Underground service wire · Georgia
We buy USE-2 underground service entrance cable
Single-conductor XLPE cable rated for direct burial and sunlight exposure, usually dual marked RHH or RHW-2. Surplus reels from service work are reviewed on jacket integrity and on measured length.
- 6 AWG to 750 kcmil
- Direct burial rated
- Sunlight resistant
01Overview
One conductor, many ratings
USE-2 is a single-conductor cable rather than an assembly. The letters describe where it may be used — underground service entrance — and the construction behind them is a cross-linked polyethylene insulation over a copper or aluminum conductor, rated for direct burial and for sunlight exposure.
Because it is a single conductor, it is bought in pairs and trios for a service run and left over in exactly those numbers. A service upgrade commonly leaves two part reels of 4/0 aluminum and one of 2/0, and the seller is usually holding them without any idea whether they are USE-2, RHH, RHW-2 or all three at once. Often they are all three, printed on the same jacket.
02Specification
What the jacket print covers
- Type
- USE-2, usually dual marked RHH, RHW-2 or USE-RHH-RHW-2
- Conductor
- Soft-drawn copper or AA-8000 series aluminum, stranded
- Sizes
- 6 AWG through 750 kcmil; 1/0 and larger on service work
- Insulation
- Cross-linked polyethylene, sunlight and moisture resistant
- Voltage
- 600 V
- Ratings
- Direct burial, wet locations, and sunlight exposure where marked
- Reels
- 500 and 1,000 ft spools; 2,500 ft on the smaller sizes
- Use
- Service laterals, meter taps, temporary power and grounding electrode runs
Read the whole print, including the suffixes. Direct-burial and sunlight-resistant markings are what make this cable usable outdoors, and a reel without them is a different product even at the same size.
03What we review as USE-2
What we review as USE-2
Aluminum USE-2 in service sizes
4/0, 2/0 and 1/0 aluminum are the working sizes on residential and light commercial services. Reviewed on metal first and on the condition of the strands at the cut ends, where oxide and moisture show first.
Copper USE-2
Smaller sizes and shorter runs, often 2 AWG through 6 AWG. Copper holds its identity through storage better than aluminum, so a copper reel that has been under cover is usually reviewed on length alone.
Dual-marked RHH and RHW-2 stock
The same cable sold for raceway and switchgear work. Worth flagging to a buyer, because the dual rating opens industrial uses that a burial-only cable cannot serve.
Cut lengths from service upgrades
Ten, twenty and forty foot tails, which is what a service replacement actually leaves. Reviewed as measured lengths, and best presented as a short list rather than as a coil photograph.
04Evaluation
How a USE-2 lot is assessed
Jacket integrity leads, because this cable’s whole purpose is to sit in wet ground. A ring cut, a gouge from a shovel, or a jacket that has been scraped back at the end admits water along the strands, and on aluminum that ends the conversation for that length. Look at the jacket over the whole outer wrap, not just at the visible end.
Length comes second and is almost always undocumented on service leftovers. Measure the tails, and use the spool tag or a weight calculation for the part reels. A single measured 4/0 aluminum reel is easier to review than five unlabelled coils, and it is worth the ten minutes it takes to measure them.
Metal and marking finish the review. Copper or aluminum changes the basis entirely, and the suffix print decides whether the cable can be used above ground in conduit. Give both in the first message; neither can be inferred from the colour of the insulation.
USE-2 has no shield and no armor to warn anyone that it is live. Cable pulled out of a trench during a service change is treated as energized until the meter has been pulled and the conductors proved dead, because a buried lateral can be backfed from a generator or a neighbouring service.
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.
07Questions
USE-2 cable questions
Is USE-2 the same as URD?
They overlap but are not the same product. USE-2 is single conductor; URD is usually a multi-conductor assembly with a concentric neutral. Some single URD constructions carry a USE-2 print.
Can USE-2 be used indoors?
Only where its other markings allow it. The RHH or RHW-2 print is what permits raceway and enclosure use; a burial-only print does not.
Do you buy short tails?
Yes, when they are measured and listed. Tails under about ten feet are grouped and reviewed together rather than individually.
How is aluminum USE-2 checked?
By looking at the strand ends for white oxide and at the jacket for breaches that would let water in. Bright metal under the jacket is the good sign.
Give us the print and the lengths
Type marking, size, metal and a measured length for each reel. That is enough to review a service leftover without anyone visiting the site.