Copper Price

[Goldenboy]

Well copper prices continue to climb. I think I've got about 50 pounds stripped right now. I think maybe I'll take it in. I think it's just under $4.00 a pound right now.

Does everyone else save copper? It's amazing if you pay attention how much is laying around. Just about every construction job I go to I find old street light wires,old romex, and ground wires stirred up daily when they grade.

[TheCableVine]

Excellent idea. I used to have some big wire cutters and I would cut the excess copper off of the ground wires on houses.

I haven't done it for a while. Maybe I should start again.

[underground quester]

Everywhere in the newer areas I work someone is stripping the copper out of scraps from new installations and leaving the empty jacket.

At $4.00 pound I guess I can understand why!!

[yahoo]

that is a subject that we can not even talk about down this way.......with all the illegal activity going on stealing cables etc etc.... etc.... we don't dare get involved with that type of activity:escape:

[Goldenboy]

that is a subject that we can not even talk about down this way.......with all the illegal activity going on stealing cables etc etc.... etc.... we don't dare get involved with that type of activity:escape:

I have seen on the news about people stealing ground wires right off poles and transormers. I'm just talking about abandoned lines found when they knock down buildings and grade for new bldgs. The old lines are normally just in the old parts of town. Normally old private lighting or private electric to old out bldgs.

[Wingfoot]

Kansas City, like many other cities, has been plagued with copper robbers for the last few years. Seems like it is getting worse every day. These events since August 2007:

Copper Phone Lines Stolen (http://www.kctv5.com/news/14154059/detail.html)

Copper Theft Cuts Phone Service To Hundreds (http://www.kctv5.com/news/15915542/detail.html)

Copper Theft Leaves City In Dark (http://www.kctv5.com/news/14741237/detail.html)

Ammunition Plant Workers Accused Of Stealing More Than 8 Tons Of Bullet Cups (http://www.kctv5.com/news/15892425/detail.html)

Air Conditioning Units Stolen (http://www.kctv5.com/news/13758914/detail.html) - Thieves caused $25,000 in damage, stealing 700 pounds of copper

Burglars Steal Copper From Church Building (http://www.kctv5.com/news/15972028/detail.html)

Suspects Arrested Following Copper Telephone Wire Heist (http://www.kctv5.com/news/13951663/detail.html)

New legislation in Missouri has been passed May 14, 2008 that requires scrap metal dealers to get a copy of photo identification from people who are not regular customers and are selling more than $50 of copper or aluminum. Dealers would have to keep those records on file in case police want to inspect them.

The bill also limits what metal dealers can buy, barring the purchase or sale of manhole covers, guardrails or traffic lights.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt must sign the bill before it can go into effect.

[sprayandpray]

I wonder if it would pay to pick up rebar?

[underground quester]

We have a smelter here in Alberta that buys every piece of iron/steel and melt it down. They make various sizes of rebar with it.

So, you would have a real mixture of grades/carbon content so not sure how much it would be worth. However, I am sure there must be some kind of a market for it. Nobody seems to be in a hurry to pick it up though and lots of contractors just bury whats left over rather than try to salvage it.
Won't that be fun in the years ahead?

It is really a pain in the A** for me because the majority of my area is newer construction...Industrial, commercial and residential and that S**T is lying around everywhere!

[TBONE]

Hey you have to find ways to buy gas these days right:ylsuper:

[locator_smbk]

North Carolina now has a law on the book dealing with some of the thefts of copper.

The law prohibits anyone from riding in a vehicle carrying or otherwise transporting more than 25 pounds of copper without a vaild reciept.

So answer me this....how does the telephone company's mainline contractor prove the full spool of 200 pair on their trailer is theirs or the phone company's?

[big boots mcghee]

During a road reconstruction project last year the electric company out here decided to abandon an underground transmission line, that was in conduit mind you, and simply cut it off at either end. That line just happened to be a three phase threaded copper transmission line (not just the outer concentric, each phase was entirely copper and about two inches thick) and ran for more than a half mile. As soon as the multiple contractors working the site saw the line was "available" they started in on it. We estimated there was somewhere in the neighborhood of $75,000 work of copper there, probably more, and it didn't stay in the ground two days after it was left for dead.

I find scraps here and there, and am hopeful it'll add up to a decent amount when I turn it in. Both of my adjoining neighbors collect it big time. One of them even had all of his stolen last summer, two garbage cans FULL of the stuff, right out of his garage. Crazy.

[TBONE]

Anyone ever see the powerpoint of the guy who got fried stealing copper from a sub station.....like ohh my god not me not worth it :yikes:

[Goldenboy]

It's amazing what people will do for just a little copper. All the poles in my downtown area are missing the ground wires. The bums cut them off inbetween the staples that hold them to the pole.

[TBONE]

They soon will have to U gaurd the copper ground to try to keep them off of it :scold:

[USIC1]

Excellent idea. I used to have some big wire cutters and I would cut the excess copper off of the ground wires on houses.

I haven't done it for a while. Maybe I should start again.

Who cares about excess???

Maybe I ll keep my eyes open for gutters on old buildings and vacant houses with the fancy porch roofs...



