We buy surplus grounding grid conductor
Ground grid copper is easy to verify and easy to undervalue. Bare conductor in known sizes is reviewed on what it is, not folded into a generic pile.
Send the lot
Six details are enough to start: what the cable is, how much there is, where it is and what condition it is in. Photos can follow by text or email.
Prefer to talk 954-740-1983A ground grid is built from bare copper in a handful of sizes, laid in a pattern, bonded at every crossing and connected to rods driven at the corners. When a yard is rebuilt or a hall is expanded, some of that conductor is left over and some is cut out of the ground.
The two are not the same. Leftover coil is clean, bright and measurable. Conductor cut out of a grid comes with welded connections, bent sections and sometimes concrete attached. Both are reviewed, but they belong on separate lines when the list is written, because they are separate materials at review.
The sizes that actually turn up
Four aught, two aught, one aught and two gauge bare copper cover most of what a grid uses, in coils and in straight lengths cut for a run. Larger sizes appear on utility work where fault current is higher, and smaller sizes on the bonding inside a building.
Measure and label each coil. The size, the approximate length and whether the coil is one continuous piece all matter, and a coil that has been cut into three is three items. A tag with the size written on it saves a buyer from guessing at a glance, which is what happens otherwise.
Grid copper from rebuilds and new yard construction
A substation rebuild produces grid conductor in two forms: new surplus from the materials delivered and never installed, and removed conductor lifted out of the old grid. The first is straightforward. The second needs a judgement about how much of the length is still usable after being cut free.
New yard construction is the better source. A crew that bought past the grid needs leaves whole coils, still banded, still tagged. Those coils are worth listing before anything else in the yard, and they should be stored off the ground so the copper does not sit in standing water.
Connections, rods and clamps that travel with the lot
Exothermic connections are welded onto the conductor and they do not come off. A coil with a dozen mould welds along it is not clean bare copper for review purposes, however good the metal is. Cut them out and the remainder reviews as clean coil. Leave them in and the coil reviews as material with attachments.
Ground rods, clamps, test wells and the moulds themselves often sit in the same corner of the yard. They are worth listing. Rods are copper-clad or solid, clamps are bronze or copper alloy, and the whole group is easy to lose in a mixed load and easy to move as a group.
What this page covers
The rows a buyer would fill in when reviewing this kind of lot. If your cable matches most of them, the submission is ready.
| Sizes reviewed | 6 AWG to 500 kcmil bare copper |
|---|---|
| Forms | Coils, straight lengths, grid sections with connections |
| Related items | Ground rods, exothermic moulds, clamps |
| Condition accepted | New surplus, removed, cut |
| Site type | Substations, data centers, solar farms |
Grid work from the substations out to the solar fields
Substation construction around Travis, Williamson and Hays counties consumes bare copper by the coil, and the yards that serve those jobs are where the surplus collects. Data hall builds along SH-130 add grounding conductor in the same sizes, usually left on partial coils.
West and east of the city, utility-scale solar fields drive rods and lay bare conductor over large areas, and a completed phase leaves coils behind. Those sites are remote, access is by county road, and a pickup is planned around the weather and the ground conditions.
Sellers ask
Do welded connections reduce what a coil is reviewed at?
Yes. Exothermic welds are permanent and they travel with the copper. A coil carrying several of them is reviewed as material with attachments rather than as clean bare coil. Cutting the welded sections out restores the rest of the coil to clean stock.
Is tinned or corroded copper handled differently?
It is. Bright bare copper reviews best. Tinned conductor, corroded surface and copper that has been painted or buried all sit lower. Keep the bright coil separate and say plainly what the rest of the lot looks like.
Do you take ground rods and clamps in the same lot?
Yes, listed separately. Rods, clamps, test wells and exothermic moulds are reviewed as accessories alongside the conductor. Counting them takes a few minutes and stops them being thrown out with the rubbish.
Can a coil be reviewed without a length?
It can, on weight and size, though a measured length always reviews better. If the coil is one continuous piece, say so. That single fact is often what makes it usable on another grid rather than only as recovery metal.
Send the reel list
Six details are enough to start: what the cable is, how much there is, where it is and what condition it is in. Photos can follow by text or email.
Prefer to talk 954-740-1983