What do you do with old transformers?

Are transformers worth scrapping?

Right now, copper transformers sell to scrap yards for an average of $0.25/lb, but it isn't unusual to see the price as high as 35-45 cents* per pound.

Can you recycle small transformers?

These chargers can be taken apart and scrapped like a mini-transformer. Collect a pile of these and your local scrap yard will pay you cash for them. They will usually be priced at a lower electric motor price. They will often be classified as a copper bearing motor at your scrap yard.

How much can you get for a transformer?

What Can I Get Paid for a Scrap Transformer? Depending on how your scrap yard grades transformers (copper or aluminum), you may get anywhere from $0.02-0.15 per pound depending on current market conditions and the grading of material, which is up to the discretion of your scrap yard.

How much copper is in a power line transformer?

Rahangdale says, In a typical large transformer, 50% of the cost is in materials. Of that, about 15% to 20% is for copper and an equal percentage is for steel structural members and core laminations with the remainder in oil, insulation and the rest.

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Are transformers worth anything?

Kids who played with Transformers in the '80s are now adults with money, and nostalgia can do wonders for the collectible toy market. Transformers toys that are still in good condition and have the box are now extremely valuable, and some of them can fetch 10 to 100 times their original price tag at auction.

What kind of metal is in a transformer?

Amorphous metal materials for transformers, whose main ingredient is Fe (iron), are used in power line transformers and industrial transformers. Compared to conventional materials such as silicon steel, amorphous metal materials have a small no-load loss (iron loss), 1/5 that of silicon steel.

What is inside a transformer?

Distribution transformers consist of a magnetic core made from laminations of sheet silicon steel (transformer steel) stacked and either glued together with resin or banded together with steel straps, with the primary and secondary wire windings wrapped around them.

Is there a lot of copper in transformers?

Transformers are worth a great deal of money at the scrap yard due to their heavy weight of the steel casing, but they also contain a good deal of copper or aluminum wiring on the inside. Transformers can vary in size and variety depending on the type of device they are form and what they are used for.

Why are the coils in a transformer made of copper?

Copper displays low levels of creep. Under the extreme loading and temperature conditions of distribution transformer windings, creep rates of aluminium can be up to 25 times higher than for copper. This results in aluminium wound distribution transformers having a higher propensity to failure than copper wound ones.

What is the most collectible Transformer?

Why are Transformer toys so expensive?

The toymaker, like most U.S. manufacturers, has had to contend with rising resin, packaging and metal prices, as well as soaring transportation costs due to high demand and supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What's the most expensive transformer toy?

Unicron, the biggest and most expensive Transformers toy ever, smashes all expectations. Unicron and a 10-cent coin. With a height of 71 cm and a girth of 83 cm, Unicron is the biggest transforming Transformer ever to hit the homes of collectors — and he's got all the bells and whistles that you'd expect.

Where is the most scrap copper?

Is the oil in transformers toxic?

Unfortunately, they are also toxic, bioaccumulative, not at all biodegradable, and difficult to dispose of safely. When burned, they form even more toxic products, such as chlorinated dioxins and chlorinated dibenzofurans.

Why are transformers filled with oil?

Transformer oil is used to insulate high-voltage electrical infrastructure such as transformers, capacitors, switches and circuit breakers. Transformer oils are designed to operate effectively at very high temperatures, cooling, insulating, and stopping corona discharges and arcing.