Seller guide · Identification
How to read a cable reel tag.
The tag is the cheapest information on the reel. Read it before the reel moves, photograph it while it is legible, and keep it with the cable.
Every manufactured cable reel arrives with a tag: a paper or plastic label stapled or wired to the flange, sometimes a stencil on the wood itself. It carries the information a buyer needs to value the lot, and it is the first thing that disappears in a yard.
This guide explains what the fields mean, which ones actually change the outcome, and what to do when the tag is gone or unreadable.
The fields, in plain terms
Tags vary by manufacturer, but most carry the same handful of facts. Read them together rather than one at a time: the size and the length only mean something alongside the voltage class and the construction.
If the tag shows only a part number, the manufacturer's data sheet will fill in the rest. That is usually faster than trying to identify a construction from the jacket print alone.
| Field | What it tells you | Why a buyer needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer and part number | Who made it and the exact construction | Confirms insulation, jacket and shield rather than relying on a description |
| Size (AWG or MCM) | Conductor cross-section | Drives metal content and re-use demand |
| Conductor count | 1/C, 3/C, 4/C and so on | Changes handling, termination cost and value |
| Voltage rating | 600 V, 2 kV, 5 kV, 15 kV, 35 kV | Separates building wire from medium voltage |
| Insulation and jacket | THHN, XHHW, EPR, XLPE, PVC, CPE | Determines where the cable can legally be reused |
| Length | Feet or metres on the reel when shipped | Starting point for remaining footage |
| Gross, tare and net weight | Reel weight, empty reel weight, cable weight | Allows a footage estimate by weighing |
| Lot or date code | When it was made | Age matters for rubber and for warranty |
The three fields that decide the conversation
Size, voltage class and remaining length carry most of the value. A 15 kV, 3/C, 500 MCM reel with 900 feet on it is a serious lot. The same reel with 60 feet left is a handling problem. A 12 AWG THHN spool at any length is a small lot.
Everything else — manufacturer, colour, jacket material, date — refines the answer rather than setting it. That is why a photograph of the tag plus one of the cut end is usually enough to start, even when other details are missing.
- Size and conductor material
- Voltage class
- Length shipped, and how much has been used
- Voltage class and insulation are often printed on the jacket too
When the tag disagrees with the cable
Tags get reused. A yard runs short of empty reels, winds a different cable onto one, and the old tag stays on the flange. It happens often enough that the physical cable always decides.
Check the jacket print against the tag before anything else. If the print is gone too, the cut end is the tiebreaker: conductor material, strand count, shield and overall diameter. A 15 kV cable is visibly heavier than a 600 V building wire of the same conductor size, and the shield is usually visible under the jacket.
When the tag is gone
Jacket printing is the next best source. Most cable has the manufacturer, size, voltage rating, insulation type and sometimes the footage printed along the jacket at regular intervals. Clean a section with a rag and read it in daylight.
If the print is unreadable, the cut end still tells a buyer the conductor material, the strand count, the approximate size and whether a shield is present. Measure the overall diameter and compare it against a cable chart; that narrows the construction quickly.
Do not cut a reel open to identify it. An exposed end is enough, and a cut reel loses length and value.
Photograph it now
Tags are paper. In Houston humidity they go soft, grow mould and fall off within a season. Take a straight-on photograph in daylight, close enough that every character is readable, and keep a second copy with the lot paperwork.
If the reel is going into storage, write the size, voltage and footage on the flange in paint marker. Future you will not remember, and neither will the next person who inherits the yard.
When there is no tag left at all
The fallback is a paint marker and a photograph. Write the size, voltage class and approximate footage on the flange while the information still exists, then photograph the flange and the cable end together. That single image often outlives the reel.
If even that has been lost, the physical cable still carries the answer. Measure the overall diameter, count the strands at a cut end, and check whether a shield is present. Those three readings separate building wire from tray cable from medium voltage without any paperwork at all.
What cannot be recovered is length. A reel with no tag and no counter is estimated by weight or by wraps, and the estimate is stated as an estimate. Nobody is served by presenting a guess as a measurement.
Questions sellers ask
What if the tag says a length but the reel is clearly part used?
The tag length is what was shipped, not what remains. State both: what the tag says and roughly how much has been used. Verification at inspection confirms the remainder.
Is the part number more useful than the description?
Yes, when it is legible. A part number identifies the exact construction, including shield type and jacket material, which a general description often gets wrong.
Do I need the tag to sell a reel?
No. It helps, but jacket printing, the cut end and a measurement will usually identify the cable. A lot with no documentation is reviewed, just more conservatively.
What if the tag is for a different cable?
Say so and send a photograph of the cut end. Re-used reels are common, and the physical cable decides the construction. A buyer would rather review a mismatched tag than discover it at pickup.
Buying desk · Greater Houston
Ready to send a lot?
Tell us what is on the reel, where it sits and what condition it is in. A buyer reviews the lot, asks for photographs of the tag and the cut end, and comes back with a real answer — not a request to call a call centre.
- Cable type, size and voltage class
- Footage, reel count or weight, and condition
- City, and whether the site has loading equipment