"I saw the guy that took it...He had this paint all over his shoes...Thats all I know Mr Officer..."

[TBONE]

Who cares about excess???

Maybe I ll keep my eyes open for gutters on old buildings and vacant houses with the fancy porch roofs...



"I saw the guy that took it...He had this paint all over his shoes...Thats all I know Mr Officer..."


Yeah he had "Yellow: boots..lol

[UULC]

I have noticed a lot of ground wires missing too.

[underground quester]

Anyone ever see the powerpoint of the guy who got fried stealing copper from a sub station.....like ohh my god not me not worth it :yikes:

Which proves there is a fool born every minute. A sub station...unbelievable!!

[UULC]

That would be stupidy. Anyone who would enter a sub-station just to get the copper. I have seen it with FPL sub-stations. The wire taken off the fence and pulled out of the ground by a 4X4. The tracks were left on the ground. All i could think of if it would have pulled up a feeder.

[Wingfoot]

"I saw the guy that took it...He had this paint all over his shoes...Thats all I know Mr Officer..."

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff124/wingfootsmp/sparky.gif

[underground quester]

This happened in Edmonton, Alberta last night (May 28/08). Unbelievable!
As reported in the Edmonton Sun newspaper



An attempt at stealing copper wire turned tragic today for a man zapped at an Epcor site.
The 49-year-old man suffering serious burns was found by police inside a power substation compound at 97 Street and 127 Avenue shortly after 2:30 a.m. The zap sent him to the University hospital, where he remained in critical condition this afternoon.

Police say that at the time of the fire, the man had been stripping copper wire, something that’s become an increasingly common target for thefts in Edmonton.

“It’s getting worse,” said Darlene La Trace, the executive vice-president of the Edmonton Construction Association.

Rising prices for metals such as copper are fuelling the thefts, which the culprits then try to turn into a profit by selling the stolen goods to scrap-metal dealers.

La Trace, who is involved with a program designed to help builders prevent theft, said the Edmonton Construction Association itself became a victim just last week. A contractor had some copper on the site for renovation work, which thieves managed to drive away with on a flatbed truck.




“There’s nobody immune to it,” said La Trace.

Tim le Riche, a senior advisor for corporate relations at Epcor, said the problem isn’t a huge one for the city-owned utility.

“Copper theft is widespread throughout industry. Fortunately, our experience at Epcor is less than you’d find at other major utilities in North America, but it does happen,” he said.

Still, le Riche added that the company is very concerned about the safety risks people like the thief at the 97 Street substation expose themselves to.

“The money someone might get from stealing is a pittance compared to the risk of injury,” said le Riche.

“These are powerful stations, and they demand respect,” he noted.

In today’s case, the man was fortunate that police were nearby dealing with a traffic issue when they heard a loud bang from the substation. After a woman known to the burn victim ran up to them, police went inside to find him in distress. Charges against him are pending, police said today.

A similar incident in January turned deadly for a 32-year-old man who broke into a power substation in the Toronto suburb of Ajax. Emergency workers there found his lifeless body on top of a transformer after he touched a 44,000-volt conductor.

glenn.kauth@sunmedia.ca

[sprayandpray]

You know, it's just amazing how evolution works - the Gene Pool is pretty good at cleansing itself sometimes;):bonk:

[underground quester]

Spray:

Yes, natural selection can be a "shocking" experience sometimes, can't it?:yikes:

Like I said in a earlier thread, no accounting for stupidity!

Plus, in this case, IF he gets better, he faces theft charges. Double Whammy

[big boots mcghee]

Technically speaking, is it stealing if a contractor leaves dozens of solid copper rods (along with some other equipment and supplies) in an open field next to a park and they get "found"?

I can see calling it stealing if people are ripping down poles, hopping substation fences, and breaking into fenced in construction sites for bits of copper, but if a hunk of copper is just laying about and I happen to claim it, that's not stealing.

[Wingfoot]

This report came from the OG&E Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:

We have trouble with people stealing copper from our pole lines and Sub Stations. Our trouble shooter found the cause of a recent power shortage at the NE 50th Street electrical Sub-Station in Oklahoma City. Our lineman did not enjoy finding the smoldering remains of this copper thief.

If this GRAPHIC photo (http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff124/wingfootsmp/Dontstealcopper.jpg) circulates for people to see how dangerous copper theft can be around high voltage equipment, maybe a death or serious injury can be prevented.

On a positive note, this guy is done giving us problems.

[underground quester]

This report came from the OG&E Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:

We have trouble with people stealing copper from our pole lines and Sub Stations. Our trouble shooter found the cause of a recent power shortage at the NE 50th Street electrical Sub-Station in Oklahoma City. Our lineman did not enjoy finding the smoldering remains of this copper thief.

If this GRAPHIC photo (http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff124/wingfootsmp/Dontstealcopper.jpg) circulates for people to see how dangerous copper theft can be around high voltage equipment, maybe a death or serious injury can be prevented.

On a positive note, this guy is done giving us problems.



Coulda, shoulda, woulda bought the fibreglass pole from the paint store! I'll just bet he put on a pair of linesmans gloves and thought he would be okay.

