High Voltage ยท ACSR
We buy ACSR conductor.
Aluminium strands over a galvanized steel core: the reason ACSR holds a long span with a shallow sag is also the reason a lot of it prices below what the aluminium weight suggests.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
Code rangePartridge to Lapwing
Aluminium area266.8 to 1590 kcmil
CoreGalvanized, some Al-clad
Priced onCode, strand, core, tag
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 · ACSR Conductor
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
ACSR is the default line conductor here, and drawings name it by code rather than by area. Partridge at 266.8 kcmil, Linnet at 336.4, Hawk at 477, Drake at 795, Cardinal at 954, Bittern at 1272 and Lapwing at 1590 each describe one aluminium area and one strand pattern, and the code is the fastest thing to read on a tag.
The steel core is what sellers forget. It is a small share of the diameter and a smaller share of the metal, but it governs how the lot is processed. Conductor that can go back onto a line is priced differently from conductor that has to be cut apart, and that is why we ask for the code name before the weight.
01
Why the steel core changes the number
The aluminium is the payable metal. The core is galvanized steel wire, sized to carry tension rather than current, and it has to be separated before the aluminium can go into a melt that is expected to be a known alloy.
An aluminium-clad core is the easier case, because the cladding puts the whole conductor closer to one metal family. A galvanized core has to be cut out, and that work is why a mixed lot of ACSR prices under the aluminium it visibly contains.
02
What the code name tells a buyer
A code name is a specification in one word. It fixes the aluminium area, the number of aluminium strands, the number of steel strands and the nominal diameter, so a coil can be quoted without a micrometer and a laboratory.
- Code name and strand pattern from the tag
- Reel tag footage against what is left
- Mill name and year, if the stencil is legible
- Whether the core is galvanized or aluminium-clad
- Splices, armour rods and dampers still fitted
03
Where the large sizes come from
Sizes past 1000 kcmil come off high-capacity lines, long river and highway crossings, and generator ties where one conductor carries the whole current. Those jobs are fewer, and their surplus arrives in small numbers of heavy reels.
The 266.8 to 477 sizes are everywhere: taps, older lines, rural feeders, and the short sections that come down when a structure is replaced. A lot of small ACSR is a volume business, weighed and broken down rather than sold on the reel.
04
Presenting a lot so it prices cleanly
Photograph the tag, the reel face, the cut end and the whole lot on the ground. The cut end is what shows whether the core is galvanized or clad, and it is the photograph sellers most often leave out.
If the coils are still banded, say so. If they were opened and rerolled by hand, say that too, because hand rerolled conductor never lies as flat on a pay-off and buyers treat it as a slower job.
- Code name, or the strand count if the tag is gone
- Net weight and the number of coils or reels
- Core type, read at the cut end
- Whether the coils are banded or hand rerolled
| Code example | Aluminium area | Common origin |
|---|---|---|
| Partridge | 266.8 kcmil, 26/7 | Taps and older line |
| Linnet | 336.4 kcmil, 26/7 | Distribution-class line |
| Hawk | 477 kcmil, 26/7 | Rebuilds and upgrades |
| Drake | 795 kcmil, 26/7 | Transmission spans |
| Lapwing | 1590 kcmil, 45/7 | High-capacity and crossings |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
Does the steel core mean the lot is worth less?
In practice, yes. The steel is not the payable metal and it has to be cut out before the aluminium can enter a known-alloy melt. The gap is smaller on an aluminium-clad core, which is why the cut end is worth a photograph.
Can you price ACSR from photographs alone?
Only roughly. A code name and a clear tag get us close. An exact figure needs a net weight from a certified scale, because two coils of the same conductor can differ by hundreds of pounds of dirt, water and pallet.
What if the tag is gone?
Then the strand count does the work. We count aluminium and steel strands at the cut end and measure the diameter, which usually lands on a code. If it does not, the lot is quoted as breakdown material rather than as conductor.
Do you take conductor with splices in it?
Yes, provided the splices are declared. A compression splice is a few inches of extra metal and a slow point in any re-melt. It does not kill a coil, but a coil with six splices is not the same lot as one with none.
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