High Voltage ยท PILC
We buy PILC cable.
Paper-insulated lead-covered cable is the material of older duct banks: copper conductors wrapped in impregnated paper, sealed inside a lead sheath, still in service under a lot of paved ground.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
Voltage range5 kV to 69 kV
InsulationImpregnated paper
SheathLead, sometimes armoured
Priced onSheath, footage, seals
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 · PILC Cable
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
PILC was the standard for underground power before extruded insulation took over, and it has not disappeared. Any downtown network, hospital loop or older plant with duct banks from the middle of the last century is likely to have it, usually at 5 kV to 69 kV, often still energised. The paper is dried and impregnated under vacuum, the sheath is extruded lead, and the whole construction depends on staying sealed.
Sellers meet it in two ways: a duct run pulled out during a rebuild, arriving as long, stiff, heavy lengths, or a reel of new PILC left over from a job and never installed. The valuation differs between the two, and the sheath is the reason. Paper has to be handled as paper, not as plastic.
01
Paper, lead and what the sheath is worth
The lead sheath is not packaging. On a PILC cable it is a substantial share of the weight, it is a separate recoverable metal, and it is why a PILC lot prices differently from an XLPE lot of the same conductor size.
It is also why the lot needs care. Lead is a regulated material, it dents, and a crushed sheath exposes paper that has already begun to take on moisture. The sheath has to be intact for the cable to be worth anything as cable.
02
Oil seepage changes the handling
PILC is impregnated with a viscous compound that stays in the paper at operating temperature. Cut an end and it bleeds. Leave a reel in the sun and it bleeds faster, onto the reel, the pallet and the yard.
Seepage is not only a mess. Compound that has migrated out of a length leaves voids in the insulation, and voids are where a paper cable fails. A dripping reel with open ends is priced on metal, and a sealed reel with capped ends is priced as cable.
- Ends wiped and capped, not taped and left
- Reels stored upright, out of standing water
- Drip trays or absorbent under a leaking reel
- Compound loss noted before the quote, not after
03
What comes out of an old duct bank
Duct pulls come out in lengths set by the manhole spacing, so a PILC lot is often a series of forty- to five-hundred-foot pieces rather than one continuous run. Pulling grease, skid wires, grit and sometimes a length of collapsed duct come with them.
The cable is stiff and does not coil. It is loaded straight, or on a large radius, and it will not tolerate being folded into a truck bed. That single fact decides what kind of vehicle collects it.
- Pulling grease and skid wires still on the sheath
- Grit, duct fragments and broken spacers
- Cable cut at each manhole rather than pulled whole
- Collapsed duct sections that came out with the cable
04
What makes a PILC lot worth less
Cut pieces lose the argument first. A duct bank cut into ten-foot sections to get it out is a metal lot, because the cable can no longer be spliced economically into a run.
Sheath corrosion is the second issue, particularly on cable that spent decades in wet soil. White corrosion products on the lead, pinholes, and visible paper through the sheath all point the same way, and they are easy to photograph.
| Form | Voltage class | Condition note |
|---|---|---|
| Reel, unopened | 15 kV to 69 kV | Sealed ends, tag intact |
| Duct pull, long lengths | 5 kV to 35 kV | Grease, skid wires, grit |
| Cut sections | 5 kV to 15 kV | Valued on sheath and copper |
| Armoured PILC | 15 kV to 35 kV | Steel tape to separate |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
Is the lead sheath a problem?
It is a handling consideration, not a disqualification. Lead is recovered separately and it is a real part of the value. It does mean the lot should be loaded and moved by people set up for it rather than thrown in a dumpster.
Can wet PILC still be sold?
As cable, usually not once water has reached the paper. As a metal lot, yes: the copper and the lead are unaffected by moisture. Telling us it was wet before the quote saves everyone a wasted trip.
How long can a PILC reel sit before it degrades?
Sealed and shaded, longer than most people expect. Open-ended in a Texas yard, not long: heat drives compound out and moisture in. Cap the ends the day it comes off the truck, and again if the reel is moved.
Do you take the duct and the manhole hardware?
Duct and manhole frames are a separate material stream and usually a separate conversation. Keep the cable clear of concrete and duct fragments, because that debris is weight the lot is not paid for. If there is a lot of duct in the load, say so before the pickup.
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