We buy surplus VFD cable
Purpose-built cable is hard to substitute, so a surplus drive reel keeps its standing. Tell us the construction, the voltage class and the footage on the reel.
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 954-740-1983VFD cable is built for one job, and that is what makes a surplus reel worth chasing. We take it in the 1 kV and 2 kV classes, three conductor with ground, in symmetric ground and armored constructions, from 16 AWG through 500 kcmil. It comes from pump stations, fan walls, compressor packages and cooling plant work where a drive was specified and then changed.
This cable exists to carry a switched output without throwing noise into everything nearby. That is why it cannot be swapped for ordinary tray cable, and why a reel of it is worth finding the right buyer rather than being folded into a general lot.
Why ordinary tray cable will not do the job
A drive output switches fast, and an unshielded cable radiates that switching into adjacent control wiring. VFD cable carries a copper shield over the conductors and a symmetric ground arrangement so the noise returns where it came from instead of traveling down a conduit.
That construction is what a buyer is looking for, and it is visible at the cut end: shield, drain, and three power conductors with grounds spaced symmetrically. A reel that has lost its shield at the end can often be dressed again, and that is checked before anything is offered.
Symmetric ground, armored and the 2 kV class
Symmetric ground means the ground conductors sit between the power conductors rather than bunched in a corner, which keeps the magnetic field balanced. Armored versions add a interlocked or braided layer for mechanical protection in a plant or a wet well.
The 2 kV class shows up on longer motor leads and on 600 V drives where the installation called for extra insulation. We list the class on every reel, because a 1 kV reel and a 2 kV reel of the same gauge are not the same item to the next project.
Reels from packages that changed vendor
Most of this material comes from a package that was re-specified. A pump skid arrives with a different drive, the motor lead length changes, and the cable bought for the original arrangement stays in the laydown. Often it is still banded, still tagged, never cut.
Those reels are the best of the category. Photograph the tag, the print and the cut end if the reel has been opened. If a reel was cut and the remainder returned, note the footage, since a partial reel of drive cable is still useful on a short motor lead.
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 rating | 1 kV and 2 kV |
|---|---|
| Configurations | 3 conductor plus ground, shielded |
| Sizes reviewed | 16 AWG to 500 kcmil |
| Condition accepted | New surplus, partial reel, removed |
| Site type | Water treatment, plants, data-center cooling |
Pump stations, cooling plants and drive upgrades
Central Texas water utilities run a lot of driven pumps. The treatment plants along the Colorado, the lift stations in the growing suburbs, and the well fields west of town all carry VFD cable, and a station upgrade replaces it in lengths cut for that station.
Cooling plant work on the data hall builds along SH-130 and SH-71 adds larger reels, and the manufacturing plants in Taylor and Georgetown contribute armored cable from compressor rooms. We cover all of it, from a single cut length to a pallet of full reels.
Sellers ask
How is VFD cable told apart from tray cable?
The shield and the ground arrangement give it away at the cut end, and the print on the jacket usually names the type. Drive cable carries a copper shield over the assembly and a symmetric ground layout. A reel marked only as tray cable is reviewed as tray cable.
Do short cut lengths have any use?
They do, on short motor leads and on drive replacements where the run is a few feet. A twenty-foot length of 2 kV shielded cable can save a project a week. Keep the cut lengths apart from the reels and list them by gauge and class.
Is armored drive cable handled differently?
It is heavier and it is read on the armor as well as the shield. Armor that has been crushed or kinked changes the review, so photograph any damaged section. Otherwise it is listed by gauge, class, conductor count and footage like the rest.
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