Hey for future reference I’ve scrapped a lot of ballasts in my day, first of u don’t have to grind the transformer on one of the top parts there’s usually a bracket u can pull off then the to metal sides will easily pry off. That leaves u with a T shape of metal with the 2 copper spools. To get that off I’d use a grinder cause it takes forever to pull it of by hand. Second always check there’s usually some aluminum windings in with the copper, looks and feels like copper because usually there’s still a little gunk on it but always check. Usually one spool will be copper and one will be aluminum or both will be copper with like a layer of aluminum wires wrapped around them. Just thought I’d let everyone know, love your videos doing a great job

Ballasts containing PCB's are considered HAZMAT and must be treated as such. In the U.S you will be turned away from scrap yards with PCB ballasts, or get a hefty fine if you are caught recycling them. Ive been in the lighting industry for over a decade and have broken down thousands of ballasts for recycling, in my experience it's only the older magnetic ballasts that are worth taking apart, the electronic ballasts may have tar in them to make them feel like there's coils of copper but all there is is a circuit board with very little, if any, value for scrapping. Also use a pair of tin snips to cut the tabs off one end of the ballast and it'll easily fold open so you don't have to beat on it and make as much of a mess, once you have the coil/tar "bar" hold it over a bucket and tap the tar and most of the time the majority of it will fall off in a couple large pieces. Be safe and good luck everyone.

3.68 pounds at 15 cents/pound is 55.2 cents, not 45. Vs. $1.15 for copper and steel. 60 cents earned in 15 minutes, hourly earning is $2.40. Minus cost of grinder blade. Not worth risking accidents and breathing that dust for. Better spend that time with family and friends or on something else you enjoy doing. You'll save/earn more money brewing your own coffee and avoiding Starbucks...

It’s a lot easier to freeze them and take a hammer to them, but I would advise to put it inside of a tote or something because it can be messy.

The big ballasts are worth doing just got my dad 251 of them from an old Walmart open them up each one has a pound and a half of copper in them they take about 5 to 10 minutes to process each one just smash them up real good with a hammer and they kind of fall apart and then you hammer out the wires went from making $100 off of them to making over $1,400 by processing them

You don't have to grind ballests. Smack it with a hammer and it'll pop the end off. I do usually grind down the copper so I can just peel it off instead of sliding it off but they are quick and easy. Not much weight in small ones but I can't resist copper so I do them anyways.

Thank you for doing this!! I have a pile of ballasts and because I save all my copper for future casting I keep it all. You have shown me what I have to look forward to in getting it out 😬🤔

The conclusion for me is that it would be worth it if I had many of them saved up and managed to develop an effective process to separate the valuables from non valuables. I have a wood splitter up here near Algonquin Park so I could smash through a lot of these really quickly, I could just tarp the area to make cleanup easier.

Put them ballasts underneath the legs of that table so you can save your back

Thanks for the post. You made my choice easier on this one. As always please keep posting.

Thanks Tinman. I always wondered if ballasts were worth scrapping.

My favorite metal is Sn. I alloy it with Cu, Ag, Cd, Pb, In, Ga (and anything else I have lying around, tried tungsten putty at one point, did not work) etc. to make "pot bronzes" and homemade fusible alloys, tin copper pots and sometimes pewter. Do something with tin, tinman; and none of that tin plated steel that most people believe they have. Great videos, keep them coming! -Sn Enthusiast

Thanks a lot for your tutorials. They are very informative and certainly very helpful. I got into viewing videos on scraping due to my interest in taking care of the planet. So, any little scrap I get, sometimes quite a bit since I asked the local thrift store to give me any electronics, they plan on throwing away. I separate as much as I can and give everything to a local gentleman who is into recycling. I do it for fun on my day off and at the same time do a little to keep our planet as clean as possible. I had subscribed some time ago, but for some reason KZfaq system unsubscribed me from your channel and other channels. Anyway, I subscribed again. Thanks a lot.

Very strange how i just took one of these apart maybe 2 hours ago with no one at my house I haven’t spoke or searched anything regarding what I was doing and this video comes up. Our phones are WATCHING us.

Thanks for the video Tin Man. A good experiment that you put a lot of effort into for us. /thumbs up

Great information! Thanks again. Blessings!

If you don't want to take apart ballast, use needle nose pliers rather than cutters to get more wire out. My scrap yard won't take ballasts, coaxial wires, or Christmas lights.

