XHHW / XHHW-2 wire · Harris County / Greater Houston
We buy XHHW / XHHW-2 wire.
Cross-linked polyethylene building wire turns up wherever a feeder runs in a wet location, and the aluminium reels from service upgrades are the ones most often left over.
XHHW is a 600 V or 1 kV wire with cross-linked polyethylene insulation, and XHHW-2 adds a wet-location rating at the higher temperature. It is the wire behind a lot of commercial and industrial feeder work in Houston, in conduit and in tray, and it is bought in copper and in aluminium, usually as partial reels rather than full ones.
The two metals are related but not interchangeable in a review. Copper XHHW is valued on size and condition like any building wire. Aluminium XHHW turns up in larger feeder sizes after a service upgrade, and it is graded on its own basis, with more attention to the ends because aluminium does not tolerate moisture at a termination.
Where XHHW is used and why it ends up as surplus
Feeder and service work is the main use. A riser to a panel, a run from a switchboard to a distribution section, a subfeed to a mechanical unit, a service entrance in a wet location: XHHW handles the conditions where thermoplastic wire is marginal. The 1 kV rating appears in industrial work where the specification asks for it.
Surplus appears at the end of those jobs. A feeder run measured at 140 feet is specified at 150, the electrician cuts to fit, and the balance goes back on the truck. Multiply that across a project with sixty feeders and the leftover is a rack of partial reels in the low hundreds of feet, in sizes from 6 AWG to 500 MCM.
Size distribution matters more than total footage. A pallet of 12 and 10 AWG partials is a sorting job with modest metal content. A single reel of 350 kcmil aluminium is a quicker review and a heavier one, even though the two may hold a similar number of feet of wire between them.
- 6 to 2 AWG subfeeds and small distribution runs
- 1/0 to 500 MCM feeders and service conductors
- Copper and aluminium, mostly stranded above 8 AWG
- 600 V building wire and 1 kV industrial specification
- Partial reels, cut lengths and full reels never opened
Aluminium XHHW from service upgrades
Aluminium is the practical choice above a certain size, and service upgrades produce it in quantity. A 400 amp service change on an older building usually means aluminium XHHW or SER in the 500 kcmil range, cut to length on site, with the balance left on the reel. That balance is a normal lot.
It should be described as aluminium, plainly. Aluminium is lighter and lower in metal content than copper, and it is judged more strictly on the condition of the ends. A reel of aluminium feeder with bright cut ends and a dry jacket is a sound lot. The same reel with white corrosion at the strands is not, and no description will change that.
Where the aluminium came from helps. Service upgrade work usually means clean, dry material that was cut once and re-reeled. Industrial demolition aluminium is more likely to have been pulled, bent and stored outside, and it is graded that way even when the size and the footage are the same.
Sorting XHHW from THHN on a mixed pallet
The two look similar on a shelf, and they are constantly mixed. Both are 600 V building wire, both come in the same sizes, and both sit on the same kind of reel. The difference is the insulation: XHHW is a cross-linked polyethylene wall, while THHN is PVC with a nylon jacket over it, thinner and glossier.
Read the print rather than the look. Every foot of manufactured wire carries the type, the size, the voltage rating and the manufacturer, and that print is more reliable than a colour or a reel. Where the print has gone, the insulation surface settles it: a nylon jacket is hard and slick, cross-linked polyethylene is softer and slightly matte.
A mixed pallet does not need to be separated before it is offered. It does need to be described as mixed.
Sending an XHHW list from a Houston yard
Give the type as marked, the size, the conductor material, the length on each reel and whether the wire is new or pulled. Type, size and metal carry most of the review; the rest refines it. A line that reads aluminium XHHW, 350 kcmil, roughly 600 feet, new, is a complete line.
Photograph the reel tag and the print on the jacket. Wire that has been pulled through conduit and removed is graded differently from wire that never left the reel, so say which it is, even when the difference is one run out of twenty. That single detail prevents a re-grade at inspection.
If a reel has been re-reeled by hand, mention it. Hand coiling kinks large conductor, and a kink in 350 kcmil shows at the first look. It also shortens the usable length, which is the number the whole review is built on, so it is better said up front than found at inspection.
- Type as printed: XHHW, XHHW-2 or dual rated
- Size in AWG or kcmil, and the conductor material
- Length per reel, continuous where possible
- New, unused or pulled from conduit
- Storage: indoors, outdoors or in a trailer
Related review paths
Questions sellers ask
What is the difference between XHHW and XHHW-2?
XHHW-2 carries a wet-location rating at the higher temperature, and most modern wire is dual marked for both. For a review the marking matters more than the name, because a dual-rated reel covers either specification and is easier to place.
Do you buy aluminium XHHW feeder reels?
Yes, particularly in the larger sizes that come out of service upgrades. It is graded on its own basis, with more weight given to the condition of the cut ends, since aluminium corrodes at an exposed end faster than copper does.
Can XHHW and THHN be sold in one lot?
Yes, and they usually are. Both are 600 V building wire and they end up on the same rack. Say that the pallet is mixed and give a rough split by type so the review does not stall on a sorting question.
Is pulled wire bought as well as new?
Yes, at a different grade. Wire pulled out of conduit has been bent, dragged and possibly wet, so it is reviewed on jacket condition and on whether the lengths are still usable. New wire that never left the reel is the cleaner lot.
Buying desk · Greater Houston
Got this cable in stock?
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