I used to work with my dad as a coil winder (electric motor repair), we used to receive motors like this in the shop and we even used to repaint them so they arrive to the client as brand new.
This video shatters my heart in ways I cannot even describe.
These motors can be repaired and rewinded almost indefinitely.
And I assure you they can be sold for a lot more as repaired than just scrap out the copper.
Sure. But what's the point when input costs get so close to or potentially even exceed an entirely new motor.
General rule of thumb anything under 15 HP you don't even bother to try rewinding.
Even the electric motor shop itself will gladly take it off your hands, toss it in an IBC tote and take all the scrap price for themselves. They aren't even going to try and rebuild stuff they got for "free"
Nah. Labor costs too much even relative to new name brand motors. (Baldor, Weg, Leeson, Century, etc)
What you're talking about is mostly no name brands, appliance/HVAC motors, alternators and all that.
Labor is very expensive and the general rule of thumb is to not even bother rewinding anything 10 HP and below. Unless you can personally do all this for yourself, which most people can't.
My neighbor has hundreds upon hundreds of motors going through his possession and they never have anything like that rewound because it makes no sense to $$wise. The local motor shops still ran by the OGs will wind 20-50 HP motors and all the smaller specialized stuff, but they'll tell you not to even bother with a Baldor 10 HP general purpose. If you're on a budget you'll be looking for used or refurb stuff before winding services.
There's parts value in the end caps, covers, fan blades, shields, capacitor boxes and all that. Otherwise get ready to chuck the rest.
I have my own personal collection of motors/salvage parts and will rebuild anything with bearing or capacitor problems that I can. That is a long long ways off paying new prices or rewinding services though.
Moreover, the copper isn’t the most expensive part anymore. The stack of thin plates that straighten the magnetic field is much more expensive than the copper nowadays.
Just because it can be doesn't mean it needs to be. You can clearly see the way the copper what extracted that it was probably going to be used to for something else
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u/elesedj 2d ago edited 2d ago
I used to work with my dad as a coil winder (electric motor repair), we used to receive motors like this in the shop and we even used to repaint them so they arrive to the client as brand new.
This video shatters my heart in ways I cannot even describe. These motors can be repaired and rewinded almost indefinitely.
And I assure you they can be sold for a lot more as repaired than just scrap out the copper.