Southwire reel returns: steel reels go back, wooden reels are yours

Southwire is a wire and cable maker, and its reels turn up on almost every kind of job here, from building wire in a Rockville apartment block to aluminium conductor on a Pepco line. Its reel-data page says it ships on both steel and wooden reels and has a reel return program with a pick-up request form. Its Reel Packaging Information document lists every reel, and its Steel Reel Policy sets out the charges.

Wooden reels: no deposit

In the packaging document Southwire’s wooden reels are marked non-returnable, no deposit required. That answers the question we hear most from contractors in this region: a wooden Southwire reel at the end of a job is not owed back to anyone. Sell it, reuse it or recycle it.

The same document explains the series codes stencilled on the flange:

• A: nailed wood, for bare aluminium and ACSR conductor.
• C: nailed wood, reinforced, for copper and steel.
• N: plywood and nailed wood, for lighter weatherproof, insulated and multiplex cable.
• E and G: plywood, for building wire.
• S: steel, for AAC and ACSR.

The number after the letter is the reel’s capacity in thousands of cubic inches: an A-99 holds 99,000 cubic inches. A suffix E marks an export reel treated with preservative.

Steel reels: a charge and a clock

The Steel Reel Policy says every steel reel carries a charge. Southwire credits it if the reel comes back within 12 months of the initial shipment; after that the credit is forfeited. Normal wear is accepted, but exceptional damage is charged. To return one, the customer gives notice by email, the website or the app (phone calls are not accepted as notice) with the consignee, date shipped, reel invoice number and serial numbers. Reels may not be sent back without Southwire’s consent, and the policy says a deferral can be negotiated.

The packaging document lists steel reels from 60 inches (S-62) up to 158 inches, weighing from 340 pounds to more than two tons.

The tag

Southwire’s tags list the maker, product, footage, gross, tare and net weights, stock number, operator and date of manufacture. If the tag is still on a reel, it tells you the reel number and the tare weight, which is the reel’s own weight. That is everything the desk needs to size a pickup.

What to do

Steel Southwire reel in your yard: start the return through Southwire with the serial number, before the 12 months run out. Wooden Southwire reels: send the desk a count by series and size.

Package types

The packaging document also says Southwire’s package types comply with NEMA specification WC26, which sorts reel packaging into types I to IV. Type IV is the one with wood lagging: boards nailed or banded across the flanges to shield the cable in transit. When lagging comes off at the job, it is lumber too, and the desk will take it with the reels if it is sound.

Hubs and treatments

On heavier wooden reels, Southwire presses steel hubs into the arbor holes to take the shaft load. A reel with a steel hub is still a one-way wooden reel; the hub stays with it. Export reels with the suffix E are treated with preservative, which matters if you plan to cut one up for lumber indoors. Ask the desk for an untreated reel for that.

Codes on steel reels

Southwire’s steel reels also carry Aluminum Association codes. RM marks a returnable metal reel, RMT a returnable metal reel with I-beam tires, and NR a non-returnable one. The code and the serial number are what the return paperwork asks for.

The pick-up request

Southwire’s reel-data page links a Reel Pick-Up Request form for returning reels. Fill it in with the same facts the steel policy asks for, keep a copy, and photograph the reels and their serial plates before they leave your yard. If a reel is later disputed, the photographs and the dated request are your record. For wooden reels none of this applies; they never need to go back, and nobody will ask for them.