Home› Precious Metals

Whats the deal with Scrap catalytic converters

goldrealmoney79goldrealmoney79 Posts: 417 ✭✭✭
in Precious Metals

Can you actually make money by scraping/refining these things? I would think legal implications and technical refining problems, would make these a pain to deal with? Yet people are bidding and paying over $100 for a single one!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SCRAP-Catalytic-Converter-Platinum-Palladium-Rhodium-Full-12609618/402284568164?hash=item5daa075e64:g:MYwAAOSwSa9eoNWC

Comments

  • KliaoKliao Posts: 5,572 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Look on YouTube. There are some videos of people actually refining the platinum out of them.

    Collector
    75 Positive BST transactions buying and selling with 45 members and counting!
    instagram.com/klnumismatics

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 28,416 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I wonder about hazmat issues

  • bigjpstbigjpst Posts: 3,108 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We have scrap guys that come buy them from us all the time at the shop. They pay different prices for different models. Different prices for factory vs aftermarket. Many take pictures and forward them to their buyer before locking in a price with us.
    Not sure if they only worry about reclaiming the platinum and palladium or if they also recycle the cerium and rhodium.
    Seems you could lose money if you’re not careful.

    JRobinsonRareCoins.com

    My Ebay Store

  • dimebagdimebag Posts: 109 ✭✭

    years ago scrappers were stealing them from cars at dealerships, must be money in them ?

  • streeterstreeter Posts: 4,312 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In California a wrecking yard is not supposed to sell a used cat to the public. The ones from big foreign cars & big GM trucks used to be able to fetch $100 from the guys who sell to the refiners.

    Sometimes you will hear of a street being wiped out overnight by the thieves. Or a non guarded parking lot at an event. Only takes a quick minute to grab one with the right tools. I lost one. Almost $1,000 to replace it. You can't pass smog with an aftermarket one. The smog station runs a mirror under the vehicle and matches the part # to what is correct for your vehicle.

    Oh what a feeling.

    Have a nice day
  • bigjpstbigjpst Posts: 3,108 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @streeter said:
    In California a wrecking yard is not supposed to sell a used cat to the public. The ones from big foreign cars & big GM trucks used to be able to fetch $100 from the guys who sell to the refiners.

    Sometimes you will hear of a street being wiped out overnight by the thieves. Or a non guarded parking lot at an event. Only takes a quick minute to grab one with the right tools. I lost one. Almost $1,000 to replace it. You can't pass smog with an aftermarket one. The smog station runs a mirror under the vehicle and matches the part # to what is correct for your vehicle.

    Oh what a feeling.

    You can pass a smog with an aftermarket cat in CA. But Ca requires that all aftermarket cats meet stricter standards than the other 49 states. About 8 years ago Ca started requiring the new stricter CAT standards and requires that they are laser etched with 2” numbers showing part number and Ca air resources board (CARB) Executive order number. So that they are easy to read for the emission techs. other aftermarket accessories like Air intakes, manifolds etc. All need CARB approved EO number.
    Approved air intakes etc come with a little sticker that has the number that you are supposed to put under the hood when installed. Again to make it easier for emission tech to see if it is CARB approved.

    If the CAT installed is aftermarket and doesn’t have the large letters and correct part number and EO for specific vehicle the car fails.
    No more generic installs.

    Being an emission tech in Ca was a pain. NV is much more pleasant.

    And people are still stealing CATs. Couple of weeks ago we had a couple trucks from one of our fleet accounts hit. Cost them a couple thousand dollars to get back up with aftermarket parts.

    JRobinsonRareCoins.com

    My Ebay Store

  • LukeMarshallLukeMarshall Posts: 1,983 ✭✭✭✭✭

    https://catalyticcontrol.rockawayrecycling.com/

    These guys were great, I sold them a "torpedo" cat from an old Ford van that was being scrapped. Original numbers and high palladium prices got me over $700 bucks! They take your info most likely for legal purposes but the process was very smooth.

    It's all about what the people want...

