Copper versus aluminium cable: what sells
The two metals do the same job and behave nothing alike in a storehouse. Knowing which one is on the reel decides who you can sell to and how the price should be built.
- Same job, different buyer
- Never one price
- Cut ends decide reuse
Aluminium is not a cheaper copper. It is a different product with its own installation rules, its own failure modes and its own customer list. The confusion comes from pricing, because a per-pound figure makes aluminium look like a poor relation when the honest comparison is per foot of ampacity. Pound for pound, aluminium carries about a third the metal for the same circular mil area. Amp for amp, the gap closes and sometimes disappears.
That single fact reorganises a surplus lot. Copper moves in almost any quantity and any size, because branch circuits, controls, grounding and portable cord all use it and the buyers are everywhere. Aluminium moves in the sizes and families where it is normal practice: service entrance, feeders, underground residential distribution, utility work, large solar arrays. Get the family right and aluminium is ordinary inventory. Get it wrong and it is a reel nobody wants to terminate.
The method, step by step
Compare per foot of capacity, not per pound
A per-pound comparison flatters copper every time, because copper is roughly three times the density. Two reels that will carry the same current can be a thousand pounds apart on the scale. When a buyer quotes per pound on aluminium feeder cable, ask what that works out to per foot and set that figure against the copper alternative. If they will not convert, you are being priced on metal rather than on cable.
Size up for the same ampacity
Aluminium needs a larger conductor than copper to carry the same current, typically two AWG sizes, so a reel of 4/0 aluminium is not a drop-in substitute for 4/0 copper. Sizes are not interchangeable and buyers know it. List the size exactly as marked and do not let a hopeful description imply equivalence. A buyer who arrives expecting copper and finds aluminium will discount the whole lot, not just that reel.
Let the terminations decide reuse
Aluminium oxide forms immediately on a cut end and does not conduct, which is why aluminium terminations use oxide-inhibiting compound, correct torque and connectors listed for the metal. Cable that sat in a wet storehouse with bare ends showing white powder is a harder sell than the same cable with sealed ends, and cable with a dozen field terminations already made is harder again. Copper is more forgiving and more reusable at the cut.
Sort into the families where each metal sells
Aluminium belongs with service entrance cable, underground residential distribution, feeder, utility and large solar work. Copper belongs with branch-circuit building wire, control and instrumentation, grounding, portable cord, welding cable and most tray work. When you build a lot, group by family first. A reels-are-reels list mixing both metals in one price gets valued at the weaker half.
Inspect the cut ends and the jacket
On aluminium, look for white or grey oxide at the cut, corrosion under the jacket, and water between the strands. On both metals, look for a jacket that has gone hard or chalky from sunlight, and for a reel stored on the ground with the bottom wraps sitting wet. Cut ends and jacket condition are the two cheapest things to photograph and the two most likely to change the answer.
Separate before you list, not after
Physically separate the two metals in the yard and state the split on the manifest, with footage or weight for each. Never let a single price cover a mixed lot. If you have a genuine mixed pallet, describe it as mixed and expect a group price, because the buyer is carrying the sorting risk and will charge for it. One honest mixed lot is fine; a copper lot with aluminium hidden in it ends the relationship.
Before the next call
The practical rule is to price the cable, not the metal, and to know which metal you have before anyone quotes. Copper is the easier conversation and the broader market. Aluminium is a good conversation with the right buyer and a short one with the wrong one.
Neither is scrap until the length, the construction and the condition say so. A tagged reel of aluminium feeder in a size the local utility still installs is inventory, and it should be offered as inventory.
Questions on this
Is aluminium cable worth keeping at all?
Yes, in the families where it is standard practice and in sizes still being installed. Service entrance, feeder, underground distribution and utility work all use it routinely. The reels that struggle are odd sizes, damaged ends and mixed pallets. If the size is current and the ends are sealed, it is ordinary inventory and should be listed as such.
Can I mix copper and aluminium reels in one lot to save handling?
You can, but you will be paid for the weaker half. Mixed-metal lots are priced as a group because the buyer has to separate them before anything can be resold, and that labour comes out of your figure. If the handling saving is smaller than the discount, separate them. If you have one pallet of odds and ends, list it honestly as mixed and accept a group price.
The jacket says aluminium but the conductor looks like copper. What now?
Check the print at both ends and look at a freshly cut face, because some cables use copper-clad aluminium and some older print is simply wrong. A magnet will not settle it. Scrape a clean spot on the strand and compare the colour, then photograph the print and the cut together. If it is still unclear, describe it as unconfirmed on the manifest rather than picking the more valuable answer.
Put the guide to work
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