[Mr Blunderbuss]

The 49-year-old man suffering serious burns was found by police inside a power substation compound at 97 Street and 127 Avenue shortly after 2:30 a.m. The zap sent him to the University hospital, where he remained in critical condition this afternoon.

Watched video testimonials by linemen who were victims of arc flashes. On the surface they seem not so serious. But the critical period after being burned is the week to 2 weeks following the incident. In the end it took over a year for both linemen to fully recover.

As everyone here should know, electricity burns the body from within and the damage is not clearly evident until days after. One lineman showed pictures of his arm over a period of a few weeks. It was not pretty. He eventually lost the arm. This idiot trying to steal copper will be damned lucky if he survives.

[Wingfoot]

As everyone here should know, electricity burns the body from within and the damage is not clearly evident until days after. One lineman showed pictures of his arm over a period of a few weeks. It was not pretty. He eventually lost the arm.
Electricity flows on the outer surface of a conductive material. Electricity that flows through the human body follows the outside of the bones. The meat that attaches to the bones gets cooked. If a person survives the initial shock, the healing of the cooked meat takes time.

[yahoo]

wing wasn't there a better way to put that ...... i know there wasn't ..just joking.....it scares me to just think about it

[Goldenboy]

This is the whole reason I hate electricity. Whenever I arrive at an electric fault I never locate until the power is killed. You never know when it is a ground fault the travels back up a burned up tv or tel line.

[underground quester]

NOT COPPER, but it is related.

POLICE NAB SUSPECT IN MANHOLE COVER THEFTS.


Ottawa (Canada) July 5,2008:

"Police made an arrest Friday (July 4/08) in connection with a batch of sewer lid swindles, which saw hundreds of manhole covers disappear from Ottawa streets last month alone.

Tim Argiropoulos, 42 of Ottawa faces several charges.

Officials assume the covers are being stolen for the resale value of the scrap metal." :bonk: :stars:

[Goldenboy]

Does anyone know any websites that give the daily copper scrap prices? I took some in the other day and was surprised to see the price had dropped about a dollar per pound. It would be nice to have a way to tell the price before you take it in. I googled around a bit but couldn't find the daily scrap prices.

[USIC1]

I ve been a kitco fan in the past but it doesn tcover the scrap-

http://www.kitconet.com/indexes.html


base metals


How about a little of those Iraqi Dinars?!?!?!

Once that oil starts pumping there money may be worth somethin'

[Wingfoot]

Hey U Sic 1 - Europe has just come back from it's August vacation/Holiday. The European Stock Market is always closed for the month of August while these people take off work for 4 weeks. Traditionally, Gold starts a rising trend shortly after the European speculators return to work in September. Gold is greatly undervalued. Taking inflation into consideration, Gold should be $5,000 (U.S.) per ounce. After this election, watch Gold & Silver prices skyrocket as the value of the dollar plunges.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, under the orders of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank (IMF), made it illegal for 'We the Sheeple' to possess Gold bullion (bars). American peasants can still possess Gold coins. The American $20 Gold coin, minted over a hundred years ago, is an ounce of Gold. Gold & Silver coins are a much better investment (http://www.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_as_an_investment) than the volatile Wall Street Stock Market. Plus, there is no capital gains tax on the buying and selling (http://www.discounttradinggroup.com/) of Gold & Silver coins! That's something your stock broker never mentions!

[NINJA]

Well copper prices continue to climb. I think I've got about 50 pounds stripped right now. I think maybe I'll take it in. I think it's just under $4.00 a pound right now.

Does everyone else save copper? It's amazing if you pay attention how much is laying around. Just about every construction job I go to I find old street light wires,old romex, and ground wires stirred up daily when they grade.

Just a friendly word of caution. I do not know what it is like where you are but here if a cop or deputy happens to see you with copper wire you can expect to be stopped and questioned we had a rash of construction sites and Utility storage areas broken into just for the copper. It has become a real bad problem .I new a guy who had FPL's (power co) permission to remove and replace the copper line for them he was arrested for grand theft of copper wire because he thought that he would only give half of the wire back to FPL. They we not happy but before he got caught he banked over $210 thousand.....................So there is money in it.......:cool2:

[wet_boots101]

Electricity flows on the outer surface of a conductive material. Electricity that flows through the human body follows the outside of the bones. The meat that attaches to the bones gets cooked. If a person survives the initial shock, the healing of the cooked meat takes time.

One of the first things they showed us in training when I first started was the vids / pix of people who got cooked by electricity. There were also higher standards as to what we could wear while locating, being that we were technically working for the electric co. and were sort of representing them. Now that I am working for another company they haven't really stressed the need for cotton fiber clothing / jeans etc. We're lucky to be able to wear shorts (at least I do) in the summer whilst trudging around painting stuff, so I won't knock it too much. Still, makes you think...

[beyond help]

Here's one. There was a house explosion due to someone stealing piping from under a house. Unfortunatly for the poor bastard, he also was smoking while he was doing so. The roof was across the street when all was said.:toasted:

[sprayandpray]

I just love Natural Selection:yahoo: