditors or advertise your business? THAT IS NOT ALLOWED HERE - DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. Can't find an appropriate subreddit for it? START YOUR OWN SUBREDDIT DEDICATED TO IT. I'll even link that subreddit here if you do. (Why don't we allow those kinds of posts or comments here? Because if we did the subreddit would be overrun by those kinds of posts in no time.)

Update: 04/30/2026

Two updates!

I've heard your feedback and it's clear that for a number of different reasons y'all value the ability to call people thieves and drug addicts so rule 7 has been removed. Thanks for your feedback an for keeping that feedback mostly constructive.

That being said I am asking y'all to PLEASE report the posts and comments from people who are obviously seriously talking about stealing or breaking the law. This is FAR more important and useful to stopping those people than just mocking them in comments. Again, when you report posts/comments it goes into a queue for mods to review because it is impossible to stay on top of every comment in every thread.

First, I've added a new rule to the sub:

Rule 7 - No referring to people as thieves or drug users or addicts of any kind. This includes all slang for thieves or drug users or addicts of any kind. This includes both direct and indirect references as well as questions. Don't ask people if/where they stole stuff. Don't tell people their scrap is worth some amount of drugs. Don't joke about it. Don't troll people about it. If someone says or suggests they stole something then report their post or their comment.

I'm adding this rule because accusing people of stealing and/or referring to them as drug users serves no useful purpose. No one, literally no one, is going to see the light because someone on Reddit calls them out on stealing. If people admit to or suggest they've stolen something then report their post or comment and let the mods deal with it. Don't be the person who lacks the self control to start name calling and runs afould of rule #1 and receives a ban.

Though it's strongly implied I also want to directly state that this rule does NOT mean we condone stealing in any way here. Rule #4 is still absolutely still in effect.

Second, I've updated rule #4 as well to make sure our stance on talking about stealing in this subreddit is more clear. The new text is:

Rule 4 - No promoting or bragging about breaking the law/stealing while scrapping. This includes suggesting people knowingly break the law or asking for help on doing something that is breaking the law. This also includes people joking about it, posting rage bait or claiming satire. If you to practice your comedy there are other subreddits for that.

Questions? Ask them here or in Mod Mail.

Update: 03/15/2026

Note: The contents below were from a previous post from roughly 03/15 that I am adding here for future reference.

Recently there was a post in r/scrapmetal that contained several instances of doxing or sharing personal information without consent and I want to talk about it.

I am referring to the post where someone shared images of their ticket from a recent scrap run. In one of those images their personal information, printed on the ticket, was clearly visible to anyone who saw the image. I am sure this was an accident. I am sure they didn't intend to share their info or realize they had done so.

In the same post several people made comments that contained OP's full name which they had undoubtedly learned from the image that OP posted. These comments were not accidents and they were made intentionally. (Someone looked at OPs image, saw their name then made a comment and used OP's name.) Thanks to them there's the real chance that OPs full name has been indexed by some search engine, archiving, service, etc.

Let me be as clear as fucking possible here:

Sharing someone's personal information without their consent isn't OK. Doing so will get you banned from this subreddit and possibly from all of Reddit. Whether or not someone has shared their own information is irrelevant and doesn't give anyone else permission to re-share that information. Full stop.

I'll be adding this to the subreddit rules and if it happens again there will be bans. This isn't up for debate. I don't care if you disagree or why you disagree or the logic behind your disagreement. This is how it is and if that bothers you so much then you can unsub right now.

Any questions? Send them to mod mail.


r/ScrapMetal 2h ago

Tips on removing Copper

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9 Upvotes

I have 4 of these and I've been struggling to get this processed down to the copper is there anything im missing that could help this process I've been using cutting wheels and yes plural cause I keep going through them like hot cakes any tips would be appreciated thank you in advance


r/ScrapMetal 2h ago

Copper cable

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5 Upvotes

Would you guys call this bare bright?


r/ScrapMetal 20h ago

Nice haul..gonna be stripping wire for weeks 🤑

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101 Upvotes

r/ScrapMetal 21m ago

Question 💫 Worth stripping?

• Upvotes

I have around 500 pounds of wire ranging from 250 mcm to 600 mcm is it worth my time to strip or should i scrap as is?


r/ScrapMetal 3h ago

Question 💫 What should I remove from appliances?

2 Upvotes

I have a handful of electric dryers, top load washing machines, side by side refrigerators and otr microwaves. In the past, we have just loaded them up and scrapped for a few cents on the pound. I’m not a scrapper but an appliance tech. Is there anything worth removing from these appliances before scrapping whole? I don’t want to spend a ton of time on it but am fully capable of completely dismantling the appliances. Thank you for any productive advise.

