We buy surplus medium voltage cable
Fifteen, twenty-five and thirty-five kV cable does most of the work on campuses and plants here. Neutral construction and jacket condition decide what a reel is worth reviewing as.
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 954-740-1983Medium voltage is where most of the real cable in this region sits. Campus distribution, plant feeders, padmount ties and the duct banks between buildings all run in this range, and every one of those jobs leaves partial reels behind when the job finishes and the equipment is packed up.
The constructions vary more than the voltage numbers suggest. Insulation level, neutral type, jacket material and whether the cable is rated for tray all change the review. A reel that looks like the last one is often a different item once the print on the jacket is read.
Insulation level and what it changes on a reel
Cable in this class is built to a hundred percent or a hundred and thirty-three percent insulation level, and the two are not interchangeable for a given system. The level is printed on the jacket and it is the first line a buyer reads. A reel at the wrong level for a job is still useful, just not for that job.
Insulation material matters as much. EPR and XLPE behave differently in service and in storage, and a reel that has been in a hot yard for two summers will show it. Read the jacket print, note the level and the material, and photograph that section of the print clearly.
Concentric neutral, tape shield and uni-shield
The neutral is where medium voltage cable gets interesting. A concentric neutral of copper wires over the insulation, a tape shield for a shielded run, or a uni-shield construction combining the two. Each has a different recovery profile, and each fails in a different way when it is handled badly.
Look at the neutral where the cable has been bent. Wires that have spread, a tape that has wrinkled or a shield that has been cut back badly all reduce what the reel can be used for. Photograph the end and a bend, and say whether the neutral is complete around the circumference.
URD, MV-90 and MV-105, and why the rating is on the list
URD cable is built for direct burial, usually with a jacket over the neutral. MV-90 is rated for a lower conductor temperature in normal operation, MV-105 higher, and tray-rated cable carries its own listing. The rating decides where a reel can go back into service, so it belongs on the list next to the length.
Then there is the jacket. A reel stored in the sun for a season can have a jacket that has gone hard and started to craze. Once that happens the reel is reviewed as recovery rather than reuse, however good the conductor underneath is. Keep reels shaded and off the ground and that outcome is avoidable.
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.
| Voltage classes | 5 kV, 8 kV, 15 kV, 25 kV, 35 kV |
|---|---|
| Constructions reviewed | EPR and XLPE, concentric neutral, tape shield |
| Typical conductor | 2 AWG to 1,000 kcmil, copper or aluminum |
| Condition flags | Jacket cracking, exposed neutral, water in the reel |
| Site type | Data-center campuses, plants, municipal utility yards |
Campus loops, plant feeders and the corridors between
The university, the medical district and the large office campuses each run their own medium voltage loops, and each has a yard where surplus from a project ends up. Plant feeders along SH-71 and US-183 do the same at industrial scale.
Padmount ties in the newer subdivisions out toward Manor, Kyle and Leander also produce this class of cable, usually in short lengths cut for a specific transformer. Municipal yards and contractor laydowns are the usual holding points, and pickup is arranged around your access.
Sellers ask
What does the insulation level percentage mean here?
It describes how the insulation is built for a given system voltage. A hundred percent level and a hundred and thirty-three percent level are different constructions and are not swapped between systems. The level is printed on the jacket and it is read before anything else.
Is a UV-damaged jacket always the end of the reel?
For reuse, usually yes. Once the jacket has crazed and gone hard it no longer protects the neutral and the insulation underneath. The reel is then reviewed on recovery, which is a legitimate outcome. Shaded storage and keeping reels off the ground avoids it.
Do you take partial reels from a padmount tie?
Regularly. Those are the commonest item in this class. Measure what is left, note whether the end is sealed and whether the neutral is intact, and list each reel with its own length rather than as a single assorted line.
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