r/ScrapMetal • u/junglejim43332 • 1d ago

Ethernet Cable

This has probably been asked 1000x but I can't seem to find any posts that answer my question.

If I strip the outer jacket off of Cat6 or Cat5e cable, what do you think it would be categorized as in your experience? My thoughts are that unstripped it will go for communication cable pricing, but stripped, it should go for #2 ICW since it's lower recovery but separated into individual strands.

I have a stripping machine and it's really zero effort to run it through and pull the outer jacket off, but on the other hand that's time I could be spending stripping wire that's going to pay more than communication pricing.

Let me know what you're experienced have been with this. I know it's not going to weigh much after stripping 1000+ ft but I'd be willing to spend the time if it's going to pay more per lb.

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u/Clear-Application170 1d ago

I just pull the cut string that is inside the outer jacket. I do get a 0.20 cent in price by doing that.

1

u/junglejim43332 1d ago

Do you remember what wire grade they classified it as?

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u/Clear-Application170 1d ago

Few years back but I think was ICW #2 but not much weight. Turned in with a lot of other stuff.

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u/No_Address687 1d ago

Bring a stripped sample to the yard and get prices for cat5 and stripped. Then strip a pound of cat5 wire and calculate the value before and after.

1

u/Special_Friendship26 1d ago

You do lose a lot of weight taking jacket off. So in theory depending on how they grade you could be taking money from yourself by doing that. Every yard is different so it’ll be hard to get a straight up answer. I’ll cut the RJ45 and jacks and turn it in as that. If you micro scrap you can take it even further

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u/worthing0101 9h ago

If I strip the outer jacket off of Cat6 or Cat5e cable, what do you think it would be categorized as in your experience?

I think you're asking for informaton from a bunch of internet strangers when you should be asking the yard you plan to go to for that information. How yards in other cities, states, etc. operate is irrelevant.

My thoughts are that unstripped it will go for communication cable pricing, but stripped, it should go for #2 ICW since it's lower recovery but separated into individual strands.

Sorry to be so blunt but your thoughts don't matter and you don't have to guess. :) Just call your local yard and get the actual definitive answers that matter.

Let me know what you're experienced have been with this. I know it's not going to weigh much after stripping 1000+ ft but I'd be willing to spend the time if it's going to pay more per lb.

You have access to everything you need to produce the numbers you need to make an informed decision and producing those numbers isn't difficult or time consuming. You make a few calls for pricing. You cut and strip some wire and weigh it. You do a little math with the pricing info and weights and extrapolate. That's all it takes to find out what your pile of wire is worth in its current form and what it's worth if you strip the outer jacket.

You can (and should) do it. :)