What to do with old electric cable?

aliasojo

Being the hoarder I am, I kept loads of bits of cable of various lengths and thicknesses.

I suspect I could sell the part reels on ebay but is there anything I can do with the more scrappy stuff? Is there a scrap metal type place for cable or should I just take it to the dump?

bengalknights

If theres copper cable in there you should be able to scrap it at your local scrap merchant.

aliasojo

Would I have to strip all the outer plastic sheathing off and just take the bare cable or would they take it 'as is'?

justjohn

burning the plastic of destroy's the enviroment, but it does save time lol

ormus

they pay a lot more money for bright copper.
so strip the plastic off.

Hintza

Last year was £1,400/ton for cable and £4,500/ton for bright. I woul only strop thick stuff and not bother with normal household cable.

(Not sure of prices just now but they are down a bit)

When we knocked our old 3 room cottage down I received over £600 for all the scrap that I stripped out (lead, copper, boilers, brass, zinc, stainless steel, aluminium, unstripped cable and steel & cast iron).

jc808

Leave it outside for the gyppos

phill99

Take it all to the scrap man (VIR (as it id called) is currently about £1300 / tonne, but they buy it by the kilo, so you'll get £1.30 / kilo.

zax47

phill99 wrote: »

Take it all to the scrap man (VIR (as it id called) is currently about £1300 / tonne, but they buy it by the kilo, so you'll get £1.30 / kilo.

VIR is Vulcanised India Rubber covered cable. Not used since the 40s/50s. Unlikley that the OP has a huge pile of VIR to weigh in. More likely he's got PVC T&E stuff.

FWIW, a local company specialise in cable stripping machines. As well as the huge "industrial" machines they also have a drill powered one for sparkies;

http://www.wrightsmachinery.co.uk/2009/01/mini-drill-stripper/

shandypants5

If you have part reels of the old colour wire it sells on Ebay for more than new stuff does.

I think its so that people can modify old wiring and not have to have it all tested to the latest regulations.

phill99

zax47 wrote: »

VIR is Vulcanised India Rubber covered cable. Not used since the 40s/50s. Unlikley that the OP has a huge pile of VIR to weigh in. More likely he's got PVC T&E stuff.

FWIW, a local company specialise in cable stripping machines. As well as the huge "industrial" machines they also have a drill powered one for sparkies;

http://www.wrightsmachinery.co.uk/2009/01/mini-drill-stripper/

'VIR' is the term used by the scrap metal industry to denote ALL cables and wires, regardless of whether they are covered in runner, PVC, cloth or anything else.