Submersible pump cable buyers for well and farm stock
Well cable is bought by the foot for a drop pipe and left on the reel when the pump is set, and the reels that survive are usually the ones that never left the truck.
- 600 V wet-location cable
- Flat or round constructions
- Two and three conductor
Submersible pump cable runs down a well to a pump motor and lives permanently underwater, so it is built for wet locations from the outset: stranded copper conductors, PVC insulation and a jacket over the assembly, in flat and round constructions. The common forms are two-conductor with ground and three-conductor with ground, in 14 AWG through 2 AWG, at 600 V, and the flat form is the one most wells use.
The flat construction is the one most people picture: conductors moulded side by side in a single jacket, which lets the cable lie against a drop pipe without twisting. The round construction is used where the cable has to run in a conduit or where mechanical protection matters more than profile. Both are legitimate and both appear in surplus lots, often mixed in the same box with no labels and no footage marks anybody trusts.
Many constructions are dual-listed with Type UF, the underground feeder cable, and carry that marking alongside the pump cable designation. That dual listing is useful to a buyer because it widens the applications. Where the print supports it, say so; where it does not, describe the cable as pump cable and let the buyer check the marking against the code book rather than take the word of whoever typed the manifest.
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.
- Two-conductor with ground, flat
- Three-conductor with ground, round
- 14 AWG through 2 AWG copper
- Full reels from pump installers
- Cable dual-marked as Type UF
Construction, size and the marking question
The first thing to establish is whether the cable is flat or round, and how many conductors it carries including the ground. Three-conductor with ground is what a three-wire pump motor needs; two-conductor with ground suits a two-wire motor with the starting components in the motor itself. Mixing the two in a lot description is the most common error with this material.
Then the size and the marking. A pump installer sizes cable to the motor and the depth, so the reels in a service truck tend to be 12 and 10 AWG in flat constructions. The print on the jacket, where it survives, gives the size, the conductor count and any dual rating with Type UF. Photographing that print answers most of a buyer’s questions.
Wet storage, mud and the honest condition test
This cable is made to be submerged, so water is not the problem it would be in building wire. Mud is different. Cable pulled out of a well and coiled wet will have grit between the conductors in a flat construction and soil packed into the jacket seams, and cleaning it is a job somebody has to do before it can be sold as working cable.
The mechanical check is a bend test at the end and a look along the jacket. A jacket hardened and cracked from years in a pump house loft is done. A jacket that is pliable and intact is usable, even if it is dirty. Coils stored on a shelf indoors review far better than coils that spent a decade on a barn floor.
Small quantities and why this material moves in ones and twos
Very little pump cable arrives in quantity. A well service company keeps a few part-used reels, replaces them when they run out, and eventually finds six coils of assorted sizes in the back of a van. That is a normal lot, and it is reviewed as a group by size and construction rather than by footage.
Where a farm or an irrigation outfit is clearing out, the quantity can be larger and the documentation is usually nonexistent. In that case the review rests on a count, a size check at the cut ends and a jacket inspection. It is not a glamorous lot, but it is steady material, and the buyers for it are the people who set pumps every week.
Where this cable turns up in the two states
Eastern North Carolina and the Pee Dee are well country. Farms, rural homes and irrigation systems across the coastal plain run submersible pumps, and the well service companies that maintain them hold part-used reels of flat three-conductor cable as a matter of course. Poultry and hog operations add their own water systems, usually at a larger scale and often with several pumps on one site.
The coastal counties add a specific complication, because shallow water tables and sandy soil mean wells are everywhere and pumps are replaced on a schedule. Cable pulled from a failed pump is often wet, muddy and coiled in the back of a truck, and it is worth deciding early whether it will be cleaned and sold or treated as recovery material.
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
Submersible pump cable questions
How do I tell two-wire from three-wire pump cable?
Count the conductors including the ground. Two-conductor with ground serves a two-wire motor that has its starting components built in. Three-conductor with ground serves a three-wire motor that uses an external control box. The conductor count is printed on the jacket, and on an unmarked coil it is visible at the cut end.
Is pump cable the same as UF cable?
Often it is dual-listed with Type UF, and the jacket print says so. That matters because UF carries its own set of permitted applications in addition to the pump cable use. Where the dual marking is present, the cable can be described with both designations. Where it is not, describe it as submersible pump cable and let the print speak.
Can cable pulled from a well be reused?
Sometimes. The insulation system is designed for permanent immersion, so a wet jacket is not automatically a failure. What ends it is mechanical damage, hardened or cracked PVC, and corrosion of the copper at the ends. Anyone reinstalling it has to be satisfied with its condition.
Do you buy a handful of part-used coils?
Yes, and small lots are normal with this material. Six coils of assorted sizes from a well service van is a real lot, reviewed by group rather than individually. Send the sizes, the conductor counts, whether each is flat or round, and a photograph of the print on one coil of each type.
Send submersible pump 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.