Wire Types · XHHW / XHHW-2
We buy XHHW and XHHW-2 wire.
XHHW is specified where the location is wet, hot or both: rooftop feeders, parking structures, cooling tower circuits and conduit sitting in groundwater. Those reels deserve a close read.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
InsulationCross-linked polyethylene
Voltage class600 V, 1 kV on larger
MetalsCopper and aluminum
Print that mattersXHHW-2 dual rating
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 · XHHW
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
Cross-linked polyethylene is the quiet workhorse of local commercial work. It carries the same current in a smaller diameter than nylon-jacketed wire, it holds a wet-location rating at 90 °C when dual marked XHHW-2, and it is the default insulation for services and outdoor feeders. In plants it turns up on pump circuits where conduit fills with condensate.
Sellers reach us with aluminum XHHW from a feeder scope that changed, copper part reels from a chiller replacement, and older single-rated XHHW that came off a rack during a stock cleanup. The marking on the jacket decides how the lot reads, so photograph it before anything is cut.
01
Where this insulation earns its place
The reason a job specifies XHHW is usually water. A feeder that leaves a switchboard, crosses a parking deck and drops into a mechanical room will be wet for part of every year. So will conduit serving a cooling tower, and nylon-jacketed wire can do that work, but the designer picks the insulation that does not care.
- Rooftop and parking deck feeders exposed to rain and sun
- Chiller, boiler and cooling tower circuits
- Services and subfeeds into mechanical rooms
- Pump and lift station drops in wet vaults
- Medium-voltage feeders using the same compound
02
Single rated or dual rated
XHHW-2 is the marking that carries a 90 °C wet rating. Older XHHW is limited to 75 °C wet, and a lot printed only XHHW is a different asset from one printed XHHW-2 even when the copper is identical. That distinction lives on the jacket rather than the tag, so a photograph of the print a foot back from the cut end is the most useful thing you can send.
03
Reels that come off a chiller or feeder job
Mechanical replacements are generous with cable. A chiller swap needs feeders pulled to a new location, the electrician buys for the worst case, and the balance rides back on the truck. Feeder upgrades behave the same way, especially when the switchgear layout moves after the cable was ordered.
- Part reels of copper XHHW-2 from mechanical swaps
- Full aluminum reels from a redesigned feeder
- Short tails cut at a switchgear termination
- Single-rated XHHW released in a stock cleanup
- Conductor pulled from a deck run during reroofing
04
Moisture, sun and the case for the reel
Cross-linked polyethylene is tough, but it is not immune to a Bexar County summer. Two years on a laydown slab will chalk the surface and fade the print, and a reel standing in water will wick moisture up the strands under the insulation. That wicking rarely shows until the end is stripped back.
| Construction | Range | What we take |
|---|---|---|
| Copper XHHW-2 | 14 AWG to 1000 kcmil | Full reel, part reel |
| Aluminum XHHW-2 feeder | 1/0 to 750 kcmil | Reel, tagged cut length |
| XHHW single rated | 8 AWG to 500 kcmil | Part reel, pulled run |
| Compact and concentric | 2 AWG to 500 kcmil | Reel with footage |
| Pulled from a deck run | Above 50 ft | Dry, straight, clean |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
Is aluminum XHHW worth collecting?
Yes, in volume. Aluminum carries less value per pound than copper, so one part reel is a small lot. A pallet of 4/0 and 350 kcmil reels from a feeder job is a different conversation, and that is the scale where aluminum makes sense.
How can I tell whether my cable is XHHW-2?
Read the surface print. A dual-rated reel says XHHW-2, usually followed by the voltage, size and a footage figure. If the print only says XHHW, treat it as the older single-rated product and send a photo of that line.
The reel sat outside for two summers. Is it ruined?
Not necessarily. Chalked surface and faded print cost value but not the conductor. What we look for is cracked insulation, water standing in the coil and white oxide at the exposed end. Those are what turn a reel into salvage.
Do you need the full reel or will you take a tail?
Both, at different values. A forty-foot tail is useful to somebody doing a repair and we will price it, but it travels badly and cannot be verified by tag. Past a hundred feet it starts to behave like a reel.
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