Submersible pump cable buyers in Tennessee
For water plant superintendents and well owners holding pump cable, this page covers the two constructions and what a pulled cable is worth.
Send us your reel list
Six details are enough for a first review: what the cable is, the metal, the size, the footage or reel count, the condition and where it sits. Photographs can follow by text or email. There is no fee and no obligation, and nothing moves until written terms are agreed.
Submersible pump cable is the drop cable that hangs in a well from the pitless adapter down to the motor: three power conductors plus a ground, rated 600 V, in a flat or round assembly. It is made to sit in water for years without absorbing it, which is why the insulation is usually PVC with a nylon jacket over each conductor.
The material reaches us when a pump is pulled, a well is abandoned or a plant keeps a spare reel it no longer needs. Water and wastewater plants, paper mills with their own wells, and farms with irrigation pumps are the usual sources, and the cable usually arrives wet, dirty and coiled on the ground.
Lot basics
- Voltage
- 600 V
- Conductors
- Three plus ground
- Construction
- Flat and round
- Insulation
- PVC/nylon
Why the same circuit comes flat and round
Flat cable lays the three insulated conductors side by side in one jacket, with the ground conductor running along the edge or between them. The flat profile fits the narrow annulus between a pump and a well casing, and it resists twisting as the pump is lowered. Most residential and light agricultural work uses it.
Round cable bundles the conductors in a circular jacket with fillers to keep the shape. It is stronger in tension, tolerates deeper sets and is more common on larger motors and in plant work. Both types carry the same 600 V rating, and the choice is about the installation rather than about the electrical duty.
- Three power conductors plus a ground
- Flat profile for tight well clearances
- Round construction for deeper sets
- PVC insulation with a nylon jacket
Water plants, mill wells and farm sets
A municipal water plant may hold several spare reels, because a pump failure is an emergency and the crew does not want to wait on a supplier. Those reels are often full and still wrapped, sitting in a pump house or a maintenance building for years. When the plant changes pump size, the old reels become surplus.
Paper mills and chemical plants with their own wells hold similar stock. On farms, the cable arrives in short lengths from a pump replacement, often with the splices still attached and the ends taped. Those lots are small, and they are usually combined with other wire from the same property before anyone calls a buyer.
What comes back up with the pump
Cable that has hung in a well for fifteen years comes up wet, coated in iron or mineral deposit, and often kinked from the pull. The insulation may be sound underneath. We look for cracks at the bends and for swelling where water has entered at a splice, which shows as a soft or blistered section of jacket.
Length matters as much as condition. A drop cable is cut to the setting depth, so a recovered length fits one well and may not suit another. We buy it on the conductor content and on whether the jacket is intact enough to reuse, and we ask for the approximate depth it came from rather than a precise figure.
Questions sellers ask
Why is pump cable made flat?
Because a well casing leaves very little room around the pump. A flat assembly passes between the pump and the casing wall without chafing, and it lies against the drop pipe instead of twisting around it. The flat shape also lets the cable be taped to the pipe at intervals without building up a thick bundle.
Do you buy cable that has been pulled out of a well?
Yes, and we expect it to be wet and mineral stained. What we need to see is whether the jacket is cracked at the bends and whether water has entered at a splice. Cable with a sound jacket is bought as reusable; cable with damaged insulation is bought on the copper content, which is a different figure.
What sizes of pump cable do you see?
Most lots are 12, 10 and 8 gauge in three wire plus ground, matching the motors used on domestic and small municipal pumps. Larger round constructions appear on bigger plant pumps. The gauge is printed on the jacket, and on flat cable it is usually repeated on each conductor as well.
How is the ground conductor arranged in flat cable?
It runs alongside the three power conductors, either at one edge of the flat profile or in a channel between them, and it is normally a smaller size. On round cable it sits inside the bundle with the others. In both cases the ground is a full member of the assembly rather than a bare drain wire.
Send us your reel list
Six details are enough for a first review: what the cable is, the metal, the size, the footage or reel count, the condition and where it sits. Photographs can follow by text or email. There is no fee and no obligation, and nothing moves until written terms are agreed.
Spare pump reels in the pump house?
Send the gauge, whether the cable is flat or round, the approximate length and a photograph of the jacket.
Tennessee only · statewide pickup planning