Legacy cable · Georgia
We buy PILC cable for paper-insulated lead cable
Paper insulation, lead sheath, and a compound that has been sitting in it since the day it was impregnated. PILC is bought on the lead and the copper, but the sheath and the paper decide which lengths are worth handling at all.
- Paper insulated
- Lead sheath
- In service or abandoned
01Overview
What this page covers
PILC is the cable that built the older parts of every Georgia city. A copper conductor, taped with oil-impregnated paper, sheathed in extruded lead, then bedded in jute, armored with steel tape and served again. It ran at 2.4 kV, 4 kV and 13.8 kV in duct banks under Atlanta, Macon, Savannah and Columbus, and at higher voltages in station work.
The construction explains everything about how it is bought. The paper is hygroscopic, so a cut end that has been open to air takes up moisture and the insulation is finished. The lead sheath is soft, so it deforms and work-hardens. The compound migrates, so vertical runs starve at the top. None of that is visible from a distance.
02Specification
What identifies a PILC lot
- Insulation
- Oil-impregnated paper tape, solid type
- Sheath
- Extruded lead, over jute bedding, steel tape armor and serving
- Conductor
- Copper, solid through 4/0, stranded above
- Voltages
- 2.4 kV through 69 kV; 4 kV and 13.8 kV most common in cities
- Cores
- Single-conductor, 3-conductor belted, 3-conductor screened
- Reels
- Wood 48 in. to 72 in.; short cuts arrive as coils
- Condition
- In service, abandoned in duct, cut out, compound-starved
- Records
- Cable records, duct maps, utility release
Look at the cut end before anything else. Compound should be soft and present; a dry, chalky, gray end means the paper has lost its impregnant or taken water.
03Cable we buy
Cable we buy
Three-conductor belted PILC
The classic older construction: three paper-insulated cores inside one lead sheath with a belt of paper over them. Common at 4 kV and 13.8 kV, and identified by the round section and the single sheath over three cores.
Three-conductor screened cable
Each core screened with metallised paper or copper tape before the lead is applied. It is the higher-voltage version of the same idea, and the screens are what a buyer looks for when the cable records are missing.
Single-conductor PILC
One core per sheath, used in station work and on feeders where the duct size allowed it. Easier to handle, and the lead-to-copper ratio is different from a three-core cable, which changes the review.
Riser and compound-starved lengths
Cable from vertical runs where the compound drained away from the top. The sheath is often bulged or dented at the bottom, and the starved section is not re-usable at voltage.
04Evaluation
How a PILC lot is reviewed
Footage, sheath and compound, in that order. Footage comes from the cable record or from a measurement of the length as it lies, since PILC on a reel is stiff and easy to measure. The sheath is checked for dents, cracks at the point where it was clamped, and corrosion where the serving has rotted away.
Then the paper. A short length can be unwound at the end to show the condition of the impregnant: soft and dark is normal, dry and friable is finished, wet is worse. This is the one material on this site where the insulation is inspected by hand rather than by instrument, and it is quick.
Armor, serving and terminations finish the picture. Steel tape armor that has rusted through is a handling problem rather than a value problem, but it does change the weight and the way the cable comes out of a duct. Wiped lead joints and potheads, where they survive, are counted with the cable.
Lead is the hazard on this material and it is not obvious. Cutting a sheath, wiping a joint or sweating a wipe produces lead dust and lead fume, both of which are absorbed and both of which accumulate. Cutting is done with hand tools and dust control, never with a torch in an enclosed space, and anyone handling quantities of PILC should be working to a lead program with washing and monitoring.
05Seller terms
Before you sell: how it works
Four things a seller should be able to pin down before a truck is booked.
Verification
Footage is checked against the reel tag, the sequential marks on the jacket, the wrap count against the barrel, or a published weight per 1,000 ft — whichever the reel actually supports.
Payment
Payment method and timing are agreed in writing for the specific lot before anything is loaded or moved. No verbal number is treated as an agreement.
Paperwork
A bill of sale for the lot, and for utility material the owning utility’s release reference. Neither is optional and neither is created after the fact.
Freight
Collection is arranged as part of the terms. Say what can lift the reels and whether a 53-foot trailer can reach them, and the pickup is planned around that.
Sending a reel list and photographs costs nothing. A review is not a purchase, and nothing is bought, moved or scheduled until written lot terms are agreed for that material. Request a pickup when the lot is ready.
06Related
Related material
07Questions
PILC cable questions
Do you buy PILC that is still in service?
No. It is bought after the utility has retired the circuit and pulled or abandoned it. Live paper cable in a duct is a utility asset until the utility says otherwise.
Is old PILC worth more for the lead or the copper?
Both are recovered, and the review records each. The copper is the larger part of the value on most lots, but a heavy lead sheath is a real component of the weight.
Can PILC be re-used?
Occasionally, on the same owner's system, where the cable records show it tested and the ends were sealed. In general a lot is reviewed as recovery material.
How should cut PILC ends be left?
Sealed. Tape and cap the end so the paper does not dry out or take water, because an open end loses the whole length over a season.
Send the cable record and a photograph of a cut end
Voltage class, core count, sheath size and the condition of the compound at a cut end are enough to place a PILC lot.