Thanks for this video!...I have 5 or so of them, I didn’t break them open, I was going to see if you have a video about them, I will just leave them as is..thanks😃👍🏻

If you freeze those the that rubbery compound will pop right off

Gotta get that bench vise tightened down....

I clean ballast sometimes but I just smashed those small transformers with a small Sledge the copper comes right off

I took apart about 10 ballasts and got about 5 lbs of copper out of them. I thought it was worth it

Sadly the price of these have gone down so much where I'm from! 4 cents!!! I have about 40 stacked up...im not looking forward to taking them apart lol.

Thanks for the video. I have some videos on my channel trying to get more loaded. I am also in Canada. thanks so much for the great info.

Good video tin 👍

Will bring as is... time consuming and the mess lol thanks Tin man

Watching your videos, I see that "scrappers' think alike. Even how we work on things. Interesting. As for the ballasts I think they are easy to do. No cutting or grinding needed. The steel case is easy to pry off with screwdrivers and a hammer. Once that solid mess is out, I hammer that inside a garbage can outside. No cleanup needed. Wear gloves and eye protection of course. Once the steel frame with the copper is cleaned the best you can, there are 2 endcaps that hold the frame together. Pry those off and knock the sides loose. Now you have the inner steel with the copper around it. Knock it free or unravel it! I guess you could cut the copper at this point if you wanted too. I just did three in a matter of 15 minutes. Thanks for the informative videos!

Thanks for your effort. TM. Using a short handled sledge hammer is more efficient. Noticed hammering on metal: too noisy & will damage hearing. I use a smooth elongated rock from a local river. Look where the water is swiftiest. The right rock is as strong as iron. Been using the same rock for 8 years of regular scrapping. Make sure to protect your eye's.

Thanks

Right now I'm looking at 20 ballasts that I could easily take and scrap. Thanks for the video. Gonna leave the ballasts in the trash 👍🤣

What I have trouble with is small transformers.they don't break apart like the big ones

Beat the ballast with a hammer before opening. Much easier 😉

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Just ran across several hundred pounds of balasts and was Wondering if I should try to take apart to get copper or just turn them in

How can you tell if there's pcbs when they don't have a label

I have only watched like 6 of your vids so far but glad to see you own more that one shirt 😈. Appreciate the info you've given! Copper sorta dipping again unfortunately 😵

Thanks Tinman, have about 5 here no PCB is listed on them but I agree with you not worth the time to rip apart. Do scrap yards give a special price on these? Thanks!

I heard that the old ones are slightly radio active

That’s a lot of work

Is there certain ballast that can be taken apart for copper?

do they have silver in them?

Is it a bad thing when someone is writing down your licence plate as you hop out of a roll off?0

Easier way to open one of those is to smack it on the corner of the work bench or take a heavy hammer to it cracks open like an egg

I can't see what you are doing. But I love you anyways.

What country are you from

@ 14:44 there was electricity coming from it

Got curious about what's in a ballast. They are are a total b***h to get into for little payoff. I used the sledge hammer method. 5 mins and a nice mess to sweep up, I learned I won't be taking them apart anymore : )

Ear defenders please

Good video. One suggestion... improve the audio.

Sorry, bud...I’ve thrown away thousands of ballasts because who wants to work their butt off as you quite accurately demonstrated.

Great knowledge, however not worth MY time.

Nice man bun 🤦

The copper in the light ballast is not number 2 it is enamel copper it is the second highest paying copper to number 1 bare bright all electric motors speakers any electrical item that has copper in it is enamel copper

I’m glad my yard takes ballasts. Obviously the “no PCBs” The newer, lighter ones are just a low grade circuit board with a couple smaller transformers and not easy to get into for sure.

No folks...he is correct in it not being worth it. The RISKS far outweigh the rewards. Risk in grinding. Risky in hammering. Getting cut to shreds. Things flying and ending up in bad places. Not at all worth the risks involved.

You need to move your camera closer, like on your workbench so we can see what you are doing when you are processing an item. I have no idea where you cut that ballast, all we could see is sparks.

Too little result for the amount of time...

NO WAY.....What a mess and what is in that black stuff??....Gotta be chemicals you are breathing....just put them in my tin pile...or if scrap yard has little better category for them

Not worth it

Please do not use that part of the bench vice as an anvil it was painful to watch

doesn't seem worth the effort

You talk to much, and the camera angle is very poor