Empty reels from electrical contractors

Cable and reels this work empties

Where the reels pile up

On a commercial job the feeders come in a week or two before they are pulled, and the empties sit in the laydown until closeout. In the shop, every remnant reel that came back from a job joins the stack by the overhead door. Contractors working the Loop high-rises, the hangars and cargo buildings around O'Hare, the warehouse fit-outs on I-55 and the bungalow rewires on the Northwest Side all end up with the same problem at different scales.

Most of those reels are nailed, one-way wood. The cable maker built them for one delivery and does not expect them back, which is why they are worth buying. A few will carry a distributor's plastic flange or a maker's steel plate, and those go somewhere else.

What a shop actually has to do

1. Count the reels and note the flange sizes, even roughly: "about twenty 36s and six 48s" is enough to quote.
2. Take two photos: one of the whole stack, one close-up of a flange stencil.
3. Pull any cable tails or rope still nailed to the drums.
4. Tell us whether there is a forklift or loading dock, and when the gate is open.

Job sites and general contractors

On larger projects the electrical sub often has the reels but the general contractor controls the gate, the laydown and the schedule. A cleanout request works best when it names the site contact, the gate hours and whether the truck needs a badge or an escort. We work to the site's rules: hard hats, vests, delivery windows and any trade-union arrangements the site keeps.

If the reels are still on a lift or in a basement electrical room, say so. Reels inside the building have to come out to the laydown before pickup.

Stencils that change the answer

Read the flange before calling. "Returnable", "property of", a reel number painted beside a maker's name, a metal tag, or a deposit note on the delivery ticket all mean the reel is probably owed back. Service Wire, for example, takes back only its own labelled reels in full truckloads, and Southwire runs a return program customers start with a form. We point those reels to their maker and buy the rest.

Remnant reels in the shop

Shops keep remnants: a reel with forty feet of 4/0 left on it, saved for a service call that may never come. Over a few years those half-used reels outnumber the empties. Decide which remnants are worth keeping, move the cable off the rest onto coils or into the scrap bin, and the freed reels join the pickup.

Where we see this work

• Chicago neighbourhoods

  Shops rewiring bungalows, two-flats and storefronts from Rogers Park to Pullman.

• The O'Hare corridor

  Crews finishing cargo terminals, hangars, offices and store refits.

• The North Shore and north suburbs

  Residential electricians installing generators, chargers and upgraded panels.

• The I-55 and I-80 corridor

  Crews moving from one warehouse fit-out to the next along Route 53.

How the pickup runs

1. Count and photo

   Count the reels by flange size and send one photo of the stack and one of a reel tag.

2. Sort by tag and condition

   We read the tags and photos and tell you which reels we buy, which are returnable and which look like recycling.

3. Route each reel

   Every reel gets one exit: buyback, maker take-back, recycling or resupply.

4. Schedule by corridor

   We put you on the next corridor day in your area, or send a truck of its own for a big lot.

5. Load and settle

   The driver checks each reel, loads, and leaves one ticket showing what was bought, recycled and left.

Questions

Will you clear a shop with only a dozen reels?

Yes. Small lots ride along on a corridor run, so a dozen reels in Cicero or Des Plaines can share a truck with a bigger pickup nearby.

Do you take reels with some wire left on?

Remove the cable before pickup. Wire left on the drum belongs with your scrap-metal buyer, and a partly wound reel cannot be resold as an empty.

Can the pickup happen while the job is running?

Usually, as long as the laydown has an aisle the truck can reach and the site contact agrees a time.

Do you need a certificate of insurance for a shop pickup?

Not usually for a shop yard. If a job site or building manager asks for one, tell us when you book and we sort it before the visit.

Reel words on this page

Flange

The round side discs that hold the cable in. Flange diameter, edge to edge, is the size a reel is known by.

Drum (barrel)

The cylinder between the flanges that the cable winds around.

Traverse

The inside width between the flanges: how wide a layer of cable can be.

Arbor hole

The centre hole a spindle, shaft or payoff bar passes through.

Drive hole

A smaller hole off-centre in the flange that a drive pin uses to turn the reel.

Lagging / staves

The boards nailed around the drum, and the protective boards sometimes nailed across the flanges over finished cable.

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.

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.

Payoff

The stand or trailer a reel turns on while cable is pulled off it.