Platinum

[ko0m]

I cranked up my truck this morning and it was LOUD, I shut it off and looked under it and found out that someone had stolen my Catalytic Converter; they cut it clean out!

I was worried about radio equipment being stolen.......

[ad4mg]

Quote[/b] (ko0m @ Sep. 08 2007,16:38)]I cranked up my truck this morning and it was LOUD, I shut it off and looked under it and found out that someone had stolen my Catalytic Converter; they cut it clean out!

I was worried about radio equipment being stolen.......
Man ... must be a newer truck. This has happened here in central Va. before, but at new car lots.

It's those damned battery powered reciprocating saws! They must be banned!

That type of saw has facilitated the theft of catalytic converters. Most are sold intact, as they are worth far more whole as opposed to tearing out the substrate and selling it to a recycler.

[K8MHZ]

I heard on the scanner the other day an owner of an empty warehouse went there to find someone had stolen the water and sprinker pipes.

I have read on more than one occasion where a person has tried to steal wire from the inside of live substations and also tried to cut wire from hot transmission and distribution lines.

I wonder if this is due to the high price of scrap metal, due to China outbidding everyone on it and forcing the price up, or due to the state of the economy wherein so many people are without work they have chosen to resort to these tactics.

[kd5kfl]

Couple weeks back, some Dilbert in Gainesville, Georgia broke into a former nursing home to steal the copper pipes.

Said nursing home is currently a training site for police K9s.

Oops. Nice doggy...

[N3ATS]

I wonder how much platinum is in a catalytic converter?

It's trading right now for almost $1,300 per ounce!

[ad4mg]

Quote[/b] (N3ATS @ Sep. 08 2007,17:57)]I wonder how much platinum is in a catalytic converter?

It's trading right now for almost $1,300 per ounce!
Quote[/b] ]Due to the use of precious metals including platinum, which is worth up to $1,200 an ounce; palladium, which can fetch $320 an ounce; and rhodium, which can go for up to $6,000 an ounce on the market, catalytic converter theft is on the rise. (Note, however, that the loading of precious metals in a converter is low, and seldom over $50 per converter at 2007 spot prices)

Wikipedia article on catalytic converters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_converter)

[n2ize]

At this one place I worked in an entire department had their network go dead. It turned out that some misguided employee cut out and removed a 100 foot section of cat5 cable. He claimed that he was 100% certain that the cable was abandoned and was going to use the cable to wire up some stuff at his home. Needless to say he had plenty of time for home wiring at that point.

[W1GUH]

Yea, converters are expensive, and I'm sure there's big bucks to be made in the "pre-owned" market place.

I heard some time back that the same thing was happening with air bags.

[N2RJ]

Of course it's happening with airbags... That's why vehicle mfgs now are forced to put electronic countermeasures into their airbags.

[al2i]

We used to think of this sort of pilferage most commonly as a third World phenomenon where the economically distressed populace would cause $10 of damage to get at $1 of loot. Those countries were mostly marked by impoverished people with substandard education, a currency that was always going down the drain, corrupt and inept government, and little prospect for genuine improvement -- so I am really surprised to see it happening here. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[KE4FES]

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif ?? Any thing relative to 12 million illegals having slack time betweem veggie / fruit crops, building construction declines etc. ? OR just our legal interprising petty thieves upgrading their skills ?
If as much time and effort theives spent aquiring their ill gotten goods was dedicated to a legal job, they would aquire as much income "working".

charlie

[N4AUD]

Some thieves were stealing catalytic converters at new car lots in Bristol TN & Va recently.

How lucrative IS this, anyway? Are they selling them as replacement parts or for what's inside?

[ka5piu]

Quote[/b] (al2i @ Sep. 08 2007,23:01)]We used to think of this sort of pilferage most commonly as a third World phenomenon where the economically distressed populace would cause $10 of damage to get at $1 of loot. #Those countries were mostly marked by impoverished people with substandard education, a currency that was always going down the drain, corrupt and inept government, and little prospect for genuine improvement -- so I am really surprised to see it happening here. #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Hello.

Welcome to the 3rd world.
We have all of what you point out, and more.
Remember, Mexico is right here, wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico.

[kc7jty]

I once saw a cat converter change a whole slew of cats into transvestites at once. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[kb2vxa]

Metals theft is nothing new, roughly 20 years ago the price of copper shot through the roof and theft became commonplace. About that time a couple of kids in my home town were caught stripping copper rain gutters and leaders off a school.

You probably remember the high price forced the move to aluminium wiring and led to a rash of house fires that in turn resulted in it being banned. The power companies however haven't strung a single strand of copper for above ground wiring since then. I guess somebody finally read the NEC and learned what heat dissipation is all about. (;->)

Oh, has anybody checked the dud value of high power transmitting tubes lately? Lock down and alarm the transmitter sites, you might find it wasn't a mouse that put the station off the air. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[ad4mg]

Quote[/b] (n4aud @ Sep. 09 2007,02:53)]Some thieves were stealing catalytic converters at new car lots in Bristol TN & Va recently.

How lucrative IS this, anyway? Are they selling them as replacement parts or for what's inside?
Replacement parts. Retail value of a catalytic converter for new vehicles is in the $500 - $1,000 range, and "used" converters will typically sell for $100 - $300 and higher, a fortune to the average drug addict.

Legitimate recyclers live by a myriad of laws and regulation, and have some responsibility towards confirming that they are not recycling stolen goods. Those in the second hand auto parts market are not quite as scrupulous.

I was in the custom exhaust business for about 7 1/2 years, and the demand for cheap catalytic converters is incredible.

[n8yx]

Of course, there is a VERY simple solution to this type of thing...if the perps are indeed stealing to finance drug habits. And I'm not talking about the gubmint subsidizing their addictions, either.