catalytic converters?

Marc

Silver Member
Mar 19, 2003
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Re: catalytic converters? (platinum!)

Speaking of catalytic converters, the EU is considering requiring them on ALL small motors in the coming years... lawn mowers, mopeds, etc!

Want my advice? Hoard / invest in platinum! Today's price? $1281 an ounce, up $10. from the day previous.
 

Ascholten

Sr. Member
Jul 28, 2007
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Cat's have so many different grades, and so many different compositions that it's pretty much impossible to set a 'standard price' on them that is not really ripping you off.

I recycle cats myself. (I do a primary recycle, I actually recover the PMG's myself and sell them)

A cat can have anything from 40 dollars to close to 1000 dollars worth of metal in it. Granted, the 'grand cats' are fairly rare, they are out there.

3 main metals in them.

platinum, palladium, and rhodium.

about 3 years ago, rhodium was selling for around 250 to 300 an ounce... was a lot cheaper than platinum, so cats were made using more of it, since it was cheaper....

today rhodium is well above 6000 an ounce, so while needless to say cats are made of a different make up now, the ones that were made back in the good ole days are worth a pretty penny now.

Another thing.

The casing tends to be a higher grade of stainless steel, that can fetch some decent coin recycling as well. Granted it's not in the hundreds of dollars an ounce range but even at a buck a pound can add up real fast. For me, it pays for the chemicals i need to get the good stuff out.

Aaron
 

fiatboy

Bronze Member
Jan 28, 2007
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Which vehicles have the most rhodium? I'm dying to know! I would love to pass a vehicle and think, "Ha! There goes some rhodium!" haha. And doesn't the amount of precious metals in a cat decrease over time, so the newer ones have more?
 

OP
OP
C

cmbb

Guest
Asholten; Thanks for the information! Hopefully you will continue to do well with your recycling program.
 

Ascholten

Sr. Member
Jul 28, 2007
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fiatboy some of the OEM's for the exotic cars had a lot of high value pmg's in them. While they all work in a cat,some are more efficient than others. Now enter the poofter insecuremobile IIx. they are trying to cram a lot of work (catalystwise) into a small sporty package, there is not a lot of room for a big lunker of a cat, and with a beefcaked up engine, now we have a bunch of airflow we need to deal with and do it very well.... enter the way exotics into the cat converters.

Then there are the corvettes which some have an exhaust system on each side of the car and each side has 2 cats in series for 4 total... now that's a sweet harvest there!!

The actual content of the cat depends on several factors, besides what the manufacturer originally put in them.

The statement is correct, newer ones have more pmg's in them than older ones, thats because over time, the pmg's tend to get blown out of them. In fact there was a study done at one time to see how much precious metals of the plat metal group was at intersections on major streets, because all the cars sitting there at the stoplights, idling, and the pmg's being blown out of the pipes and basically depositing on the asphalt. anyways...... Newer ones are probably still working like they are supposed to, hence you wont see to many in the junkyard, save a wreck happening and totaling the car.

The difference is not too significant. Much more loss comes from loss of substrate. The pmg's are deposited on basically ceramic beads or a honeycomb structure, and over time that can bust up, crumble and leave the converter. So instead of having say 5 pounds of substrate in a converter, it might only have 1 1/2 pounds rattling around.

Do know that arsenic which is in gasoline at times, in trace amounts, is not only a deadly poison to humans, but is a cat killer as well. Given this, if you are going to recycle these as a primary, ie do your own processing.. do know that not only do you have exposure to the acids you are working with to leech the pmg's out but potentially other very nasty substances as well.

If you do start selling cats, do NOT take them out of the steel casings. See the thing is, honeycomb all looks alike, and if you give the recycler a box of honey comb he won't have a clue what it came from, and therefore, what's in it. BUT if you leave it in the steel container, he will know exactly what it came from, and therefore, what is in it and if he is honest, pay you what they are worth.

Aaron
 

re-tek

Sr. Member
Jul 15, 2007
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also...

cats on older american cars, like pre mid 80's or there abouts where made with pellets, not honeycomb. the pellets brought lots of cash. these cats can be identified by being rather large and having a round half dollar sized cap in the middle.

re-tek
grew up in the auto wrecking biz..
 

Ascholten

Sr. Member
Jul 28, 2007
310
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they still make the pellet cats, I believe it's the GM cats that are that way. Big lunkers they are but some are not worth anything near what one of the smaller cats with rhodium is worth.

aaron
 

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