Wire Sizes We Buy: An AWG to kcmil Chart

We buy electrical wire in California, from small branch-circuit spools to heavy feeder reels, plus scrap copper wire. Use this wire sizes chart AWG to kcmil to identify your material before describing its type, length and condition.

Reading AWG, aught and kcmil size markings

AWG means American Wire Gauge. Within numbered AWG sizes, a smaller number identifies a larger conductor: 6 AWG is larger than 12 AWG. Above 1 AWG come the aught sizes, written 1/0 through 4/0 and spoken one-aught through four-aught.

Larger building-wire sizes generally use kcmil (MCM), meaning thousands of circular mils. MCM is the older notation for the same unit. A circular mil is the area of a circle with a diameter of 0.001 inch. Thus a 500 MCM marking describes the same nominal area as 500 kcmil.

These designations describe conductor metal area, not insulation thickness or the width of a complete cable assembly. They also do not establish ampacity. Installation suitability belongs with the end user's verification of the actual product, application and applicable rules.

Common wire sizes chart: AWG to kcmil

The areas below are rounded geometric conversions, not finished cable diameters or installation recommendations. Actual manufacturer tables can round nominal stranded constructions differently. The construction examples identify families you may find in surplus, not every available product at each size.

Retain unusual printed sizes exactly. Fractional utility and DLO sizes should not be rounded into the nearest row. Also, 4/0 remains smaller in nominal area than 250 kcmil; the two descriptions are not interchangeable.

Choose the buying page for your size group

Our 14, 12 and 10 AWG wire page covers branch-circuit spools, residential cable, MC coils and small PV conductors. These lots often need a size-by-color inventory because several similar-looking products can be mixed together.

For equipment wire and smaller feeders, use 8 AWG through 1 AWG selling details. Copper, aluminum and bare grounding conductors all appear within that range, with different constructions and packaging.

The 1/0 through 4/0 wire guide separates aught-size building wire from flexible welding cable, service assemblies and MV products. Our 250 through 1000 kcmil buying page focuses on large feeder inventory and heavy-reel planning.

Stranding and insulation change the identification

Solid wire has one conductor wire. Stranded wire combines multiple wires into the marked nominal conductor area. Ordinary concentric power stranding differs from the many fine strands used in flexible cable. More strands do not automatically mean more copper area or higher permissible ampacity.

Compressed and compact conductors reduce spaces between strands. That can reduce conductor diameter without changing the size printed on the reel. Record these terms when they appear, especially on aluminum feeder inventory.

A size alone does not distinguish THHN and THWN-2 building wire from XHHW-2 feeder conductors. Capture the insulation designation too. Copper and aluminum also need separate descriptions, even when both reels carry the same AWG marking.

Footage and metal weight affect different parts of value

Small single-conductor building wire commonly arrives on 500 ft spools, with 1000 ft and 2500 ft packages also encountered. NM-B often uses 250 ft contractor coils; branch MC commonly uses 250 ft coils or 1000 ft reels. Those are original-package examples, not proof of what remains.

Larger wire can arrive in long master put-ups. Cerrowire's documented master-reel groups include 2500 ft and longer for 1 AWG through 500 kcmil. Its larger sizes use other footage groups. Reel diameter alone cannot establish length.

Copper content rises with conductor area and length. Southwire's THHN weight table lists approximately 653 lb of copper per 1000 ft for 4/0. Insulation and the reel add shipping weight beyond that metal figure.

Usable continuous length can support product value beyond recovery value. Short, damaged or unidentified copper may instead need scrap evaluation. Packaging weight is not copper weight, and several separate cuts do not become one continuous reel when added together.

Size details to send with your offer request

A useful size inventory connects each marking to one physical package. We need enough information to distinguish an unopened reel from a remnant or mixed scrap container.

• Photograph the AWG or kcmil marking, keeping slashes and decimal sizes legible.
• Show the insulation type beside the size, not just a cropped gauge number.
• Identify CU, AL or tinned-copper markings for each size group.
• List conductor counts and ground sizes for cable assemblies.
• Record solid, stranded, compact or flexible construction when known.
• Match remaining footage evidence to each spool, coil or reel.
• Separate unused packages from pulled-out copper and damaged cut ends.
• Include the California city, reel dimensions and available loading access.

Use the reel-tag reading guide when label fields conflict with handwritten notes. Keep original tags attached and disclose rewound stock. For statewide buying details, the California Wire Buyers home page connects size identification with our surplus and scrap buying categories.