Material file · Service entrance
Buying SER and SEU cable from service work.
Service entrance cable from meter loops, panel swaps and riser repairs, where the shape of the assembly decides how the whole lot is read.
Service entrance cable arrives at the desk in two shapes that sellers often describe with one word. SEU is a flat assembly of two insulated conductors with a bare neutral wound between them, while SER is a round assembly carrying three or four insulated conductors. Both are 600 V cable used to bring power from the service point into a panel.
Most of it comes from service changes. A panel replacement, a meter upgrade or a damaged mast leaves the old run cut at both ends, one length out of the weatherhead and another out of the panel, and both are worth measuring before anything gets coiled for a scrap pile.
Buy quote request
Tell us what you have
Type, conductor, voltage class and how much is on hand. Photos can follow by text or email. A buyer reviews the lot before anyone talks about money.
Prefer to talk it through? 954-740-1983 · saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com
01 Construction
Two shapes, two reviews
The two assemblies are not interchangeable and they are not reviewed the same way. SEU carries its neutral as a bare conductor laid between the insulated ones, so that neutral is exposed at every point where the jacket opens. SER keeps every conductor insulated and binds them in a round jacket.
| Assembly | What it looks like | What decides the review |
|---|---|---|
| SEU | Flat, bare neutral between conductors | Neutral condition, jacket, footage |
| SER | Round, three or four insulated | Conductor count, jacket, footage |
| Aluminium | Lighter, silver-grey strands | Oxide, moisture, strand damage |
| Copper | Heavier, on smaller services | Weight, jacket, cut ends |
02 Origin
Meter loops and panel changes
The common source is a service upgrade: an older house or small commercial building moving to a heavier service, a meter relocated for a remodelled facade, or a repair after a mast was struck. The cable is usually sound in the middle and the terminations are usually not.
A service change produces two lengths per run, the drop from the weatherhead to the meter and the run from the meter into the panel. They are different lengths and different conditions, and keeping them apart gives a buyer more to work with than one bundle of mixed tails.
03 Conductor
Aluminium 2/0 and 4/0
Large service work in the Metroplex is mostly aluminium, in 2/0 and 4/0, because the conductor is lighter to pull and the lugs it lands on are made for it. Aluminium is reviewed on strand condition, white oxide on the cut face, and any moisture that has tracked under the jacket from a termination. The same metal in the ground is filed under URD and USE-2.
An SEU neutral that has spent years outdoors shows the weather first. The strands pit, the surface goes dull and chalky, and the turns that wrapped a lug can be brittle enough to snap when the cable is straightened. That is a description rather than a refusal, but a buyer needs to see it before the terms are written.
04 Condition
Weatherhead cut-offs and tails
The top of a service riser is where a jacket fails first. Sun, rain and the heat of a mast leave it hard and cracked for the last few feet, and that section comes off before the rest of the run can be assessed. The useful length is what remains below the damage.
Short tails from panel work are counted rather than measured. A dozen pieces of three or four feet are reviewed as a bundle, and the copper is still there even where the length is far too short to serve as a service again. Bundles of like lengths review better than a mixed tangle.
Trim the weatherhead end before the visit if it makes the coil manageable. Photograph it first, so the buyer can see what was cut away.
FAQ Seller questions
What sellers ask before they send a list
Answers describe how the buying desk works. They are not an offer, a rate or a promise of purchase.
How do I tell SEU from SER in a pile?
Look at the cross-section. SEU is flat, with a bare neutral laid between two insulated conductors. SER is round and holds three or four insulated conductors with no bare neutral. The jacket print on either one will say which it is where the marking survives.
Do you buy aluminium service cable with oxidised ends?
Yes. White oxide on the cut face is normal on aluminium that has been outside, and it is described rather than treated as a defect. The question a buyer asks is how far the corrosion runs under the jacket and whether the strands still bend.
Are short tails from a panel change worth listing?
They are, though they review as a counted bundle rather than as a length. Several tails of the same size, kept together and counted, give a buyer something to work with; the same tails scattered loose in a scrap bin are much harder to describe.
Does a damaged bare neutral change the lot?
It changes the description. Pitted or snapped neutral strands limit what the cable can be used for again, and a buyer will note the damage along the run instead of assuming the whole length is uniform. Photographs of both ends answer most of it.
Can service cable still connected at the panel be bought?
No. A service has to be de-energised and disconnected before it is reviewed, and the utility or the owner has to confirm the release. Nothing is cut out of a live service, and no lot is collected while the authority to sell it is unclear.
Buy quote request
Tell us what you have
Type, conductor, voltage class and how much is on hand. Photos can follow by text or email. A buyer reviews the lot before anyone talks about money.
Prefer to talk it through? 954-740-1983 · saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com