Calculator
Aluminum Wire Yield Calculator
Pick an aluminum cable type or enter your own recovery rate — see what the aluminum is worth stripped versus selling the cable as-is. Enter US gauge (AWG) or metric mm².
Typical range 92–99%. No insulation to strip — you're essentially selling clean aluminum. Recovery is near-total; the only loss is surface oxide and any attached hardware. Nothing to gain by 'stripping'.
Indicative default — enter your yard's price. Saved for next time.
Indicative default — enter your yard's price. Saved for next time.
Aluminum wire is a different animal
Aluminum pays a fraction of what copper does per pound, but there is far more of it than beginners expect — service-entrance cable, mobile-home feeders, overhead triplex, and direct-burial URD are all aluminum, and they turn up in bulk on teardown and utility jobs. The catch is weight: aluminum is only about a third as dense as copper, so the plastic jacket makes up a much larger share of an aluminum cable's weight. That pulls recovery rates down — a cable that recovers 80% as copper is closer to 65–70% as aluminum.
Recovery rates by aluminum cable type
These are the presets the calculator uses. Unlike our copper table, these aluminum figures are conservative estimates from cable geometry and general yard grades rather than multi-source-verified numbers — measuring a sample always beats a table.
| Cable type | Recovery | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Bare EC aluminum wire (uninsulated) | ~96% | 92–99% |
| Aluminum building wire (XHHW / THHN, 6 AWG+) | ~70% | 62–78% |
| Service-entrance cable (SEU / SER), aluminum | ~62% | 55–70% |
| Overhead triplex / mobile-home feeder | ~62% | 54–70% |
| URD direct-burial cable (aluminum) | ~55% | 48–63% |
| ACSR overhead line (steel-reinforced) | ~55% | 45–65% |
| Mixed / unknown insulated aluminum | ~50% | 40–60% |
Know the gauge and length? Skip the guessing
If the cable print tells you the conductor spec, you don't need a recovery rate at all. Switch to By length and pick AWG (US) — read the gauge off the jacket ("2 AWG", "4/0", "12-2") and the calculator converts it to the exact aluminum cross-section. Aluminum weighs 2.7 g per mm² of cross-section per meter, so the aluminum weight inside is exact math. Prefer metric markings on imported cable? Toggle to mm². Weigh the spool too and the calculator also shows the as-is comparison and the implied recovery rate.
Stripped vs sold as-is: reading the result
Because bare aluminum wire pays only a little more per pound than insulated aluminum, the stripping premium is thin — often not worth the knife time unless you have a machine and volume. The break-even as-is price in the result tells you exactly where the line sits: if a yard offers more than that per pound as-is, stripping can't beat selling. When your time matters, run the numbers through the Strip or Sell calculator, which prices your labor.
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Aluminum wire yield questions
Why do aluminum recovery rates run lower than copper?
Aluminum is about a third as dense as copper (2.7 vs 8.96 g/cm³), so for the same cable geometry the plastic jacket is a much bigger share of the total weight. A cable that would recover 80% as copper often recovers closer to 65–70% as aluminum. The physics of the by-length mode handles this automatically.
Can I enter the gauge instead of mm²?
Yes. Switch to "By length" and pick AWG (US) — choose the gauge printed on the jacket (e.g. 2 AWG, 4/0) and the calculator converts it to the exact aluminum cross-section for you. Prefer the EU metric marking? Toggle to mm².
Where do the preset percentages come from?
These aluminum defaults are conservative estimates from cable geometry plus general yard grading categories (iScrap App "Insulated Aluminum Wire" and "EC Aluminum Wire"). They are not multi-source-verified to the same degree as our copper table, so treat them as a starting point — measuring a sample always wins.
What about ACSR overhead line with a steel core?
ACSR is aluminum strands around a galvanized-steel core — a magnet grabs the core. The aluminum recovers cleanly by weight, but the steel is dead weight and some yards grade it down or want it separated. Use the ACSR preset for a ballpark, then weigh the steel out if you break it down.
How do I measure my own recovery rate?
Strip a small sample — say 1 lb of cable — weigh the bare aluminum, and divide by the sample weight. Enter that under "Custom recovery %". Ten minutes with a kitchen scale beats any table.
Why does the calculator ask for my prices instead of showing live prices?
Aluminum scrap prices vary widely between regions and yards. Enter what your yard actually pays for bare aluminum wire and insulated aluminum — the calculator remembers it in your browser for next time.
Aluminum guides that pair with this tool
Grades, identification, and where the aluminum hides — the context behind these presets.