42 inch cable reels: sizes, builds and counts

Same three numbers, two different reels

Okonite's reel table lists the 42x26x18 twice. One is 90 lb empty, 30 inches out-to-out, rated for about 1,500 lb of cable. The other is 100 lb, 30.5 inches out-to-out, rated for about 3,000 lb. The table does not name them by class, but the pattern repeats all the way up its list: a lighter build and a heavier build of the same size, with the heavier one carrying roughly twice the cable for about a tenth more wood.

For a buyer that difference is the whole question. A contractor respooling a few hundred feet of 4/0 aluminum does not need the heavy build. A plant winding 3,000 lb of copper onto a reel does. When we write up a lot of 42s we note the stencil's class and the flange thickness, and we ask the buyer what weight of cable will go on before we quote.

What Southwire's letters say about a 42

Southwire's packaging sheet sorts its wooden reels by series, and at 42 inches it has one of each. The A series is nailed wood for bare aluminum and ACSR conductor; its A-29 is a 42x28x21 coded NR 42.28 under the Aluminum Association's non-returnable designation. The C series is nailed wood reinforced for copper and steel; its C-22 is a 42x24x24, the heaviest 42 in the table at about 167 lb. The N series covers plywood and nailed reels for lighter loads; its N-34 is a 42x29x17 at about 114 lb.

Southwire also explains the number after the letter: it is the reel's volume in thousands of cubic inches. Every one of these reels has a 3.125 inch arbor hole. When a stencil reads A-29 or C-22, you know the job it was built for before you measure it.

The stencil gets more useful at 40 inches

Okonite's 2002 bulletin lists six items stenciled on each flange: the cable supplier, the class of the reel, a rolling direction arrow, the size as flange x inside traverse x drum, the reel maker and the date assembled. On reels under 40 inches only the last three are normally supplied. A 42 is the first size on our chart where you should expect the full set.

Two of those items matter on the used market. The class tells a buyer which build it is. The rolling arrow tells a crew which way to roll a full reel so the cable does not loosen on the drum. If a lot of 42s has no class marking, we measure the flange thickness and weigh one if we can.

How much cable a 42 holds

By the NEMA WC 26 formula in Anixter's handbook, Footage = 0.262 x T x (H - C) x (D + H - C) / d squared, with H as half of flange minus drum and 2 inches of clearance for this flange range. On a 42x26x18, H is 12, H - C is 10 and D + H - C is 28, so the reel's constant is 0.262 x 26 x 10 x 28, about 1,907. That is the footage of 1 inch cable; divide by the square of the diameter for anything else. On the 42x26x24 in Anixter's own table the same sum gives 1,478 ft, because the bigger drum takes up winding room.

Remember that footage and weight are separate limits. The lighter 42x26x18 build is rated for 1,500 lb of cable; 1,907 ft of a heavy 1 inch copper cable would go over it. The figures below are approximate.

Who winds onto 42s

With drums from 17 to 24 inches, a 42 takes nonshielded cable up to 1.7 to 2.4 inches under NEMA's 10 times rule and tape shielded cable of roughly 0.85 to 1.7 inches, depending on the drum and the 14 to 20 times multiple. That puts 600 volt feeders, aluminum service and secondary conductor, smaller medium-voltage cable and multi-pair telephone cable on reels this size. Utilities and their line contractors handle the A-29. Industrial and commercial electricians handle the C-22 on copper feeders. Wire plants and distributors run all three.

Where empty 42s collect, and where they go next

Line contractors finishing a reconductoring job, substation crews, and the storerooms of municipal and cooperative utilities are the usual sources of empty 42s. A plant maintenance department that rewires a production line leaves a few behind; so does a commercial electrician after a hospital or school feeder job. Because the A-29 is coded non-returnable, those reels belong to whoever received the conductor, and the owner is free to sell them.

On the buying side, 42s go to crews that respool recovered conductor for salvage, to shops that cut feeder lengths for customers, to wire and rope makers who accept used reels for refurbishing, and to anyone winding hose, poly pipe or tow rope who needs a sturdy midsize reel. A buyer usually wants a run of one build rather than a mix, and the price follows the count and the freight lane between the two yards.

A 42 is forklift work

Empty, a 42 weighs 80 to 167 lb, more than one person should roll up a ramp. With its rated cable on, a heavier-build 42x26x18 is past 3,000 lb. Anixter's handling notes apply in full: store and ship upright on both flanges, never lift by the top flange, and hoist with a shaft through both flanges. Corning adds a rule for forklifts: never pick a reel up from its tail-flange side.

At 120 per 53 ft van and 90 to 154 lb each, a full van of empty 42s weighs roughly 10,800 to 18,500 lb, depending on the build. Like the 36s, they fill the trailer by volume first.

Before a 42 changes hands

• Class or series on the stencil, or a flange thickness and weight if there is none
• Arbor hole round and unsplit, 3 or 3.125 inches
• Staves intact; a reel with a few loose staves can still carry cable, a reel with a split arbor hole cannot
• Rolling direction arrow legible if the buyer will roll full reels
• Drive holes not torn out, which matters for buyers who turn reels with a pin driver
• One size per lot line: 42x26x18 and 42x24x24 do not nest together