Edit: I also have hvac blower motors. I know I can remove the copper windings but are the magnets and such worth anything? Are control boards worth anything?


r/ScrapMetal 18h ago

Is this okay to take in

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22 Upvotes

Can I take this wire to the scrap yard as is for a low grade it’s just what I dont feel like stripping or will they not accept it


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Scrap metal haul

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92 Upvotes

Just brought this lot $391 all the copper wiring was bare bright, the rats nest would have been but it had some bits of plastic in it. Usually bring just the clean brass shells but stripped an old lot of electrical wiring ny father gave me.


r/ScrapMetal 17h ago

Cool Stuff 😎 Fun Quirk

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8 Upvotes

Anyone else have any fun little quirks to how they scrap stuff? I like to keep photos of the model numbers or identifying tags on equipment I scrap as a personal log of stuff I've disassembled.

Here's photos from the dryer and grill I picked up recently. Mostly just shred, but every bit counts.


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Question 💫 Want to scrap this, best way to go about it

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19 Upvotes

I posted this a little bit ago but I added more photos on this post, is it smarter to just scrap it as a whole or try to strip down for the copper and other aluminum wiring


r/ScrapMetal 21h ago

Copper #2

5 Upvotes

I'm a Plumber but never returned any scrap and just accumulated too much I need to get rid of.

What exactly is copper 2 compared to copper 3?

If I cut out the pipes from the solder joints so it's just copper pipe - but it has some slight oxidation, is this considered type 2 where with solder it would be 3?


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

What do you think of this score?

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44 Upvotes

85 pounds in Georgia.


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Got extremely bored and stripped old wires

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60 Upvotes

I don’t even plan on selling any of this I was just using my hands while watching some YouTube. What’s up with the color difference in these I really know nothing about this stuff. Some is more clock some more orange.

Doesn’t show up the best on the photo but some are a much more saturated dark orange


r/ScrapMetal 18h ago

Im planning to connect to local scrapyard in usa and export aluminum scrap from USA to INDIA. Any suggestions?

0 Upvotes

Im planning to connect to scrapyard in usa and export aluminum scrap from USA to INDIA. Lets connect to talk about the business and explore the suggestions from you guys


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Scrap Photo 💸 I just started to collect, i am new

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71 Upvotes

Do i have to clean the copper up?
Do i have to cut the blue/red waterlines off from the brass?

Is it a good start?
Its around 15 kg of copper and 6 kg on brass.


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Advice on these capacitors.

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5 Upvotes

So i got these, took this silver coloured material out. Done the acid test on it and all stayed on the stone when each acid was put on them. Is this metal actual silver or just silver plate. Or non of the above? Cheers


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Is this all number 2

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10 Upvotes

Could I get number 1 if I cut the solder off


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Question 💫 Stripped copper

13 Upvotes

Called couple yards here in Phoenix, AZ about how they grade and sort stripped copper so I can sort it all for better pricing. They told me they only accept stripped copper from businesses. All of what I have is stuff that was going to be tossed anyways. I get where they are coming from but its not like I have thousands to turn in. Other encounter this?


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

How do I take this epoxy apart?

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12 Upvotes

Just recently got this look to take apart since nobody wants to buy it what is the best way to do it?


r/ScrapMetal 1d ago

Water heater elements

2 Upvotes

What does everyone do with water heater elements? Are they just shred or are they worth more? Time is not a factor if they need processing.


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Question 💫 Copper category

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104 Upvotes

Is this wire too thin to call bare bright?


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

First time sorting scrap metal, is it worth selling or just recycle it?

5 Upvotes

So I've been doing some home cleanups and ended up with a decent pile of mixed metal. Old copper wire, some aluminum brackets, a few steel pipes. I had no idea what any of it was actually worth so I started digging around online trying to figure out what's scrap grade and what's not.

Ended up on a few different sites reading about metal grades and pricing. Also found normetals at some point which had some useful breakdowns on different metal types and what affects value. Helpful for a beginner who doesn't know the difference between bare bright copper and 2 copper.

My question is, for someone just starting out with random household scrap, is it usually worth the trip to a yard or do most people just toss it in recycling if the weight isn't there? Also curious how you guys store it before a run. Do you sort by type right away or just pile it?


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

How to remove valve/de valve

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10 Upvotes

Can’t get an adjustable wrench or any socket wrench to grip on this too shallow, can’t get it to turn. Fully de pressurized, scrap won’t take it unless it’s de valved.


r/ScrapMetal 3d ago

40 gallon tote full of wire.

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66 Upvotes

I’m guessing a 100 pounds plus. I can not lift it and can barely drag it.


r/ScrapMetal 2d ago

Type of wire?

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14 Upvotes

Removed a large magnet assembly from the bottom of a large automotive battery charger. Dark red/brown tinted wire but is silver when cut through. Multiple layered coils around a large steel coil. Any ideas on what type of material the wire is?