Stripping Romex Wire using a Romex stripping machine

Bluedog International / October 3rd, 2019

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Romex Stripping Machine

Romex copper wire is used in many residential electrical installations. 14/2 gauge and 12/2 gauge ROMEX wires form the vast majority of residential electrical installation applications through North America. Standard ROMEX copper wires have 2 coated 14 gauge or 2 coated 12 gauge wires along with an uncoated ground wire inside an outer sleeve. 14/3 gauge and 12/3 gauge wires are also used in applications that require 3-way switches. 14/3 gauge and 12/3 gauge have 3 coated wires along with an uncoated ground wire inside an outer sleeve. In this article, we will show how our Romex Stripping machines process scraps Romex cable.

During electrical construction scrap wire, ends and leftovers are common. Rather than discarding these into garbage containers you can quickly recover the copper and make money.

Typical weights of Copper in Romex Wires

(lbs per 1000 ft)

ROMEX 14/2 gauge – 37.52 lbs.
ROMEX 12/2 gauge – 60.10 lbs.
ROMEX 14/3 gauge – 50.03 lbs.
ROMEX 12/3 gauge – 80.13lbs.

As an example, if you have 1000 ft of ROMEX 12/2 gauge scrap wire and, as bare bright copper sells for approximately $2.45 per lb US at the time this article was formulated, then you see that you can recover $147.24 US. It takes about 16 minutes to run 1,000 ft or scrap wire through a Bluedog Wire Stripping Machine. It does not take long to not only pay for an industrial copper wire stripping machine but you can be making huge profits.

For more calculations, you can go to the BLUEDOG CALCULATOR to see what your wire could be worth!

The BLUEDOG CALCULATOR easily breaks down the potential return on most wires and cables including all ROMEX cable types. The calculator summarizes the total value of copper scrap for any quantity of wire that you might choose. The BLUEDOG CALCULATOR also summarizes the time to strip, $/hr, lbs/hr as well as the payback time for any chosen BLUEDOG MACHINE. The BLUEDOG CALCULATOR IS THE MOST USEFUL TOOL to estimate the value of scrap that you might have!

This article will describe various ways that you can strip ROMEX wire using a rugged heavy-duty Industrial Copper Wire Stripping Machine.

Typical ROMEX 14/2 gauge wire

Romex Cable 14-2 — 14-2 gauge Romex cable

Typical ROMEX 14/3 gauge wire

Typically the Outer Jacket of Romex wire would be stripped and then each of the coated wires would need to be stripped individually to remove the secondary coating.

So for a 12/2 or 14/2, it would take 3 passes and for 12/3 or 14/3 it would take 4 passes in total to recover the copper.

Single Blade Romex stripping machine system

The BWS-60 single Blade wire stripping machine is a heavy-duty single blade cable stripper which runs on 1 .5 HP single phase motor. The machine weighs 135 lbs and can strip many kinds of heavy cable. The heavy-duty industrial design is intended for applications of cable that has a thick outer coating. ROMEX wire can be stripped using a single blade wire stripper but it is NOT recommended. Single Blade Wire Stripping machines are best used for wires that are over 1/4″ in diameter. Wires under 1/4″ have a tendency to slip out from under the blade and thus require additional feeds to get proper stripping. Note all single blade cable strippers have similar issues when stripping thin gauge wire.

See pix:

Wires on Single Blade machines tend to slip off the single blade and it would take more than 3 or 4 passes to recover the copper from Romex wires.

See video:

PROS

The single blade machine is cheaper.
Amazing stripping tool for cable diameters of 1/4″ to 2 3/8″
Excellent for stripping cable with super thick insulation

CONS

Separate passes required to strip outer coating and inside strands
Higher labor rates t to accomplish full ROMEX stripping
Single blade machine could take more passes due to slippage
and blade height adjustment

ROMEX STRIPPING MACHINE WITH MULTI-FEED SYSTEM:

A better solution for stripping Romex wire is the BLUEDOG Multi-feed copper wire stripper such as the BWS-50-MF or BWS-50-SAR.

Romex Stripping Machine - BWS-50 SAR — Romex Stripping Machine – BWS-50 SAR

Specific rectangular cutting channels are available that would make it easy to feed the ROMEX and remove the outer jacket. Afterward, the individual coated wires can then be fed through the Multi-feed copper wire stripper to recover the copper. Multi feed cable strippers include self-adjustable blades to improve efficiency when stripping multiple cable types.

See video:

PROS

Easy stripping of the outer coating as well as individual wires.
Spring Tensioning to make adjustments significantly easier
Automatic wire stripping machine
Single Phase Machine

CONS

Multi Feed machines are more expensive.
Needs to strip outer coating and then all wires individually
More complicated blade changes

The Best Romex Stripping Machine for stripping 14/2 and 12/2 ROMEX wire is the BWS-80-HD Scrap COPPER WIRE STRIPPER

The BEST Solution is the BLUEDOG BWS-80-HD Romex stripping machine.

Romex Stripping Machine - BWS-80 HD — BWS-80 HD strips Romex cable in 1 single pass

The BWS-80-HD has an industry-unique Romex stripping machine port that not only strips the outer coating of 14/2 gauge and 12/2 gauge ROMEX but also removes the coating of the individual coated wires all in a single operation.

See Video of BWS-80 HD -Serration port on the BWS-80 HD

PROS

Quick stripping of the outer coating as well as individual wires.
Spring Tensioning to make adjustments unnecessary or significantly easier
Significant Labor savings
Versatile machine that can strip wires up to 3 ¼” in diameter.

CONS

BWS-80-HD Romex stripping machine is more expensive.

SUMMARY

Each of the copper wire strippers outlined can strip ROMEX copper wire. Each of the copper wire strippers has pros and cons associated with them.

The Best Solution will depend on the quantity of ROMEX wire that your Romex Stripping Machine is expected to strip.

Each of the BLUEDOG Copper Wire STRIPPERS described in this article is industrial heavy-duty grade. As an example, the BWS-80-HD weighs 1100 lbs and is intended for heavy-duty production environments. The BWS-50-SAR weighs 315 lbs and the BWS-60 weighs 135 lbs.

The BLUEDOG wire stripping machines are built to withstand the rigors of a construction environment. This, however, is not intended to say that these copper wire stripping machines cannot be abused! Dropping these machines or driving forklifts into them will obviously require repairs. Leaving these machines in hostile environments such as rain or snow will also require cleaning and maintenance. Nevertheless, customer testimonials have attested that they have stripped hundreds of thousands of lbs or scrap wire and that the BLUEDOG wire stripping machines were built to last!

Stripping LARGE quantities of ROMEX 14/2 or 12/2 wire will guide the user to the BWS-80-HD copper wire stripper. The labor savings become significant considering that instead of 3 or 4 passes a single pass will accomplish the task. The added versatility of the BWS-80-HD also allows the stripping of many other kinds of scrap copper wire as well.