Another item to worry about - Stolen Copper

[aust1648]

Seems those of us with AC units have another problem to worry about...People stealing the copper from the units. Just yesterday our whole building got hit. They come in, rip, and I mean RIP, the units apart and take the copper away. These particular AC units are on the ground in the back alley (as opposed on roof mounted) making them easier to get to. I hope they all die from inhaling all the Freon.

[TLR]

Been going on for almost 2 years - every time copper prices go up - where has the great state of NC been for the past 2 years?

TLR

[tmi]

I hope the bums never figure out that the fronts of the washer are stainless steel.
Then we REALLY have a problem!!
I am gonig through my Wascos and changing the phillips head screws to Torx head, at least it will slow them down, suggest everyone do the same, because once the word gets out we will have no peace.

My nieghbor resturant owner had his hood filters out back drying off after he cleaned them and a guy rode off with them on his 10 speed ?!!!!
We need to be sure to make it tough on them.

George

[Monarch]

One of our customers, a distributor, was cleaning out old dead machines. I suggested that he take the time to seperate the metals. He had a bunch of stainless steel fronts, just enough to fill up his pickup truck, and took them to the scrap yard. That generated $800!! It woke him up to the value of the metals he deals with.

The majestic 120 year old church in my community had copper gutters and downspouts. Local druggie ripped that down, got the AC unit that had just been installed and then took AC from one of the little churches down the street. He got $1200 for the salvaged metal, did $30,000 in damage, and as a bonus he got 5 years prison time. Seems that he was too well known in the neighborhood and was turned in.

On that subject, and you may suggest it to your local authorities, two years ago there were four "recycling" yards in this town. The city passed a regulation that when scrap was taken to them they had to make copies of a picture ID and keep it on file for each transaction. Guess what? Rather than comply, three of them closed down. They KNEW that most of what they were "recovering" was stolen material and did not want to face the consequences. Aluminum siding, downspouts, and even a car parked too long (the bosses' son had the catalytic converter stripped off his car while it was awaiting repairs in our back lot, they have platinum in them) were all going to these places. That has slowed down a lot since the regulation went into effect.

Earlier this year, in the Louisville area, two fellows broke into an electric company substation. They too were looking for copper, and they cut some wires to get it. Seems there was enough voltage to fry both of them. Our justice system my not always mete out punishment equally, but Mother Nature has no court of appeals. The penalty for stupid is death.

One of the postings that I put under the muddled meandearing touched on this, and the impact the materials cost are having on the parts and machines you buy. Take a look at it.

Norman