Thermocouple wires are not like simple gold, silver, or platinum wire, because they contain a combination of valuable metals, as you will learn in today’s post. If you are a regular reader of our blog, you already know thermocouples are used where temperatures must be monitored or controlled remotely. 

Platinum, silver, and gold wire are most often found among the supplies at companies that make or repair jewelry, such as jewelry stores and jewelry factories. 

Where will you find those precious-metal wires in those facilities?

• As part of generalized scrap, like bench and floor sweepings. 

• In jewelry-making supplies. Often, wire will still be rolled up on spools of unused materials.

A few years ago, it was time to replace the muffler/silencer on a riding mower. The company that owned it ordered a new muffler and yanked the old one off. At that point, the owner noticed that it had been installed by wrapping wire around one of the pipes that came out of the old muffler. 

That wire, which was about two feet long and weighed about 2/10 of a Troy Ounce, turned out to be made of pure platinum. It was worth more than $200.00. 

Wires are one of the most common kinds of scrap. The majority of them contain very little gold, silver or platinum. But some do. In today’s post, we’ll explain how to identify wires that contain precious metal.

Where to Look for Wire

Lots of debris is created when older buildings are renovated, demolished or replaced. That debris, which is usually carted away and discarded, can contain precious metals in the following forms . . .

If you dream about making a fortune trading in precious metals, you have probably been wondering whether a new golden age in precious metal investing could soon begin if the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (also known as H.R. 3684) becomes law. You, like us, are envisioning huge quantities of gold scrap, silver scrap, and even platinum scrap piling up in scrapyards. Pull up your pick up, load up, and be ready to become a billionaire.

In answer to the question above, “do all thermocouples contain platinum?” we will offer you a quick response . . .

No, not all thermocouples contain platinum

But we would like to offer an additional comment . . .

At Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, we are all about recycling gold scrap, silver scrap, and platinum scrap too.

But for our post today, we are stepping a bit out of our zone and writing about non-precious metals that you can recycle for money. (Certainly not as much money as you will get when you recycle gold, silver, and platinum but hey, money is money.)

Are you experiencing a bit of burnout about investing in precious metals right about now?

If you are, don’t blame yourself. A lot of people are lacking enthusiasm about a lot of activities right about now, thanks to the unprecedented period of lockdown we have all been going through. But you should be enthusiastic and energized about your precious metal investing, and here is one reason why . . .

We just discovered a fun set of online quizzes about metallurgy, metal trivia, and precious metals. It comes from FunTrivia.com, and it is great.

Here are some of the free trivia quizzes that we enjoyed the most. You can find them all on FunTrivia.com.

Get ready to learn and have fun too.

Our phone rang a few days ago. A woman on the other end of the line asked a question that seems to be on the minds of many people just now . . .

“I’ve been furloughed from my job and I could use some cash,” she said. “Now would be a good time for me to sell some old items of jewelry, but I can’t find any gold refineries that buy from the public near me. Even those `We Buy Gold’ roadside stores in my area have shut down during the coronavirus crisis.”

We write a lot on this blog about platinum scrap. But what is platinum scrap, and why is it your best way to invest in platinum?

In today’s post, we’ll explain. Platinum scrap falls into several categories.

Platinum comes in many forms. There are nice bars of platinum bullion that sell at high prices. (After all, platinum is trading for $872.00 on the London Fix . . . why shouldn’t bullion bars be selling for a lot of money?) Platinum can also be found in catalytic converters, in some aircraft components, and in used laboratory testing equipment. 

If you have precious metal items that you would like to refine for profit, “Where is there a precious metal refinery near me?” is a logical question to ask. The problem is, it might not be the right question to ask. Here are some of the reasons.

We have often written on this blog about places where you can acquire precious metal scrap for pennies on the dollar. Today we would like to offer advice on a higher level, by telling you about some places where you can get precious metal scrap for free.

“Why Thermocouples Could Be the Smartest Precious Metal Investments Today,” a post on this blog on July 19th, 2019, explained why investing in scrapped thermocouples is a very smart move for precious metal investors today.

In today’s post we would like to examine in more depth a question that we only touched on in that earlier post. Let’s explore it some more!

We have written on this blog in the past about stoves, furnaces, space heaters and other “hot” places you can find platinum thermocouple wire that we can recycle for you in our precious metal refinery.

But what about cold places? Don’t air conditioners contain thermocouple wire that we can process for you? Yes, they do. But before we delve into that subject, let’s consider the fundamental difference between devices that generate heat and devices that cool things off . . .

If you’re emptying an old factory that produced products that contained metals, chances are good that you will discover wire that contains precious metals.  You might find coils of it in storage areas. You might find little rolls of it hiding in drawers. Unless the previous owners labeled their supplies carefully or the wire is still in its original packaging, you have very little way of knowing what kind of wire you have.