Should You Strip Copper Wire Before Scrapping It?

If you are trying to make money by scrapping copper wire, a question that will likely come up is if you should strip the wires before you scrap them. Here are some things to consider before you decide what to do with all your wire. 

Do You Have Equipment? 

One of the first questions worth asking is if you have the necessary equipment to strip the wire. There are tools that help make this process easier than getting out a knife and cutting away the insulation by hand. However, the equipment is expensive and people that are new to scrapping copper may not have access to it. This means that the entire process has to be done manually, which is time-consuming to do. 

If you have to manually strip the wires, then you really need to ask yourself if it is worth your time to do so. What else could you be doing rather than stripping copper wire? Could you be finding more copper to scrap? Will you be spending that time relaxing? Do you really have nothing better to do and want to maximize your profits? This is a personal question that you need to ask yourself because time is money. 

Is The Copper Wire High Grade And Easy To Strip?

There are some types of wire that are always going to be worth your time to strip the wire of its insulation. If you have bare bright copper wire that is a thick gauge hidden underneath that layer of insulation, then you are going to likely see a notable price difference by stripping the insulation. If you have a low-grade copper wire that is very thin, you may find that stripping the wire simply isn't worth it due to the lower price differences of stripping the wire. 

You also need to look at how easy it will be to strip the wire because some copper wire is easier to strip than others. If you are dealing with that high-grade copper wire, know that it only takes a minute or two to take a knife and cut away the insulation. When you have thin copper wires from extension cords or telephone cords, the thin nature of the wire also makes it difficult to strip. Cutting away the insulation with a knife could damage the copper and potentially cause you to end up with less of it in the end. 

Talk to a copper recycling professional to find out if you should strip your copper.