Guide
Do supply houses take back empty reels?
Some electrical supply houses take back reels, but usually only plastic reels in their own return loop or returnable reels their makers want collected; most will not take one-way wooden reels.
Counter staff hear the question every day. The answer depends on who owns the reel, not on where the cable was bought, and it differs between branches and between makers.
What a branch usually accepts
- Plastic reels the distributor or maker runs in a loop, especially for building wire.
- Returnable wooden or steel reels when the maker uses the branch as a collection point.
- Reels covered by a deposit on your account, which the branch credits on return.
- Occasionally, its own cut-down reels, at the branch's discretion.
What a branch usually refuses
- One-way nailed wooden reels from any maker.
- Reels from another distributor.
- Broken, rotten or partly dismantled reels.
- Reels with cable still on them, except under a separate returns policy.
Why branches do not want one-way reels
A branch is a warehouse with a counter. Every reel it takes back occupies floor space and has to leave on someone's truck. For returnable reels the maker sends that truck; for one-way reels nobody does. That is why a branch that cheerfully credits a plastic reel will wave away a nailed wooden one: it has nowhere for it to go.
Some large distributors run reel programs for big accounts, but those are contract terms, not a counter policy. Ask your account manager if you think one applies.
A quick way to find out
- Read the flange: "returnable", "property of", a reel number or a metal tag means it is owed back somewhere.
- Check the delivery ticket or invoice for a reel deposit line.
- Call the branch with the maker name and reel number before driving over.
- If the answer is no, the reel is one-way and yours to sell or recycle.
Where the rest go
One-way reels the branch will not take are the ones we buy if they are sound and recycle if they are not. Bring the returnables to the branch or call the maker, and send us the rest in one request.
Deposits in plain terms
A reel deposit is money held against the reel's return. It appears as a line on the invoice and comes back as a credit when the reel does. If no deposit was charged and no return wording appears on the reel, the branch has no claim on it, and you can treat it as your own.
Deposits are refunded to the account that paid them, so a subcontractor returning a general contractor's reels should bring that account number along.
Branches around Chicago
Electrical and data-cable distributors cluster around the O'Hare corridor, the North Shore and the I-55 warehouse belt: Elk Grove Village, Wood Dale, Franklin Park, Glenview, Northbrook and Bolingbrook all have them. Each branch writes its own counter rules within its company's policy, so two branches of the same distributor can answer differently. Ask the branch that actually sold you the cable; it is the one with the record of any reel deposit.
What to bring to the counter
- The invoice or delivery ticket for the cable.
- The reel number, stencil or tag details.
- The number of reels and their flange sizes.
- Photos, so the counter can check with the warehouse before you load up.
When cable comes back too
Branches sometimes accept unused cable for return or credit under a separate returns policy, often with a restocking charge and only on full, unopened reels. That is a cable return, not a reel return, and the terms are the branch's to set. Partly used reels almost never qualify.
Questions
Does Southwire take back wooden reels?
Southwire ships on both steel and wooden reels and runs a reel return program that customers start with a form on its website. Check its current terms there.
Will a branch credit a reel deposit?
If your account was charged a deposit for that reel, the branch that sold it is the place to return it and get the credit.
Can I leave reels at the branch after hours?
No. Unattended reels left at a branch are a nuisance and may be treated as dumping.
Is there a fee to return a reel to a branch?
Branches set their own terms. Returnable reels in a maker's loop are usually accepted without charge; ask before you bring anything else.
Reel words on this page
- Returnable reel
- A reel its maker expects back, usually stencilled or tagged to say so.
- One-way reel
- A reel nobody is collecting. Once empty, it belongs to whoever holds it.
- Reel tag
- The label or plate carrying the maker, the reel number and sometimes the return terms.
- Nailed vs bolted
- Nailed reels are held together with nails and built for one trip; bolted reels have through-bolts and steel plates for many.
- Flange
- The round side discs that hold the cable in. Flange diameter, edge to edge, is the size a reel is known by.
More reel guides
- What empty reels are worth
Size, build and condition decide it. What gets paid for, and what does not.
- Returnable vs one-way reels
Reading the tag, the stencils and the build to know whose reel it is.
- Which makers take reels back
Published maker return programs, their minimums and their condition rules.
- Reel sizes explained
Flange, drum and traverse, with a size chart from 24 to 96 inches.
- Measuring a reel
Four measurements, one tape and a minute per reel.
- Nailed vs bolted reels
How each is built, why bolted reels make more trips, and how each is handled.
- When a reel can't be reused
The defects that end a reel's working life, drawn and explained.
- Disposing of wooden reels
Four ways out for a wooden reel, with the dumpster last.
- Staging reels for pickup
Stand, chock, sort and leave room for the forks.
- Reel weights by size
Empty weights worked out from the wood, and what each means for loading.
- The reel capacity formula
How much cable fits on a reel, worked through step by step.
Reels to clear or a size to find?
Tell us what you have or what you need. One work order covers pickup, buyback, recycling and supply.
Or write to info@chicagowoodenspools.com with the count, flange sizes and a photo of the stack.