Any condition, any size
Recycling Transformers: What Actually Happens to the Unit
How selling a transformer works in Ohio, in plain steps, with the paperwork and freight covered.
What we buy
What we buy here
Who we buy from
Six kinds of seller, one desk
- Recyclers
- Electrical contractors
- Equipment dealers
- End users
- Demo contractors
- Distributors
Fast offers
A nameplate photo is usually enough to price a unit the same day.
Dedicated logistics
We arrange the crane, the permits and the flatbed, not you.
No broker fees
You are dealing with the buyer, so nothing is shaved off the offer.
How it works
Six steps from your yard to the money
- 01
Take pictures
The nameplate, the cabinet interior and the tank in daylight. Three photographs are usually enough to place a unit in the right class and the right price band.
- 02
Send them to us
The form on this page, a text or an email all reach the same desk. Include the city, the access and any deadline the site is working to.
- 03
Review the offer
A buyer reads the photographs, asks one or two questions and sends a written offer with the assumptions stated, so nothing changes on the day.
- 04
We schedule freight
Crane, flatbed and permits are booked around your access. You get a date and a window, and we carry the cost of getting it right.
- 05
Testing on arrival
Winding resistance, megger and turns ratio, plus oil analysis where the unit is liquid filled. The results decide the final number, and you see them.
- 06
Get paid
Payment is released on the agreed terms once the unit is received and tested, by check or ACH. No retention, no sixty-day terms.
What we handle for you
The parts sellers dread, done for you
Rigging
Crane and forklift arranged around your access, not the other way round.
Oil containment
Bunds, absorbent and disposal handled before the unit moves.
Bill of sale
A clean title document for your records, signed on collection.
PCB paperwork
Pre-1979 units get the testing and the manifest they need.
Buying desk
The short answer
The alternative to a buyer is a scrap yard, and the difference between the two is usually the difference between a machine and a heap of steel. A K-rated unit holds its value in any building full of electronics, which is most buildings now.
A sealed unit that has lost its gas blanket has lost the advantage that justified the price. A common rating in poor condition sells faster than a rare one in good condition.
How it works here
A buyer who explains the reasoning gets a second call, and the second call is where the good units are. A unit that is documented is easier to move than one that is not, in every sense of the word.
A buyer who quotes without asking anything has quoted for a different transformer. A seller should keep the photographs after the sale, because the next buyer will ask for the same ones.
What we need from you
If the unit is still energized, do not open anything; a tag photograph through the window is enough to start. A buyer's first question is about the rating and the second is about the access, in that order.
A substation-class unit sits between what a plant can maintain and what a utility would own, which is why it changes hands. The difference between a good and a bad purchase is usually information rather than luck.
Compared with the alternatives
A unit that has never been rewound carries a premium that is easy to explain and hard to argue with. A number given on the phone is an indication, and a number given in writing is an offer with assumptions attached.
A clean oil test moves a number up faster than a new coat of paint ever will. A common rating at a common voltage is worth more than a rare one in perfect order, which surprises sellers every week.
Ohio only, on purpose
If a unit sits just over a state line, the honest answer is that somebody closer should buy it. A site visit answers in twenty minutes what a week of messages cannot.
A unit that has been disconnected for a year is not the same proposition as one that came out last week. A buying desk earns its keep by answering quickly, because a seller with a unit in the way is not looking for a relationship.
Common questions
Related pages
Get started
Get an offer in minutes
Five fields and a phone number is all we need to start. We reply the same business day, and a firm number follows the nameplate photo.
(614) 715-3047or send the form and we will call you.
Questions
What sellers ask before they call
Equipment types
Do you buy transformers anywhere in Ohio?
There is no middle layer taking a spread: the desk that quotes is the desk that pays and the desk that sends the truck. Every county in the state is covered, from the lake shore to the river, and Ohio sits inside the regular loop. A cabinet that has been opened recently has probably been looked at by somebody who knew why.
Service area
Is there a fee to get a number?
A single padmount is a half-day job once access is confirmed; a substation unit is a week of planning and a permit. You are paid when the unit leaves the pad, not thirty days after it arrives somewhere else. A decision made on a photograph is reversible; a decision made after the truck arrives is not.
Payment
How fast can a unit leave the site?
Funds can clear before the crane hooks on if that is the arrangement you want, and we will put it in writing. Most units leave within a week of the number being agreed, and a unit that has to clear a site by Friday can usually be gone by Friday. The best outcome is a unit that leaves the site and turns up somewhere useful, and that happens more often than people expect.