Industrial ยท Medium Voltage
We buy medium voltage cable.
Two kilovolt to thirty-five kilovolt shielded cable is the working voltage of a plant, and every upgrade leaves some of it behind on a rack or in a laydown area.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
Range2 kV to 35 kV
InsulationEPR or XLPE
ShieldCopper tape or wire
Priced onSize, shield, footage
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 · Medium Voltage
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
Medium voltage is where a plant stops talking about branch circuits and starts talking about feeders. The cable has semiconductive screens over the conductor and under the insulation, a metallic shield over that, and a jacket. Everything about how it is valued follows from those layers, so read the jacket print before you read the scale.
The other thing that follows is handling. Shielded cable has to be terminated with stress cones, it cannot be treated like tray cable, and removed lengths are usually cut back before anyone will reuse them. That is why a seller's best move is to keep the reels whole and the cut lengths labelled, since a plant that does that gets a noticeably cleaner quote.
01
EPR against XLPE
Both insulations do the same job and behave differently. EPR is rubber-like, flexible and tolerant of repeated flexing and wet service, which is why it appears on motor leads, portable substation cable and anything that moves. XLPE is stiffer, has a higher dielectric strength, and dominates fixed feeder work.
For a seller the difference is practical rather than technical. EPR is easier to coil in cold weather and less likely to crack. XLPE holds its shape and takes a bend set, so a reel that was wound badly stays wound badly.
02
Copper tape against copper wire shield
The shield is part of the copper in the lot, and it is the detail sellers overlook. A tape shield is a thin overlapping copper ribbon, good for fault current but small in mass. A wire shield, and the concentric neutral on URD-style cable, is a ring of strands that adds real weight.
Two reels of the same conductor size can differ by a noticeable amount of copper for that reason alone. If the jacket print says tape shield, wire shield or concentric neutral, that is worth passing on.
- Tape shield: light copper, common on plant feeder
- Wire shield: heavier copper, better fault capacity
- Concentric neutral: strands laid over the core
- Drain wires and bedding tapes: not payable copper
03
What each voltage leaves behind
The class matters because it tells you what kind of job produced the cable. A 5 kV lot usually comes from motor work: leads, starters, older gear being replaced. A 15 kV lot is the bulk of plant feeder and the most common thing on a rack.
At 25 kV the material tends to come from utility-style distribution or field service, with longer runs and heavier reels. At 35 kV it usually belongs to a collector system or a substation tie, and it arrives in smaller quantities with better paperwork.
- 5 kV: motor leads, starters, older switchgear
- 15 kV: plant feeder, chiller and compressor runs
- 25 kV: distribution-style runs and field service
- 35 kV: collector ties and substation connections
04
Why removed MV is not always reusable
Cable pulled out of a tray or a duct has been bent, strapped, walked on and cut back at both ends. The insulation may be sound and the shield may be intact, but the length is now whatever survived, and it has field terminations to remove.
That does not make it scrap. A tagged 15 kV reel with most of its footage is a genuine cable lot. A coil of cut lengths with the jacket stripped at both ends is a copper lot with extra steps.
| Class | Typical sizes | Common origin |
|---|---|---|
| 5 kV | 8 AWG to 500 kcmil | Motor and starter work |
| 15 kV | 2 AWG to 1000 kcmil | Plant feeder and riser |
| 25 kV | 1/0 to 1000 kcmil | Distribution and field runs |
| 35 kV | 1/0 to 750 kcmil | Collector and substation ties |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
Do you buy MV cable that has been in service?
Yes, with the ends sealed and the history described. Removed feeder is a normal part of this trade. What we will not do is treat an untested, water-damaged run as if it were surplus off a new reel.
How do I read the voltage class off the cable?
The jacket print gives it, usually as a percentage figure such as 133% and a voltage, or as a class like 15 kV. If the print is worn, the insulation wall thickness and the conductor size will identify the class closely enough for a quote.
Is aluminium MV cable worth less?
It is worth less per pound and it is a smaller part of the market, but it is bought. Check the conductor before you describe the lot: aluminium shows as a pale, light strand bundle at the cut end.
Can you collect from a plant laydown yard?
Usually. Tell us whether a trailer can get in, whether there is a forklift on site, and the reel weights. Plants often have gate and badge requirements, so the pickup gets booked rather than improvised.
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