Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?
 

I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while and now
I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of pipe in them. What
should I do with this stuff? I've thought of trying to reclaim the elbows by
sweating the pieces apart but it seems like a lot of work. I can't bear the
thought of sending it to the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay for
the gas required to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the way
to go. Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.

Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?
 

According to Alan Smithee :
I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while and now
I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of pipe in them. What
should I do with this stuff? I've thought of trying to reclaim the elbows by
sweating the pieces apart but it seems like a lot of work. I can't bear the
thought of sending it to the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay for
the gas required to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the way
to go. Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.

Sculpture, especially water fountains ;-)

[Our house was custom built by a plumber for himself. He obviously had
lots of extra bits and pieces, the antenna mast and all the closet rods
are copper pipe. So far our closet renovations have practically paid
for themselves in liberated copper pipe ;-)]

Scrapyards may pay as much as a buck a pound or so for copper. Some
"architectural scrap dealers" may pay more for useable fittings.

I've liberated modest amounts of more normal sized copper, and that gets
pulled apart, and slowly gets reused in new projects.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?
 

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:ebY7f.315791$tl2.133473@pd7tw3no...
I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while and
now
I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of pipe in them.
What
should I do with this stuff? I've thought of trying to reclaim the elbows
by
sweating the pieces apart but it seems like a lot of work. I can't bear
the
thought of sending it to the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay
for
the gas required to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the
way
to go. Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.

Set it out by the curb on a non-trash day. Odds are it'll be gone by the
time you get home from work. Out of landfill, and some poor SOB will get a
little cash for it. I cleared the basement of a family rental house that
way- 3/4 of the stuff was gone by morning.

aem sends...

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:ebY7f.315791$tl2.133473@pd7tw3no...
I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while and
now
I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of pipe in them.
What
should I do with this stuff? I've thought of trying to reclaim the elbows
by
sweating the pieces apart but it seems like a lot of work. I can't bear
the
thought of sending it to the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay
for
the gas required to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the
way
to go. Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.

There is likely a recycling yard not too far from you. I wouldn't look at it
a "would it pay for the gas" argument. Copper is a finite resource, much
rarer than iron, steel, and aluminum, and should not be tossed, just for
conservation reasons alone, not to mention that in a landfill environment
copper salts leach out of landfill, potentially poisoning groundwater
reservoirs. Further, copper scrap can be melted into new products with a
fraction of the energy needed to produce the metal from ores.
I keep a big box of sawn up copper and brass trash. Once it gets fairly
heavy, I take it to my local recycler.

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

'round here its worth 70-90 cents a pound

"Roger Taylor" wrote in message
...
"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:ebY7f.315791$tl2.133473@pd7tw3no...
I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while and
now
I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of pipe in them.
What
should I do with this stuff? I've thought of trying to reclaim the
elbows
by
sweating the pieces apart but it seems like a lot of work. I can't bear
the
thought of sending it to the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay
for
the gas required to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the
way
to go. Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.

There is likely a recycling yard not too far from you. I wouldn't look at
it
a "would it pay for the gas" argument. Copper is a finite resource, much
rarer than iron, steel, and aluminum, and should not be tossed, just for
conservation reasons alone, not to mention that in a landfill environment
copper salts leach out of landfill, potentially poisoning groundwater
reservoirs. Further, copper scrap can be melted into new products with a
fraction of the energy needed to produce the metal from ores.
I keep a big box of sawn up copper and brass trash. Once it gets fairly
heavy, I take it to my local recycler.

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

"There is likely a recycling yard not too far from you. I wouldn't look
at it
a "would it pay for the gas" argument. Copper is a finite resource,
much
rarer than iron, steel, and aluminum, and should not be tossed, just
for
conservation reasons alone, not to mention that in a landfill
environment
copper salts leach out of landfill, potentially poisoning groundwater
reservoirs."

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Burn gas and wear out the car just
to take some scrap to a recycling center, regardless of whether you get
enough money to make it worthwhile? I guess oil isn't a finite
resource? And as for not tossing it in the trash for safety reasons,
that's just plain crazy. Just look at all the other streams of various
types of trash that are legally going into landfills, many of them
containing copper and far worse. Household batteries for example.
The leachate from all landfills contains all kinds of toxins and has to
be contained today with a liner. Whether this guy's copper pipe winds
up there or not isn't going to make any difference. It's fairly
likely the copper would be recovered at the waste facility anyway,
prior to the trash going into the landfill. That's what's done here in
NJ.

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Burn gas and wear out the car just
to take some scrap to a recycling center, regardless of whether you get
enough money to make it worthwhile?

Nah, do nothing, like you.

Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?
 

Chris Lewis wrote:
According to Alan Smithee :
I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while
and now I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of
pipe in them. What should I do with this stuff? I've thought of
trying to reclaim the elbows by sweating the pieces apart but it
seems like a lot of work. I can't bear the thought of sending it to
the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay for the gas required
to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the way to go.
Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.

Sculpture, especially water fountains ;-)

[Our house was custom built by a plumber for himself. He obviously
had lots of extra bits and pieces, the antenna mast and all the
closet rods are copper pipe. So far our closet renovations have
practically paid for themselves in liberated copper pipe ;-)]

Scrapyards may pay as much as a buck a pound or so for copper. Some
"architectural scrap dealers" may pay more for useable fittings.

I've liberated modest amounts of more normal sized copper, and that
gets pulled apart, and slowly gets reused in new projects.

That gave me a great idea. I've always wanted an "outdoor" shower I can go
crazy and put in a bunch of extra spouts. A bit late in the year but why not
get it ready for spring. I've even got the shower fixture valve. Thanks

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

"Nah, do nothing, like you. "

Isn't it time for you to go hug a tree?

Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?
 

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
news:ebY7f.315791$tl2.133473@pd7tw3no...
I've been ripping out a lot of old plumbing in the last little while and
now
I've got a couple of dozen elbows with various lengths of pipe in them.
What
should I do with this stuff? I've thought of trying to reclaim the elbows
by
sweating the pieces apart but it seems like a lot of work. I can't bear
the
thought of sending it to the landfill. And I don't know if it would pay
for
the gas required to drive it to a scrapyard either, but maybe that's the
way
to go. Any ideas or projects that use old copper plumbing? Thx.


I got about $1.10 a pound 6 months ago. That's for clean copper. If they
see one old solider joint or fitting they call it dirty.( cut soldiered ends
off) Phone around and get prices Some guys told me $.60 a pound. the price
dose change.

Creative Uses For Old Plumbing Copper?
 

recycle it. Copper isnt cheap. (call up and find how much it is per
pound)

Why not get a few pieces of brass in there and you'll get some real
money!
(they get some big bucks for brass)

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

wkearney99 wrote:
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Burn gas and wear out the car just
to take some scrap to a recycling center, regardless of whether you get
enough money to make it worthwhile?

Nah, do nothing, like you.

His point is valid. Burning the gas to take it to the scrap yard will
produce more polutants and use up more resources than the copper will
produce.

My method. I keep a barrel and add to it. I currently have a 50 gal
barrel full and overflowing with copper wire, fuel line, etc. that has
accumulated over the past 30 years. Someday when I am going that way,
it will be on the PU with me (100 mile round-trip).

Harry K

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

Cut it into small enough pieces and hop on your bicycle to take to the
recycler.

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

On 27 Oct 2005 04:42:30 -0700, wrote:

"There is likely a recycling yard not too far from you. I wouldn't look
at it
a "would it pay for the gas" argument. Copper is a finite resource,
much
rarer than iron, steel, and aluminum, and should not be tossed, just
for
conservation reasons alone, not to mention that in a landfill
environment
copper salts leach out of landfill, potentially poisoning groundwater
reservoirs."

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Burn gas and wear out the car just
to take some scrap to a recycling center, regardless of whether you get
enough money to make it worthwhile? I guess oil isn't a finite
resource? And as for not tossing it in the trash for safety reasons,
that's just plain crazy. Just look at all the other streams of various
types of trash that are legally going into landfills, many of them
containing copper and far worse. Household batteries for example.
The leachate from all landfills contains all kinds of toxins and has to
be contained today with a liner. Whether this guy's copper pipe winds
up there or not isn't going to make any difference. It's fairly
likely the copper would be recovered at the waste facility anyway,
prior to the trash going into the landfill. That's what's done here in
NJ.

I predict, in the future, when raw materials become scarce, we will be
returning to all our landfills. We won't call them "landfills" or
"dumps", by then they'll be known as "mines".

Invest in your future, buy a defunct landfill, do it for the
children...

DJ

Old Plumbing Copper? Recycle!
 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Burn gas and wear out the car just
to take some scrap to a recycling center, regardless of whether you get
enough money to make it worthwhile? I guess oil isn't a finite
resource?

That is why I said I save brass and copper in a box, at home. Eventually
you'll have enough to make a trip worthwhile. Since the recycle yard is on
the way to several other places I frequent, saving it up makes sense, no?
Re oil as a resource, when oil gets short, we'll have to use other energy
technologies, like solar, biofuels, electric, hydrogen, etc. When copper
runs short, we are out of luck, short of recycling.