MC cable buyers for surplus and job-leftover reels
Metal-clad cable is the material that makes a commercial job look finished, and the material most likely to be left in a coil at the back of a gang box when the crew moves to the next floor.
- 600 V armored cable
- Interlocked armour
- THHN or XHHW conductors
MC cable is a conductor assembly inside a flexible interlocked armour, and the armour is the part that gets damaged. The conductors inside are usually THHN/THWN or XHHW-2, rated the same as they would be in conduit, so the electrical question is straightforward. The physical question is what happened to the armour between the factory and the laydown yard, and whether anybody banded the coil before it went on a cart.
Most MC in a surplus lot is branch-circuit material: 12/2, 12/3, 10/2 and 10/3 with a ground, in coils of 250 feet or on reels of 1,000. Feeder-size MC exists as well and moves on wooden reels because a coil of 4/0 armour is not something a person carries. Both are reviewable; neither is worth much if the armour is crushed and the conductors pinched inside it, which is what a dropped coil looks like.
There is a second family worth knowing. Healthcare facility MC, usually marked HCF, carries a redundant grounding path and an aluminium armour, and it is specified in hospitals, surgical suites and other patient-care areas for that reason. It is not interchangeable with standard MC on a job that calls for it, and a lot that mixes the two should say so on the manifest before anybody starts counting coils at all.
What we buy in this family
Condition and documentation decide the basis, not the family alone. These are the forms this material usually arrives in.
- 12/2, 12/3, 10/2 and 10/3 coils
- Feeder-size MC on wooden reels
- HCF healthcare facility cable
- Aluminium and steel armour
- Coils with factory bands intact
- Cut lengths from fit-out crews
What decides an MC lot
Coil condition carries the review. A factory coil still banded, with the wrap on and the label readable, is a product somebody can install tomorrow. A coil dragged across a slab, opened at both ends and retied with tape is a length of cable looking for a use. Both are buyable at different bases, and the difference is visible in one photograph taken at the end of the coil.
Then the print on the armour, or on the conductor insulation when the armour is opened. Interlocked armour is stamped with the cable type and the conductor size, and the conductors inside carry their own markings. Where the armour print has gone, the conductor print still identifies the assembly, provided somebody has opened it enough to look.
Crushed armour, pulled conductors and the failures that matter
Armour protects, and armour that has been crushed has done its job once and cannot do it again. A flattened section means the conductors inside took a bend tighter than they were made for, and on a feeder that is a genuine defect. The same applies to armour cut and rejoined with tape, which is common where a length was shortened in place.
Pulling damage is the other pattern. MC pulled around a corner without a guide will show a stretched armour helix and a conductor pulled hard against the inside of the bend. Look at the last three feet of a coil. If the armour there is distorted, the whole length has been stressed and should be described that way.
Lengths, coils and how the lot is grouped
MC is sold by the foot from a coil, so length is the unit that matters. A coil with a factory label gives you that number. Without a label, weight per foot for the specific construction is the only honest route, and it varies enough between 12/2 and 10/3 that it has to be done per coil rather than for the pile.
Grouping matters more with MC than with reel goods. Keep the 12/2 with the 12/2, the HCF apart from the standard, and the aluminium armour apart from the steel, because that is how a contractor buys. A pallet of mixed coils is reviewed as one group and priced as one.
Where this cable turns up in the two states
The Triangle and Charlotte produce MC at a steady rate because the buildings go up fast and the fit-out is metal-clad from the riser to the last device. Multifamily, student housing, laboratory and data hall work all consume it in volume, and a crew that finishes a floor with four coils left does not usually carry them to the next site. Healthcare work adds HCF, which stays a separate item on any lot.
In the Triad and the Upstate, MC turns up in plant offices, warehouse expansions and the electrical rooms of manufacturing buildings, usually in smaller quantities mixed with conduit wire. Charleston and the Lowcountry add hospitality and port-adjacent commercial work, where the cable is installed above a ceiling and the leftovers come back on a cart rather than a reel.
Coverage
North and South Carolina
Every city page carries the local industrial base and access notes. Start from a state hub if you are not sure which one applies.
If the material is in one of these states
MC and metal-clad cable questions
Is MC cable the same as BX?
Not quite, though the names are used loosely. BX usually refers to Type AC, armoured cable, which has a bonding strip in contact with the armour and needs an anti-short bushing at terminations. MC is listed to a different standard, commonly carries a separate insulated ground, and in most constructions does not require the bushing. The print on the armour settles it.
Will you take opened coils with a few dozen feet left?
We will, and we will describe them as cut lengths rather than as reels. Short MC offcuts have a market with small contractors and maintenance shops, but they are grouped and priced as a group. Where a coil holds more than half its length and the armour is sound, it is worth measuring and listing separately.
How is HCF different from standard MC?
Healthcare facility MC carries a redundant equipment grounding path, normally an aluminium armour combined with a grounding conductor, and is specified for hospitals, surgical areas and other patient-care spaces. It is listed for that use and the print says so. Mixing HCF coils into a standard MC lot hides value, so keep it separate.
What condition issues actually reduce what you can do with a lot?
Crushed or kinked armour, coils cut and retaped, missing labels on short lengths, and rust on steel armour after outdoor storage. Any one of those moves a coil from installable stock to material for short pulls or for recovery. The conductors inside are usually still good, which is why the armour decides the review.
Send mc and metal-clad cable details
Construction, footage, condition and pickup city. Photographs can follow once a buyer has replied.
Or email saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com
- No fee and no obligation to sell.
- Written lot terms before anything moves.
- Pickup scheduled around your access rules.