  • bestmrbestmr Posts: 1,778 ✭✭✭

    I’ve often wondered how much is actually in these. I work for a Toyota dealership and whenever we do a warranty CAT, Toyota always wants us to send it to some processing plant. They pay for shipping and everything.

    Positive dealing with oilstates2003, rkfish, Scrapman1077, Weather11am, Guitarwes, Twosides2acoin, Hendrixkat, Sevensteps, CarlWohlforth, DLBack, zug, wildjag, tetradrachm, tydye, NotSure, AgBlox, Seemyauction, Stopmotion, Zubie, Fivecents, Musky1011, Bstat1020, Gsa1fan several times, and Mkman123 LOTS of times
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Have not heard of cat converter thefts in this area, but being a small community, likely not an issue. I did ask a local police friend and he said he heard of some activity in a nearby city...but none here. Cheers, RickO

  • Jinx86Jinx86 Posts: 3,710 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Too toxic for me want to try. I stay away from Pt and Pd waste solutions as much as I can.

  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,782 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Try watch both videos from this utuber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryQrBWbDz78

    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,782 ✭✭✭✭✭

    For those that don't want to watch 2.5 hours of video here is my synopsis:

    Yield from about a dozen converters and a bunch of converter beads. 2 grams platinum and 6 grams paladium.
    Time was about 3 weeks. with two full lab days.

    Personally just leave this to the pros with chemistry degrees.....Search "PLATiNOSIS" for the danger involved in producing platinum from converters.

    Be safe,
    bob :)

    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • jdimmickjdimmick Posts: 9,691 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 8, 2020 4:31PM

    One of my customers is a junk car dealer, he said there are a few cc's on certain cars that are still profitable, but many are not any longer because of the price of platinum. He did mention that when platinum was sky high high, folks were cutting them out from under cars and he would sell the units for darn near the same as junking the whole rest of the car. He also mentioned, that then the price of platinum was very high, they then started manufacturing more palladium in converters and now with that price high, some of them (with more palladium) are quite profitable.

    I dont know a thing about them , nor care too

  • cohodkcohodk Posts: 19,187 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @streeter said:
    In California a wrecking yard is not supposed to sell a used cat to the public. The ones from big foreign cars & big GM trucks used to be able to fetch $100 from the guys who sell to the refiners.

    Sometimes you will hear of a street being wiped out overnight by the thieves. Or a non guarded parking lot at an event. Only takes a quick minute to grab one with the right tools. I lost one. Almost $1,000 to replace it. You can't pass smog with an aftermarket one. The smog station runs a mirror under the vehicle and matches the part # to what is correct for your vehicle.

    Oh what a feeling.

    I had mine taken off my dually at an amusement park in CA. Cost the insurance company $3000.

    Excuses are tools of the ignorant

    Knowledge is the enemy of fear

  • bronco2078bronco2078 Posts: 10,244 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @cohodk said:

    @streeter said:
    In California a wrecking yard is not supposed to sell a used cat to the public. The ones from big foreign cars & big GM trucks used to be able to fetch $100 from the guys who sell to the refiners.

    Sometimes you will hear of a street being wiped out overnight by the thieves. Or a non guarded parking lot at an event. Only takes a quick minute to grab one with the right tools. I lost one. Almost $1,000 to replace it. You can't pass smog with an aftermarket one. The smog station runs a mirror under the vehicle and matches the part # to what is correct for your vehicle.

    Oh what a feeling.

    I had mine taken off my dually at an amusement park in CA. Cost the insurance company $3000.

    ...... and they were not amused

  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,364 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Went to rent a U-Haul truck, once. Somebody cut off the catalytic converters during the night. One day at my old shop, somebody stole the air coNdoting units to the building, along with heavy steel grates covering sub-street apartment windows.

  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,364 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I teied to edit " conditioning " ^ for the typo....to no avail.

  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,364 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Tried. Spellcheck sucks.

  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,364 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'll have 50,000 posts before platinum gets to $1200.

Sign In or Register to comment.