SOOW and portable cord buyers for surplus reels
Portable cord is bought on a reel, cut into working lengths and thrown away by the coil, which means the surplus that survives is usually the part nobody got around to cutting.
- 600 V portable cord
- Oil and water resistant
- 18 AWG to 2 AWG
SOOW is hard-service portable cord: 600 V, 90°C, with oil-resistant insulation and an oil-resistant, water-resistant CPE jacket, listed to UL 62 and made from 18 AWG up to 2 AWG in two- to five-conductor constructions. The letters describe the construction: S for hard service, OO for oil-resistant conductor insulation and jacket, W for moisture and weather resistance, which is why it survives a wet plant floor and a hose-down at the end of a shift.
The junior versions are different products with different ratings. SJ, SJO and SJOW are 300 V cord with smaller conductors, and SJT and SJTO are thermoplastic rather than thermoset. A reel marked SJOW is not a reel of SOOW and will not serve the same purpose, so the print needs reading before anything is described as hard-service cord on a manifest or in a photograph caption. The voltage class decides what it can feed.
Most of this material in a surplus lot is either a full reel from a contractor’s stock or a box of cut lengths from a maintenance shop. The first is inventory. The second is a bundle of working cord that somebody has to sort, and the value sits in how much of it is long enough to make a lead that a crew will keep on the van rather than cut up for scrap.
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.
- 10/4 and 12/4 SOOW reels
- 16/3 and 18/3 control cord
- Full reels in factory wrap
- Cut lengths over twenty-five feet
- SJ and SJT junior cord
What the letters on the jacket tell you
The type letters are a specification in miniature, printed at intervals along the jacket. S versus SJ sets the voltage class and the conductor range. The O tells you the insulation and jacket resist oil. The W tells you the cord is rated for moisture and weather. A cord marked SOOW can go outdoors and into a wet plant; a cord marked SO is an indoor oil-resistant product.
The size and count follow the type, written as 12/4 or 10/3. Together with the type they describe the product completely for most purposes. Where the print has gone, the jacket compound and the conductor count still narrow it down, but the voltage class cannot be assumed and the lot description should say so.
Cuts, abrasion and the ends that fail first
Portable cord fails at the ends, where it is flexed, dragged and hung over a hook. A coil with sound jacket along its length and a crushed or abraded last two feet is normal, and those ends get cut off before the cord is used again. What matters is whether the abrasion has reached the conductor insulation, which is visible when the jacket is opened.
Cuts through the jacket are the other standard defect. Cord run over by a cart or pulled across a sharp edge will have a nick, and a nick is a place for water to enter a cord otherwise rated for wet use. On a lot of cut lengths, the review is largely a matter of how many pieces have clean jackets and how many do not.
Full reels, cut lengths and how cord is grouped
A full reel of SOOW in factory wrap is a product. It has a length, a type and a manufacturer, and it sells to the next contractor who needs that configuration. Cut lengths are a different commodity: sorted by type and size, measured roughly, and sold as a bundle to a shop that will use them for leads and temporary power.
The grouping that works is by type and conductor count, not by total weight. Twelve lengths of 12/4 and twelve lengths of 18/3 weigh roughly the same and are worth very different amounts. Where a seller coils each group separately and labels it, the review moves quickly and the offer basis reflects what the cord is.
Where this cable turns up in the two states
Film and television production around Wilmington is a seasonal driver of portable cord, because a set is temporary power by definition and cable is bought in reels and consumed in runs. The same is true of event and staging work in Charlotte and the convention business in the larger metros, where 12/4 and 10/4 SOOW is the standard feeder for distribution boxes.
Port and industrial maintenance is the steadier source. Equipment at Wilmington and Charleston is serviced with portable cord and the replaced lengths accumulate in maintenance cribs, often mixed with air hose and welding lead. Manufacturing plants across the Piedmont use SOOW for machine connections and test stands, and a plant standardised on one configuration will hold partial reels for years.
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
SOOW and portable cord questions
What is the difference between SOOW and SJOW?
Voltage class and conductor size. SOOW is 600 V hard-service cord, generally 18 AWG to 2 AWG. SJOW is junior hard-service cord rated 300 V with smaller conductors and a thinner jacket. Both can be oil and water resistant. They are not interchangeable on a 480 V application, and the type letters on the jacket are what a buyer reads first.
Can used portable cord be sold?
Yes, as cut lengths and as full reels, and the two are reviewed differently. A reel in factory wrap is straightforward. Used lengths are grouped by type and size and sold as a bundle once somebody checks the jackets and the ends. Cord cut through to the conductor insulation is recovery material.
Does SOOW work outdoors?
The W in the type designation indicates suitability for wet locations and outdoor use, and SOOW is commonly used for temporary power outside. That does not make it permanent outdoor wiring, and it does not survive years of sun without the jacket hardening. Cord stored on a reel under cover reviews better than cord left in a yard.
What lengths are worth separating?
Anything long enough to make a working lead is worth separating, which in practice means the longer pieces in a bundle. Short tails are grouped and sold by weight or as a bundle. There is no fixed threshold that applies to every buyer, so sort by rough length bands and describe the bands rather than arguing over individual pieces.
Send soow and portable cord 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.