what do you do with your old radiators?

Just chuck em in the trash? Im in the middle of replacing my stock rad with a 3 core from DPG off-road. The metal parts are perfect, but each plastic tank has a hairline crack in it.

anyways, seems like kind of a waste to throw it away. can the tanks be replaced? If so, anybody want it? (free!)

I took a old radiaotor to a scrap metal place about a week ago and got 22 dollars for it.

thanks ill do that.

Copper is the new gold!

Anything with copper in it is worth some money.

If it's a copper one, I spend an hour or two practicing patching it by poking various sizes of holes in it and then soldering them shut. Never know when I'm gonna need that skill again...

In the past I've always drained them out and chucked them in the pile of scrap waiting to go to the scrap hauler I deal with, but I might bring the next one in myself. Never realized what aluminum is worth these days, I did know copper is worth a lot.

I use mine in my moonshine still

Sell it to that kid down the street with the naturally-aspirated slammed Honda. Tell him it's an intercooler.

Talyn said:

I use mine in my moonshine still

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x2

If it's not iron or mild steel, I've got a scrap bin for it (iron & mild steel aren't worth enough around here to pay for the fuel to haul them in - I let the City pick that stuff up.)

I fund projects by recycling scrap metal, and it seems to work fairly well. Now, to figure out which section of California Code is that asinine "gotta wait three days to get more than $20 for scrap metal" so I can bitch about it intelligently...

Genesis of that asininity? Apparently, some jackwagon last year ripped off the copper interconnect cables for a local hospital genset. PG&E screwed up, the genset kicked on, but power didn't make it into the hospital. Some people died as a result. The CA assembly decided that it's a scrapper issue, and made things more difficult for us (I wonder how long before they'll decide to withhold taxes, calling it "income?") Problems as I see it:

- Security screwed up - they didn't catch that something had been altered (every hospital genset - and most industrial setups - that I've seen are locked. Gotta cut the lock, since most people don't know how to pick.)
- Maintenance screwed up. Were I in charge, it would be visually inspected once a shift and function-tested about once a week (can't be too careful when lives are at stake.)
- The legislature screwed up. They failed to properly assign responsibility for the issue, and therefore decided to make things more difficult for those of us trying to make an honest buck (most of my scrap comes from handyman jobs, breaking down appliances and electronics that my wife's friends get rid of, vehicle repairs, and the like.)

So now, to sell any scrap that is not CRV bottles and cans, I have to give:
- Proper name
- Street address
- Driver's license number
- Vehicle license number
- Right thumbprint
- Picture of my face
- Picture of the scrap I'm turning in

And wait three days to get the money, if it's over twenty dollars. Sometimes, I don't turn it in to fund a project - sometimes, I turn it in because we need, say, gas money. That farkin' day. Thank you, elected idiots.

But, I'm ranting. Those of you in CA, please join me - one of us should be able to find that asinine new law (took effect at the beginning of this year,) and we can make enough racket that they can see it's a stupid idea. Just don't bring up the idea of them withholding taxes from it - we don't need to get them any more ideas on how to steal money from us they don't deserve (besides, scrap prices already went down because of the new law...)

SIDE note:
one way to avoid the hastle, is show up with a pickup of 300+ lbs of clean cutt-off aluminum from a commercial glazing job, wearing the tshirt of the same glass company...

you will leave with a check, which reminds me i have to visit the scrap yard.

It wasn't just one hospital that got ripped off. I'm an electrician and you wouldn't believe how many days I spent in the two years before they passed that replacing wiring that people had stolen. It was real bad for quite a while. Now copper prices have gone down and it isn't bad at all. Well, tuesday I did go to someone's rental house where the 9 month old dual pack AC was completely gutted and multiple wires were cut in out in the attic.

blubullett said:

It wasn't just one hospital that got ripped off. I'm an electrician and you wouldn't believe how many days I spent in the two years before they passed that replacing wiring that people had stolen. It was real bad for quite a while. Now copper prices have gone down and it isn't bad at all. Well, tuesday I did go to someone's rental house where the 9 month old dual pack AC was completely gutted and multiple wires were cut in out in the attic.

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Fine - but the question still stands: Why didn't they catch it before it became a problem? Any critical system demands aggressive maintenance, particularly if it's a critical backup system!

You wouldn't have any idea what law that is, would you?

I've never heard the hospital story either. Here in the Central Valley the meth heads were stealing wire and copper plumbing out of street lights, partially constructed homes, farming equipment, railroad communication lines (as they were being installed), commercial propane supply systems, abandoned buildings, exterior electrical boxes, etc. Pretty much anything that wasn't supervised 24/7.

I don't like the law and in fact last time I was at the recycler I was told I had to wait 3 days for my $6 aluminum scrap payout. I declined as I didn't think the hassle of driving back out there three days later would be worth it. I must admit however that I have not heard any stories in the news about the farmers getting their equipment stripped lately. For awhile there, it was almost every week one of them was suffering losses in the 10's of thousands of dollars due to damages caused by the metal thieves.

Looks like it was AB 844 that brought about the 3 day waiting period:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_recycle06.3fa1a1f.html

Oh, and I do agree a system as important as a hospital back-up generator should be checked regularly. In fact, I'm surprised the system wasn't self-monitored. I know the generators we have at our newer fire stations will sound an alarm inside the station if there is a fault in the generator's system.

Edit: That reminds me, I have two radiators sitting in my side yard right now, sounds like it would be worth my time to bring them in. I just need to figure out how to cut some tires off some old aluminum wheels so I can bring them in at the same time...

fyrfytr1717 said:

I've never heard the hospital story either. Here in the Central Valley the meth heads were stealing wire and copper plumbing out of street lights, partially constructed homes, farming equipment, railroad communication lines (as they were being installed), commercial propane supply systems, abandoned buildings, exterior electrical boxes, etc. Pretty much anything that wasn't supervised 24/7.

I don't like the law and in fact last time I was at the recycler I was told I had to wait 3 days for my $6 aluminum scrap payout. I declined as I didn't think the hassle of driving back out there three days later would be worth it. I must admit however that I have not heard any stories in the news about the farmers getting their equipment stripped lately. For awhile there, it was almost every week one of them was suffering losses in the 10's of thousands of dollars due to damages caused by the metal thieves.

Looks like it was AB 844 that brought about the 3 day waiting period:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_recycle06.3fa1a1f.html

Oh, and I do agree a system as important as a hospital back-up generator should be checked regularly. In fact, I'm surprised the system wasn't self-monitored. I know the generators we have at our newer fire stations will sound an alarm inside the station if there is a fault in the generator's system.

Edit: That reminds me, I have two radiators sitting in my side yard right now, sounds like it would be worth my time to bring them in. I just need to figure out how to cut some tires off some old aluminum wheels so I can bring them in at the same time...

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A hi-lift will break the bead nicely and you can get auto-size tire irons for a few bucks a pop at horrible freight :thumbup:

fyrfytr1717 said:

Looks like it was AB 844 that brought about the 3 day waiting period:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_recycle06.3fa1a1f.html

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Thank you for that! Now, let's see what they have to say for themselves...