A non-black wire as the base for all phases

Status
Not open for further replies.

mtnelect

HVAC & Electrical Contractor
Location
Southern California
Occupation
Contractor, C10 & C20 - Semi Retired
Good for you. But what happens if a project is canceled and you already bought the wire, for example, or you get a roll of wire at a ridiculous price, or for any other reason you have a lot of wire. So you're going to tell me that recycling it is better.

In California, it's called a "Home Improvement Contract". You are allowed to require a down payment of 10% or $1,000.00, whichever is less. There is a 3-day recession clause. The homeowner has 72 hours to cancel the contract. After the time period has passed, without cancellation, you are good to go.
No material is purchased until the time period is passed. Then the contract is enforceable.
 

curt swartz

Electrical Contractor - San Jose, CA
Location
San Jose, CA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
When I estimate a project ... I estimate by the spool, anything left over is recycled. No more 100's of spools left over wires or cables to choose from.
It's gone in 30 seconds !
Wow!
So If you need to pull a 70' 400 amp 208/120 feeder you purchase a 5000' master real of 600KCMIL copper then scrap the rest? Do you just purchase black and mark with tape or do you purchase a reel of black, red, blue and white?
 

mtnelect

HVAC & Electrical Contractor
Location
Southern California
Occupation
Contractor, C10 & C20 - Semi Retired
Wow!
So If you need to pull a 70' 400 amp 208/120 feeder you purchase a 5000' master real of 600KCMIL copper then scrap the rest? Do you just purchase black and mark with tape or do you purchase a reel of black, red, blue and white?

We are not in your league ! We only do residential and small commercial HVAC maintenance contracts.
 

Charlypt

Member
Location
Florida
Occupation
Electrician
In California, it's called a "Home Improvement Contract". You are allowed to require a down payment of 10% or $1,000.00, whichever is less. There is a 3-day recession clause. The homeowner has 72 hours to cancel the contract. After the time period has passed, without cancellation, you are good to go.
No material is purchased until the time period is passed. Then the contract is enforceable.
Yeah, good. But still you don’t answer me if your get a lot of wire for any other reason, like a bargain, a gift from Santa, or the homeowner die in an explosion that destroy the job site. It is scrap wire for you, right?
 

Charlypt

Member
Location
Florida
Occupation
Electrician
We are not in your league ! We only do residential and small commercial HVAC maintenance contracts.
I understand now. You do not work with big wires.
When you work with big wire sizes, due to the price, you have to calculate the most accurate measurement. You measure the run exactly, and left a little more for the make up , and order the wire per foot. If you left to much wire, you lose money or if you work for others, you can be in trouble. But if someone left enough wire extra, you start to appreciate it, for use in other projects.
 

mtnelect

HVAC & Electrical Contractor
Location
Southern California
Occupation
Contractor, C10 & C20 - Semi Retired
Yeah, good. But still you don’t answer me if your get a lot of wire for any other reason, like a bargain, a gift from Santa, or the homeowner die in an explosion that destroy the job site. It is scrap wire for you, right?

For all my projects the customer pays for the material, the only gift I get from the customer is the payment !
 

curt swartz

Electrical Contractor - San Jose, CA
Location
San Jose, CA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
We are not in your league ! We only do residential and small commercial HVAC maintenance contracts.
But the OP was asking about 300kcmil copper. My first choice would be to use colors (brown, orange, yellow, gray) for each wire. My second choice would be using black with phase tape. If an had leftover wire of another color I would have no problem using it vs scrapping it and buying new. Large wire is not cheap!
 

mtnelect

HVAC & Electrical Contractor
Location
Southern California
Occupation
Contractor, C10 & C20 - Semi Retired
But the OP was asking about 300kcmil copper. My first choice would be to use colors (brown, orange, yellow, gray) for each wire. My second choice would be using black with phase tape. If an had leftover wire of another color I would have no problem using it vs scrapping it and buying new. Large wire is not cheap!

My game plan has always been to get rid of leftover materials from a project. I don't want to be the wholesale house.
 

Charlypt

Member
Location
Florida
Occupation
Electrician
For all my projects the customer pays for the material, the only gift I get from the customer is the payment !
All clients pay for material at the end and payment is for labor as well, it is never a gift.
I don’t gonna explain you again what happens if you save money in materials.
 

Teaser2

Member
Location
MDDENJ
Occupation
Electrician/EE
As a side note , always "trust and verify" no matter what the color of the wires are, what someone says or the marking, stickers etc. indicate: Test it, ,measure it, double check it.
 

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
We are not in your league ! We only do residential and small commercial HVAC maintenance contracts.
And obviously you are not taking into consideration the size and length of the OP's wire he is using. I was involved with a project that had multiple spools with considerable lengths of large conductors left on them one of which was over 700' of 500KCMIL, I wouldn't have dreamed of selling the pieces of perfectly good wire as scrap.

Yes, it was a large project, one PO included 100 1,000' spools of 500 KCMIL.
 

Ponchik

Senior Member
Location
CA
Occupation
Electronologist
Sounds like the OP is in a higher league with larger gauge wire and trying to use his material the smart way.
The HVAC guy is in a lower league with scrap Romex and maybe sometime 4/0 is his largest wire.

Saving money in a smart way is not cutting corners.

Question for the HVAC poster.
After a project you have 175' of left over Romex, do you recycle it, return the money to customer or keep it in your truck for other project?
 

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
Yeah, good. But still you don’t answer me if your get a lot of wire for any other reason, like a bargain, a gift from Santa, or the homeowner die in an explosion that destroy the job site. It is scrap wire for you, right?
I had a job kinda similar, commercial strip center, the owner was a real nice guy. He gave my number to the tennants, and said if they called about a problem, just come and fix it. Worked well for years, until one tenant called about a lot of the parking lot lights were out. Rented a boom lift, and repaired four poles. The company sent the invoice, the new owner denied it (his crooked son in law inherited it) Turned out he passed away a month earlier, and we don’t know it. His son in law ran it into the ground, most of the tenant’s left, and I think it’s still an empty building now. Took forever to get paid, and had to discount the bill before he would.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top