Equipment packages · Georgia
We buy switchgear and padmount cable
When a padmount or a switchgear line-up is replaced, the cable goes with it: the leads inside the cabinet, the elbows on the bushings, the jumpers between bays. The connectors are usually worth more than the cable they are fitted to.
- 200 A and 600 A
- Elbows and inserts
- Short assemblies
01Overview
What this page covers
Equipment packages are the most misread lots in utility salvage. A padmounted transformer, a sectionalizer, a recloser or a switchgear line-up arrives with cable attached, and that cable is short, terminated and specific to the equipment. Nobody buys it by the foot.
The value is in the terminations. A 600 A deadbreak elbow, a loadbreak elbow with its insert, a feed-through bushing or a grounding elbow is a moulded assembly with a defined interface, and the cable behind it is often only a few feet long. A lot described by connector count is worth reviewing; the same lot described by weight is not.
02Specification
What an equipment package contains
- Cable
- 15 kV and 25 kV, at 175/220 mil and 260/320 mil
- Equipment
- Padmounts, sectionalizers, reclosers, switchgear line-ups
- Connectors
- 200 A loadbreak and 600 A deadbreak elbows, per IEEE 386
- Jumper assemblies
- Pre-cut cable with lugs and stress cones fitted
- Control cable
- 600 V multi-conductor for the switchgear and recloser controls
- Reels
- Mostly coils and short lengths; full reels are unusual
- Condition
- Removed with equipment, flooded, connector damaged, spare stock
- Documentation
- Equipment nameplate, cable schedule, release form
Open the cabinet and photograph the bushings before anything is disconnected. The bushing type identifies the connector family, and the connector family is most of the value.
03What we buy from equipment lots
What we buy from equipment lots
Internal leads and factory cable
Short lengths inside a padmount or a switchgear section, often with a stress cone already moulded or taped at one end. Reviewed by assembly rather than by footage, since a two-foot lead with a terminated end has no per-foot value at all.
Separable connectors and elbows
Loadbreak and deadbreak elbows, inserts, feed-through bushings and grounding elbows. Counted, checked for a clean interface surface, and reviewed on whether the semiconducting insert is intact.
Jumper and bus assemblies
Pre-cut cable jumpers between bays or between a transformer and its switch, with lugs compressed on both ends. Useful as spares to the same owner, and reviewed on lug type and hole spacing.
Control and sensing cable
Multi-conductor control cable from the recloser or switchgear cabinet, plus the current transformer leads. A separate small lot, usually 600 V, reviewed on conductor count and shield.
04Evaluation
How an equipment package is reviewed
Inventory the connectors first. Count elbows by rating, note which are loadbreak and which are deadbreak, and check the interface surfaces for scoring. That count usually decides whether the package is worth a trip, because the cable inside a padmount is measured in feet.
Then the cable itself, for size and condition. Leads inside an outdoor padmount are exposed to whatever came in through the lid, so water in the compartment and a rusted bushing are common. Cable that sat in standing water is reviewed on copper, not on re-use, and a cabinet that has been open for a season usually still holds its original terminated leads, which are worth keeping with the connectors.
Finally the paperwork, which for equipment matters more than for a reel. An equipment nameplate, a cable schedule and a release from the owner establish what the package was and that it can move. Equipment taken out of service without a release is a problem for everybody involved.
A padmount can be fed from either end of a loop, and a switchgear line-up can be backfed from a customer's generation, so an open cabinet is not an isolated cabinet. Separable connectors are not switches: pulling a loadbreak elbow is a switching operation done with the proper tool by a qualified person, and pulling a deadbreak elbow under load is an arcing fault at close range.
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
07Questions
Switchgear and padmount cable questions
Do you buy the equipment itself, or just the cable?
This page covers the cable, connectors and control wiring released with it. The transformer or switchgear is a separate conversation with its own documentation.
How are elbows valued?
By rating, type and condition of the interface. A clean 600 A deadbreak elbow with its insert is a wanted item; one with a scored or contaminated interface is not.
Is cable from inside a flooded padmount worth anything?
As copper and shield content, usually. Water in a compartment reaches the cable ends and the strand, and the review reflects that.
What identifies the connector family?
The bushing on the equipment and the equipment nameplate. The cabinet was built for one interface size and type, and the elbows that fit it are the ones worth counting.
Send the nameplate and the connector count
Equipment type, bushing style and the number of elbows by rating describe the package. Photographs of the open cabinet fill in the condition.