Material file · Building wire
Buying THHN and THWN-2 building wire across DFW.
The 600 V wire that finishes most commercial jobs in the Metroplex, reviewed on gauge, jacket print, remaining length and how it was stored.
THHN is the wire most DFW commercial jobs finish with a reel of. It is 600 V building wire with thermoplastic insulation under a nylon jacket, 90 °C in dry locations and 75 °C wet as THWN. Every fit-out, panel change and tenant improvement across the Metroplex leaves some behind, usually in the last place anyone looks.
What reaches the desk is rarely a sealed factory reel. It is a 500 ft reel with a third left, a 1,000 ft reel still banded, a coil cut for a run that changed direction, or four partials stacked on one pallet with the tags facing four different ways. Gauge and remaining length carry most of the review.
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 Identification
What the jacket print says
The print on the jacket is the first thing a buyer reads, because it identifies the construction without anyone having to trust a paper tag. A THHN print runs through gauge, insulation, voltage class, temperature and the listing mark, and it repeats along the length so that a cut end still carries the answer.
Where the print has rubbed away, the reel tag usually repeats the same facts with the factory footage alongside them. If both are gone the cable is still reviewed, but it is described as unidentified, and the gauge is confirmed with a calliper or a gauge wheel instead of being read off the jacket.
02 Form
Reels, cut lengths and partials
Building wire leaves a job in a handful of recognisable forms, and each one is handled differently at pickup. The table is the shorthand a buyer uses when a seller describes a pallet over the phone, before anyone has seen a photograph of the reel face or the tag.
| Form | What it looks like | What decides the review |
|---|---|---|
| Factory reel | Banded or sealed, tag legible | Gauge, footage, jacket condition |
| Partial reel | Installed from and returned | Remaining length, wrap count |
| Cut length | Coil or bundle, ends taped | Length, gauge, end condition |
| Loose coil | Hand-coiled, often kinked | Straight runs, kinks, gauge |
03 Review logic
Gauge and length decide the lot
Two pallets of THHN can look alike and review very differently. A 4/0 partial with 300 ft left is a different proposition from six coils of 12 AWG, because copper content climbs steeply with gauge and whatever footage remains multiplies it. Gauge first, then length, then condition.
Footage is verified rather than accepted. A buyer reads the factory tag, checks the wrap count against the reel markings, and where the tag is missing weighs the reel and subtracts the empty. Cable re-reeled without a counter is measured along the floor, or left as an estimate and described as one. Anything too short to be a working length is a question for scrap versus surplus.
04 Handover
Sending a building wire list
A list is enough to start. For each reel or coil, note the gauge, the print as it reads, the footage from the tag, whether the reel is factory or partial, and where it has been stored since it came off the job. Photographs of the tag and the cut end do more than a paragraph of description.
Do not cut a partial down to make the lot look tidier. A 400 ft remainder is worth more as one length than as four shorter pieces, and once it is cut the option has gone. Strap the reels so they cannot turn in the truck, and treat a sun-struck reel the way the XHHW file describes exposed jacket generally.
Sending a list is free and creates no obligation. Nothing is collected until lot terms are agreed in writing.
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.
Do you buy partial reels of THHN?
Yes. Partials are the normal case rather than the exception, since most building wire lots come from fit-outs that finished mid-reel. A buyer will read the tag, count wraps or measure the remainder, and describe the footage honestly in the terms.
How is remaining length checked without a tag?
By weight or by measurement. The reel is weighed and the empty reel weight subtracted, or the cable is run out and measured along the floor. Where neither is practical, the length is recorded as an estimate and the terms say so before anything is loaded.
Can several gauges go on one pallet?
They can, and most warehouse clear-outs arrive that way. A mixed pallet is reviewed line by line rather than refused, though separating by gauge before a visit shortens the review and makes the photographs easier for a buyer to read.
Does sun-faded jacket matter on THHN?
It is a condition point rather than an automatic refusal. The outer wraps may have chalked or hardened while the inner length is sound, so a buyer wants to see the outer surface and the conductor a few feet in before deciding how the lot is described.
Is cut THHN in short pieces worth listing?
Short pieces are listed, but they are reviewed as a different lot from factory reels. Several short cut lengths of the same gauge stack into a usable bundle; single pieces under a few feet are treated as cut-offs and described that way in the terms.
Do you take building wire that was pulled out of conduit?
Yes, once it is de-energised and free to sell. Pulled wire is reviewed on jacket scuffing, kinks and how straight the lengths have been kept, since a conductor that fought the pull rarely lies flat enough to be re-used without cutting.
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