Cable from Carrollton's older industrial buildings.

Valwood and the streets around it were laid out for trucks, and the buildings were sized for machinery. A typical unit has a service entrance at one end, a run of bus duct or feeder down the middle and panelboards set against a wall that has since been lined with racks. Adding a machine means cutting into that distribution and living with the result.

When a panel or a switchboard is replaced, the old feeders come out in lengths that were measured on site decades earlier. They are often still sound, with XLPE or older rubber insulation, and they are heavy enough that the loading method matters as much as the conductor size. A route that was tight when the cable went in is no easier on the way out.

A plant that moves a machine or replaces a line leaves cable in three places: the feeder that was disconnected, the control and motor leads that came off the machine, and the reels that were bought for the job and not fully used. Each is a different item and each is reviewed on different facts, so a single weight for the whole lot tells a buyer almost nothing.

The control side is where lots get interesting. VFD cable, shielded control cable and tray runs between a panel and a drive are worth identifying by construction rather than by weight, because a shielded multi-conductor with numbered cores is not interchangeable with a length of THHN in a conduit.

Partial reels from a machine move are common and usually honest. A remainder with a tag is straightforward. The same remainder with no tag and a sun-faded jacket is still cable, but it is described as stored stock and reviewed on that basis rather than as new surplus.

Feeders are the item most often spoiled by good intentions. Cutting a 300 ft run into three pieces to make it easier to handle turns one useful length into three awkward ones, and the loss is not recoverable. Coil it, band it and keep the cut ends labeled with the conductor size so the next person does not have to guess.

Note whether the conductor is copper or aluminium, whether the insulation is XLPE, rubber or something older, and what the cable was terminated into. A feeder pulled from a switchgear lug with the termination still attached tells a buyer more than a bare end ever will, and it removes a question that would otherwise need a site visit.

Cable is only reviewed once the circuit is de-energized, locked out and released by the building owner. Where a feeder is being replaced live, the removal plan comes before any discussion of the lot.