Wire Types ยท Control Cable
We buy control cable.
Control cable is sold by conductor count, and a reel of nineteen-conductor 16 AWG is worth the walk to the shelf to read the tag before it is quoted.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
Voltage class600 V
Conductors2 to 37, 16 to 10 AWG
Common lotOdd counts, short reels
Footage checkTag plus a weighed sample
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 · Control Cable
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
Control cable carries the switching and interlock signals rather than the power: pushbuttons, relays, limit switches, starters, indicating lamps. 600 V, 16 AWG to 10 AWG, two conductors up to thirty-seven, shielded or unshielded, with numbered conductors and, in most plant grades, a jacket rated for tray.
Plants, water treatment, conveyors and hangar doors all run it. Sellers usually have part reels of the conductor counts nobody used, plus the cut lengths left beside a panel after a replacement.
01
Where control cable is used here
Any process that starts and stops something has control cable in it. Water and wastewater plants run it between the panel and the valve, conveyors run it the length of the line, and hangar doors and airfield equipment run it to a local station. It is almost always installed in tray or conduit beside the power cable it controls.
- Motor starters and drive controls
- Valve, damper and actuator circuits
- Conveyor and sortation interlocks
- Panel-to-panel status and alarm wiring
- Hangar and airfield equipment controls
02
Conductor count and the leftover problem
Control cable is ordered by the count the drawing calls for, and the supply house sells in counts it stocks. That mismatch is the whole surplus story: a job needs fourteen conductors, buys nineteen, uses twelve, and leaves a part reel of a count few other jobs want. It is still good cable, just an awkward item.
03
What a panel replacement leaves
Replacing a panel or a starter lineup means cutting every control conductor at both ends. What is left is a bundle of numbered cut lengths, usually between ten and forty feet, plus whatever part reels were on the shelf. Both are worth having, and they are worth very different amounts.
- Part reels of 7, 12 and 19 conductor
- Numbered cut lengths from a panel change
- Shielded cable from an analogue circuit
- Armoured or tray-rated jacket cable
- Cable with the outer jacket stripped back
04
Shields, numbering and print
A shield adds value only where somebody needs it, and it complicates copper recovery, so a shielded reel has to be described accurately. Numbered conductors matter to an installer and hardly at all to a buyer pricing metal, but the print matters to both, because the count and the gauge live there.
The most useful photograph is the jacket print beside the cut end, with a hand for scale. The second is the reel tag, which is the only thing that turns a footage estimate into a fact.
| Product | Range | Condition we take |
|---|---|---|
| Unshielded, tray rated | 16 to 10 AWG, 2 to 37 | Full reel, part reel |
| Shielded control | 16 to 12 AWG, 4 to 20 | Reel with tag |
| Armoured control | 16 to 12 AWG | Reel, long cut |
| Numbered cut lengths | Above 25 ft | Bundled and labelled |
| Jacket-stripped cable | Any | Priced on copper |
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 control cable with only a few conductors left?
Yes, and odd counts are the normal case. A part reel of seven or twelve conductor is bought as readily as a full one, provided we know the count and the remaining footage. The count is printed, so it rarely has to be guessed.
Does a shield make the cable worth more?
It makes it useful for different work, which is not the same thing. Shielded cable is slower to recover because foil and drain have to be separated, so a shielded reel and an unshielded one of the same count are not interchangeable lots.
How is footage confirmed on a control reel?
The tag first, then a count of the turns on the drum, then a weight check against conductor weight for the count and gauge. Three readings that agree are enough to quote, and the final figure follows the scale on the dock.
Can you take a box of short control lengths?
From about twenty-five feet each, bundled by count and gauge. Below that the pieces are copper. Keep the bundles labelled, because a box of unlabelled short control cable takes longer to identify than it is worth.
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