# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  Copper Tank in my Roof - How much is it worth?

## Gooner

I was up in my roof today and among other things, started to dismantle the old hot water system that has not been in use for about a decade. 
After removing the shell, I noticed that the tank inside is made completely of copper. Its a 250-300 litre capacity tank which is about 80cm in diameter and 60cm high. 
How much would a tank like this be worth? Where would be the best place to sell it or cash it in? 
Thanks.

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## wonderplumb

Take it to a scrappy, here you need an ABN and i cashed some copper in the other day for only $4 per kilo for clean stuff and $3 per kilo for domestic/dirty stuff which is the stuff with paint, soldered joints etc on it.

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## Gooner

hmm..I thought tanks like these were worth a couple of hundred bucks now-a-days.

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## Smurf

> hmm..I thought tanks like these were worth a couple of hundred bucks now-a-days.

  $4 per kg and it's going to be quite heavy...

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## China

Gooner the price of copper has gone through the floor

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## wonderplumb

You might get 70 or 80 bucks for it, is it worth the effort to cut it up so you can get it out?
Because a gravity fed HWS isnt a pressure vessel it will only be light gauge stuff. keep the little make up tank off the side of it, they can come in handy.
Ones to look out for are the old Rheem Coppermatic mains pressure HWS, the copper tanks in these are 1/4" thick!

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## Smurf

> Ones to look out for are the old Rheem Coppermatic mains pressure HWS, the copper tanks in these are 1/4" thick!

  Copper mains pressure HWS? I'm guessing these are no longer made as I've never seen one? Presumably too expensive to make them that way now?  :Confused:

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## wonderplumb

> Copper mains pressure HWS? I'm guessing these are no longer made as I've never seen one? Presumably too expensive to make them that way now?

  Way too expensive. We had one in a house we were renting and the build date was 1968 or there abouts. Ive ever only seen two others.

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## murray44

> Gooner the price of copper has gone through the floor

  Through the floor?.....I thought it had gone through the roof, maybe I was standing on my head!   :Confused:

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## Smurf

> Through the floor?.....I thought it had gone through the roof, maybe I was standing on my head!

  Commodity prices have generally slumped following the financial crisis. For example, oil dropped 75% at one stage and is still down more than 50%. Zinc dropped by 60% and it's a similar story for other commodities though I don't have figures handy for copper. 
You could always leave it there for a few years in the hope that prices rise again. I won't go off topic into economics and politics here, but if you do a bit of research into exactly what is inflation and what causes it then, well, let's just say I don't think we'll see prices stay down forever...  :Biggrin:

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## SilentButDeadly

We cashed in 15kgs of domestic copper and 10kgs of brass (scrap from our reno) in June at the local scrappie and drove away with a smidge over $150.  A bit more than beer money.....so take it to a scrappie and see how you go.

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## GraemeCook

> Through the floor?.....I thought it had gone through the roof, maybe I was standing on my head!

  
Over the past year the London Metals Exchange price for copper has gone from US$3.50 per pound down to $1.20 and has since recovered to $2.70.   Convert these values to Aus$ and the decline and recovery is even more spectacular. 
However LME prices are basically wholesale prices by the shipload and are not what Sims will pay you. 
Cheers 
Graeme

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## Gooner

Well it looks like the tank will sit in the roof for now. Too big to get it out. Even if I smashed out a section of ceiling plasterboard, the tank wont fit between the joists. 
Won't fit through the man-hole, the joists, or the rafters. Looks like it will be a permant fixture for the life of the house.

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## Smurf

Assuming it's empty, nothing should happen to it. Maybe 100 years from now someone will take it to the recyclers.

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## hayaku

> Well it looks like the tank will sit in the roof for now. Too big to get it out. Even if I smashed out a section of ceiling plasterboard, the tank wont fit between the joists

  Nothing an hour with a good angle-grinder won't fix  :Cool: 
Careful of all those sparks though!

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