Paralleled feeder sets, kept together.

Paralleling is a design decision, not an accident of procurement. Two or three smaller conductors per phase are easier to pull, easier to terminate and easier to replace than one very large cable, and they carry the same total current when the runs are genuinely identical.

The moment one conductor differs, the current stops dividing evenly and the set stops behaving as designed. That is the whole reason a buyer asks for the A, B and C reels together rather than accepting whichever three reels of the right size happen to be on the floor.

The length tolerance in a paralleled set is tight, and it is why a set is pulled from matched reels and cut at the same point. Re-reeling one conductor onto a shorter drum, or cutting a damaged section out of one run, breaks the match even if every reel still holds the same size.

Check length by tag, then by wrap count, then by weight against the construction. Where the tags disagree, measure the reels. A buyer will do this anyway, and a seller who has already measured saves a return visit. Write the measurement on the tag in marker so the next person does not repeat it.

Phase arrangement is recorded during the pull: which reel became A, B, C and neutral, and how the runs were grouped in the tray. Tape, tag and jacket print carry that information. Once the tape falls off, the set is still matched but the arrangement has to be re-established by measurement and inspection. That is why tape and tag matter more than the jacket print on a set.

Neutral sizing belongs to the arrangement rather than being an afterthought. A full-size neutral and a reduced neutral look similar on a reel and behave differently in service, so the print and the tag need to agree before the set is described. A mismatch there is worth settling early.

• Keep the set tag with the reels and photograph it before coiling.
• Note which conductor served as neutral and whether it was full size.
• Say whether the set is copper or aluminium; the two are never mixed.
• Record any run that was shortened while it was in service.

A set is reviewed on the same facts as any feeder, plus one more: evidence that the conductors belong together. That evidence is a pull sheet, a set tag, a photograph of the reels lined up, or the original dispatch paperwork. Without it the set is reviewed as individual reels.

Storage matters as much. A set kept banded, indoors and together on one pallet is easy to verify; the same set spread across a yard for two summers is a set of reels with a story. Say how it was stored and how long it has been sitting.

Lay the reels out in set sequence for the photograph, with each tag visible. It is the cheapest evidence a seller can produce.