# Scraping ballast today.



## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

Yep..ballasts are a waste of time to scrap.. I put mine in the trash and let the magnets in the waste to energy plant pull them out..


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

That sucks for you, ballast are like $.10 to .30 on the pound, unless the scrap yard is on the way home, they really aren't worth it.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

I got the premium price cause I had over 200 pounds, and still, it was only 7 cents a pound.


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## wireman64 (Feb 2, 2012)

I just save the working ones I guess i'm a hoarder .


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

MHElectric said:


> I got the premium price cause I had over 200 pounds, and still, it was only 7 cents a pound.


The firm I worked for had to pay to have them hauled away. The recycler furnished a 55 gallon drum, cover and locking ring. 
They treated them all as hazardous waste.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

We get . 25 a pound here.


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

Depends on the label saying does not contain pcbs.


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

bobelectric said:


> Depends on the label saying does not contain pcbs.


I'm sure some of them had PCB's. Some were dated 1957.


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## green light (Oct 12, 2011)

bobelectric said:


> Depends on the label saying does not contain pcbs.


Its a big big fine here if youre caught transporting ballasts with pcbs. The last lighting retro I did I had to pay a company to come and get them so they could be properly disposed of. I had to provide a manifest that listed the number of ballasts...


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## nick.pei (Jun 15, 2009)

Scrapped 2600+/- pounds of 1x4 and 2x4 fixtures for a total of $97.50

They pay, $75/ton


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

I keep core & coil HID ballasts that I yank out of stuff but that's about it. And the only reason I hang onto those is because the scrap yard is 2 hours away so when I decide to take a trip there I'm packing my pickup with everything I can get my little fingers on.


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## jordan_paul (Oct 4, 2011)

We recently did a lighting retro of I think 80 t-12 8' fixtures. As we went along we cut most of the wiring out as well as the ballasts. We got back about $300 with everything seperated.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

I got about three different scrap yards withing a half hour from me, We got $105 a few weeks ago for Cat5 scrap i had wifey pull out at the doctors office. They paid us a $1.00 a pound.


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

jordan_paul said:


> We recently did a lighting retro of I think 80 t-12 8' fixtures. As we went along we cut most of the wiring out as well as the ballasts. We got back about $300 with everything seperated.


Isn't the leads on some ballasts, Aluminum wire.
One of my neighbors was scrapping signaling wire from the railroad track-side. It looked like newer wire with XHHW insulation. I told him that it's probably copper-clad steel. He took a magnet and it attracted it.
He said, that he was to sell it as copper. :whistling2:


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## jordan_paul (Oct 4, 2011)

retiredsparktech said:


> Isn't the leads on some ballasts, Aluminum wire.
> One of my neighbors was scrapping signaling wire from the railroad track-side. It looked like newer wire with XHHW insulation. I told him that it's probably copper-clad steel. He took a magnet and it attracted it.
> He said, that he was to sell it as copper. :whistling2:


Not these ones, but even still do you think the $10/hr wonder working at the scrap yard is going to check every wire in 4 five gallon pails? I even brought in PCB ballasts and I'm willing to bet they wouldn't have an idea how to check if they did contain PCBs.


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