How Do You Scrap An Electric Motor?

Electric Motors can be found in various items like vacuums, computers, ceiling fans, air conditioners, and more. Almost anything requiring electricity and moving parts will have an electric motor inside. They are often collected for scrap metal recycling because they are heavy and contain a large amount of copper wire.

How to Scrap and Recycle an Electric Motor:

  1. Get the item with the electric motor inside and disassemble it with a screwdriver or drill. The electric motor itself will sometimes be screwed down inside the item. Remove the screws from the base and pull the electric motor out.
  2. The electric motor will probably have Insulated Copper Wire connected to it. Make sure to have wire cutters on hand to remove them from the motor. You can place the wire in your copper wire pile for scrap.
  3. Once you remove the electric motor from your item, you can add them to your pile of electric motors.
  4. If you have multiple electric motors, it may be a good idea to check the type of metal the wire inside is. Many times, it will be copper wire (reddish color), or it can have aluminum wire (silver color).
  5. If you have several (50 or more) electric motors, they may be worth taking apart for the copper wire inside. It is not easy to do this, so make sure taking them apart will be worth your time.
  6. Usually, your electric motors must be pried open with a hammer and screwdriver to get the inside copper wire coil. Once it is open, set aside other metals like steel and aluminum or materials like plastic for recycling.
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03/13/2024 05:06 pm GMT