WE BUY SURPLUS SOOW, PORTABLE CORD AND FLEXIBLE CABLE

SOOW is 600 volt, 90°C, oil resistant inside and out, and rated for wet locations. It comes in 18 through 2 AWG, two to four conductors, mostly black and sometimes yellow or blue. Flexible control cable is a different product with more conductors and often a shield. Both are worth describing carefully rather than by the color of the jacket. Conductor count and AWG print together, so 12-3 means three 12 AWG conductors, not three including a ground.

What we buy in this category

• SOOW and SEOOW portable cord in 18 through 2 AWG
• SJ and SJT junior cord at 300 volts
• STOOW and SJTOOW thermoplastic cord
• Flexible control cable with a shield
• Continuous flex cable from a machine or carrier
• Coils, spools and cut lengths
• Cord with scuffed but continuous jackets
• Mixed lengths in a tote or carton

Reading the letters on portable cord

The letters are a code, and each one narrows the use. S means service cord at 600 volts; SJ means junior service at 300 volts with a thinner jacket. The first O is oil resistant insulation, the second O is an oil resistant jacket, so SOOW has both. W is wet location. T is thermoplastic, E is elastomer, and SEOOW is the elastomer version of the same idea. Cord without the W is dry location only, which is why a coil pulled off an outdoor reel is worth a second look.

Hard usage and extra hard usage are the UL 62 designations behind those letters, and they describe jacket toughness and abrasion resistance. A 16-3 SJT cord is lamp cord in practical terms; a 10-4 SOOW is temporary power for a welder. Same family, very different product, and the print on the jacket settles which one is on the floor. Plants tend to standardize on extra hard usage for temporary power and keep junior cord at the bench.

Flexible control cable and continuous flex

Flexible control cable puts more conductors in a smaller package, often with a foil or braid shield, a tinned copper drain and a thermoplastic elastomer or polyurethane jacket. It is built for repeated movement: a drag chain, a festoon system, a cable carrier on a machine. Continuous flex ratings are quoted in cycles, and they only mean something alongside a bend radius. Pair the cycle rating with the tightest bend the cable has seen, or the number on the tag means very little.

That distinction matters when you describe a reel. A cable flexed in a carrier for years can look fine and have broken strands underneath. A cable that sat coiled on a shelf is a different item. If it came off a machine rather than out of a box, say so, and photograph the jacket at the bend points. A cable coiled tightly for storage will hold a set, and a set is not the same thing as damage from flexing.

• Shielded flexible control cable with a drain
• Unshielded multiconductor in 18 and 16 AWG
• Continuous flex cable from a drag chain
• Festoon cable with a supporting messenger
• Polyurethane jacketed cable for abrasion
• Cord with molded or field installed ends

Coils, cut ends and abused jackets

Portable cord arrives in 250 and 500 foot coils, on spools, and in short cut lengths, usually taped or capped at the ends. Check for jacket damage at the coil ends, where the cord gets dragged over a corner, and for flattening where a coil sat under something heavy. Both show clearly in a photograph taken from a couple of feet away. A coil hung on a nail or a hook gets a crease at the hang point, and creases are where jackets fail.

Coils are easy to ship and easy to load, which is a genuine advantage over a drum. A pallet of coils goes LTL without a dock, and a pickup can take a few. In North Dakota, temporary power cord and flexible control cable come out of plant maintenance, grain facilities and oilfield service work, often in small lots with mixed lengths. Mixed lots are normal here, so a list by size and count is more useful than one combined weight.

What to send with your request

• The full print from the jacket, including the letters
• Conductor count and AWG, for example 12-3
• Color of the jacket if it is not black
• Coil length or the remaining footage
• Whether the cord is on a coil, spool or cut loose
• Photos of any jacket damage, cuts or flat spots
• Whether it came off a machine or out of a box
• Total coil count and how it is packed