Guide ยท Heat and storage
Storing cable in South Texas heat.
Bexar County gives stored cable four things to survive: months of hard sun, weeks above 100 F, short violent rain and the occasional hard freeze.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
Main enemiesSun, heat, rain, freeze
Reel positionUpright, on the flanges
Ground contactBlocked, off the dirt
CoverShade, vented not sealed
Get a buy quote
Send the reel list. A buyer reads it.
Six details are enough to start. Tags and photos can follow by text or email once a buyer has looked at the basics.
- A buyer reviews the lot: construction, footage and condition, not only metal weight
- Copper and aluminium, 600 V building wire through 345 kV cable
- Full reels, partial reels, cut lengths, pallets and truckloads
- No fee, no obligation, and no automatic pickup
Reel list · Heat and Storage
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
01
Sun is the first problem
Ultraviolet light attacks the jacket compound, not the conductor. It bleaches the print first, then hardens and micro-cracks the surface, and a jacket that has gone chalky is on its way to failing a bend. For fire-rated cable the loss is immediate, because the print is the rating. A roof over a rack is worth more to a stored lot than any amount of careful handling afterwards.
- Bleached print on the outer wrap
- A chalky, hardened jacket surface
- Cracks that open when the cable is bent
- A faded rating on life-safety cable
02
Water arrives from above and stays below
Rain here comes fast and runs everywhere. A reel standing on dirt takes water up through the flange, and a reel lying flat collects it in the centre. Both leave a wet layer between wraps that does not dry in humid weather. Conductor that sits wet for a season oxidizes, and aluminum goes white and powdery where the water pooled. Wooden flanges swell and split in the same weather, and a split flange is a reel that cannot be lifted.
03
Blocking, elevation and reel orientation
Reels belong upright, standing on their flanges, never lying flat. Upright, water runs off the face and the wraps stay round. On the ground they need blocking so the flange is clear of the dirt and air can move underneath. Whatever the cover is, it should shed rain without sealing the reel in, because a sealed tarp in August is a greenhouse.
- Stand reels upright on the flanges, never stacked flat
- Block them clear of the ground on timbers or pallets
- Chock the flanges so they cannot roll
- Cover with a roof or a vented tarp, open at the sides
- Tape and seal the tail so water cannot enter the wraps
04
What damage does to a lot
Visible damage changes how a lot is read before a single foot is measured. A chalky jacket, a rust-stained flange and a water line across the wraps say the cable has been outside, which means a buyer prices in moisture in the insulation and a reel that may not survive a lift. None of that is fatal. All of it is subtracted, and it is subtracted from cable that was otherwise sound.
| Fault | What it looks like | Effect on the lot |
|---|---|---|
| Lying flat | Water pooled in the centre | Wet wraps, out-of-round cable |
| On bare ground | Rust and mud on the flange | Reel may fail on lifting |
| Sealed tarp | Condensation, heat, mould | Jacket damage and print loss |
| Full sun | Chalky surface, bleached print | Rating unreadable |
| Tail left open | Water in the outer wraps | Oxidized conductor end |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
How long can cable sit outside before it is damaged?
There is no clean answer, because it depends on the jacket type, the season and the reel. One summer in full sun will bleach print and harden a jacket surface. Several years of sun, rain and freeze cycles will change how the cable reads to anyone looking at it.
Should I cover reels with a tarp?
Only with one that breathes or is open at the sides. A tarp tied down over a reel holds heat and condensation against the jacket, which is worse than plain shade. A roof over the rack, or shade cloth, does the job without trapping moisture.
Does heat alone damage cable?
Heat accelerates the ageing that sun starts, and it softens a jacket enough to take a set where the cable is pressed against itself. A closed metal container in August gets far hotter than the air outside, which is why containers suit transport and not years of storage.
Is cable that has been wet worthless?
Not worthless, but it is read differently. Surface water on a jacket counts for nothing. Water that has been inside the wraps for months shows as oxidized conductor and a stain line, and that is what a buyer looks for before deciding how to treat the reel.
Keep reading
Related pages
No fee · no obligation
You have the cable. We have a scale and a check.
Send the reel list, the tags or a photograph of the pallet. A buyer comes back with what the lot is worth and how pickup would work, before anything is moved.
954-740-1983 Call or text
- Reel tags, or the print on the jacket
- Reel count and footage, even roughly
- Where it sits and what can reach it
- Whether the cable is still energised