Wire Types ยท Bare Copper
We buy bare copper wire.
Bare copper is the simplest lot here and the easiest to get wrong, because a coil of grounding conductor and a coil of copper-clad steel look alike from across the yard.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
Sizes14 AWG to 500 kcmil
FormsSolid, stranded, bus bar
Common lotGround coils and offcuts
Main riskCopper-clad and aluminum
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 · Bare Copper
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
Bare copper is conductor without insulation: grounding electrode conductors, equipment grounds, ground rings, bus bar and jumpers. It runs from 14 AWG solid up to 500 kcmil stranded, and in older work a good deal of it is tinned. None of it needs a voltage rating to be worth buying.
Sellers bring coils of 6 and 4 from service upgrades, ground rings cut out of a demolished substation, and bus bar from a retired switchgear lineup. In every case the questions are the same: is it copper, is it clean, and how much does it weigh.
01
Where bare copper is used here
Every service has a grounding electrode conductor and every panel has equipment grounds. Plants add ground grids and bus, hospitals add isolated ground runs, and telecom rooms add a bonding conductor that is often larger than anything else in the room. It is the one family that appears on every job of every size.
- Grounding electrode conductors at services
- Equipment grounds pulled with feeders
- Substation and plant ground grids
- Switchgear and panel bus bar
- Telecom and equipment bonding conductor
02
Grid conductor, bus bar and jumpers
Grid conductor comes out in long runs, often with exothermic welds still on the ends, and those welds have to be cut off before the copper can be weighed properly. Bus bar comes in straight lengths and shapes, sometimes plated, sometimes with bolted joints that were cut rather than unbolted.
Jumpers and braids are the small end. Collect them with the rest, but expect them to be bought as copper rather than as anything with a use, because a braid shaped to one terminal rarely fits another.
03
Copper, copper-clad or aluminum
The common error is copper-clad steel, which is magnetic, stiff and worth a fraction of what the seller expects. A magnet answers the question in a second. Aluminum grounding conductor is lighter and brighter, and it is a separate, lower-value stream.
- Bright copper, cut end shows red metal
- Tinned copper, silver surface over copper
- Copper-clad steel, magnetic and stiff
- Aluminum, light and silver throughout
- Brass or bronze fittings, kept separately
04
Clean, tinned, corroded, painted
Bare copper is bought on weight, which makes cleanliness the whole argument. Bright wire, tinned wire and green wire are three different prices, and painted or concrete-coated bar sits below all of them. A coil buried in wet soil for years will be pitted, and pitting is metal that is no longer there.
Keep it dry and keep it separate. One coil of bright 4 AWG is a small but clean lot; the same coil mixed with steel fittings and aluminum scraps is a sorting job.
| Form | Range | Condition we take |
|---|---|---|
| Solid grounding conductor | 14 to 2 AWG | Coil, cut length |
| Stranded grounding conductor | 1/0 to 500 kcmil | Coil, reel, long run |
| Bus bar and flat bar | Any section | Straight lengths, clean |
| Tinned conductor | 8 AWG to 350 kcmil | Coil, clean and dry |
| Grid conductor with welds | 2 AWG to 500 kcmil | Ends cut, weighed |
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 bare copper by weight only?
Mostly, because there is no insulation and no footage to verify. Size still matters, since clean 500 kcmil bus reads better than a tangle of 14 AWG, but the number is driven by clean metal weight on a certified scale.
How can I tell copper-clad from solid copper?
A magnet. Copper-clad steel is magnetic and noticeably stiffer, and a cut end shows a grey core rather than red metal all the way through. It is still bought, at a very different value, and it should never share a box.
Is green or blackened copper worth less?
Yes, and how much depends on depth. Surface oxidation is normal on stored copper and comes off in the melt. Pitting from years in wet soil is metal loss, and that is a different conversation at the scale.
Will you take short cut-offs of grounding conductor?
We will. Grounding work generates a lot of short pieces and they add up across a project. Keep them in one container rather than in with steel fittings and aluminum, and they can be weighed in a single pass.
Keep reading
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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