# NM cable reel



## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

What's the best reel for 250' spools of NM wire? I've got the ones made by Carlon but I'm looking for something a little more sturdy.


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## That_Dude (Feb 13, 2012)

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/product/16/Thomas-Wheeler
Rack-a-Tiers makes one.


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## JBrzoz00 (Nov 17, 2013)

I have a few of these, best ones Ive used. 


http://www.assoc-elec-prod.com/wire...products.asp?gclid=CNzEwqXtqbwCFXNp7AodAjMALg


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

Get the foldable stud reel and you'll never go back. 

http://www.studreels.com/


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## 120/208 (Nov 18, 2012)

JBrzoz00 said:


> I have a few of these, best ones Ive used.
> 
> 
> http://www.assoc-elec-prod.com/wire...products.asp?gclid=CNzEwqXtqbwCFXNp7AodAjMALg


Great products for romex dispensing. We use them exclusively.


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

I agree with the associated electric products

The 415D wire wheels are the best thing since sliced bread


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

drspec said:


> I agree with the associated electric products
> 
> The 415D wire wheels are the best thing since sliced bread


I'm going to try one of them. I guess you order them direct from the company?


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

wendon said:


> I'm going to get try one of them. I guess you order them direct from the company?


 
Yes, you have to call in your order.

They are pricey, but imo well worth it.

I have 4 of them and if I remember correctly I paid $150 each.


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## 120/208 (Nov 18, 2012)

wendon said:


> I'm going to get try one of them. I guess you order them direct from the company?


Yes, you can order them directly from the company. You won't be disappointed.


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

120/208 said:


> Yes, you can order them directly from the company. You won't be disappointed.


Thanks for the replies, pulled the trigger!


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

Wire that doesn't come on a spool makes no sense.. even our smallest wires and wire lengths will come on a metal or plastic spool.


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

wendon said:


> Thanks for the replies, pulled the trigger!


 
which one did you order?


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

drspec said:


> which one did you order?


415D. If I like it I may order more.


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

FrunkSlammer said:


> Wire that doesn't come on a spool makes no sense.. even our smallest wires and wire lengths will come on a metal or plastic spool.


Well Frunkster, you don't make a whole lot of sense either. I guess here in the States we're greener then that. We can buy 1000' rolls on a reel but the 250' ones are much easier to handle. Plastic reels end up in landfills or incinerators where they contribute to polluting our delicate environment.


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## Next72969 (Dec 9, 2012)

wendon said:


> Well Frunkster, you don't make a whole lot of sense either. I guess here in the States we're greener then that. We can buy 1000' rolls on a reel but the 250' ones are much easier to handle. Plastic reels end up in landfills or incinerators where they contribute to polluting our delicate environment.


 then we have to shovel the global warming all winter


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

wendon said:


> Well Frunkster, you don't make a whole lot of sense either. I guess here in the States we're greener then that. We can buy 1000' rolls on a reel but the 250' ones are much easier to handle. Plastic reels end up in landfills or incinerators where they contribute to polluting our delicate environment.


We use 150M (500'). On a good day we'll strap it to the studs with a piece of EMT. On a normal day, we'll just hang it from the studs with a piece of cable.

We're primitive  .


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

99cents said:


> We use 150M (500'). On a good day we'll strap it to the studs with a piece of EMT. On a normal day, we'll just hang it from the studs with a piece of cable.
> 
> We're primitive  .


 
I don't think a HO would be too appreciative of cutting the drywall out to hang a reel from a stud in a remodel :jester:


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

How do you guys pull multiple cables at once? I can put 3 or 4 rolls on a piece of pipe, and pull them at the same time. 

And who buys 250ft anyway.. 500ft is cheaper! Oh and recycle the plastic and metal spools after they're used up.



drspec said:


> I don't think a HO would be too appreciative of cutting the drywall out to hang a reel from a stud in a remodel :jester:


I use one of these:


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

drspec said:


> I don't think a HO would be too appreciative of cutting the drywall out to hang a reel from a stud in a remodel :jester:


Then we go dumpster diving for some lumber scraps to make our own wire rack. Like I say, we're primitive  .


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

FrunkSlammer said:


> And who buys 250ft anyway.. 500ft is cheaper! Oh and recycle the plastic and metal spools after they're used up.


Our 250' coils of romex don't come on spools. They are in a shrink wrapped package. Much more eco-friendly than a metal or plastic spool. :whistling2:


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

MTW said:


> Our 250' coils of romex don't come on spools. They are in a shrink wrapped package.


Oh don't misunderstand me, DIY'ers and hacks can buy it like that in Canada as well. :whistling2:


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Actually, that metal or plastic spool can be re-manufactured into something else. That shrink wrap takes generations to break down at the landfill :whistling2:


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

99cents said:


> Actually, that metal or plastic spool can be re-manufactured into something else.


Yeah like wheelchairs for handicapped children.. why are you guys so against helping handicapped children!?!?!?


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

MTW said:


> Our 250' coils of romex don't come on spools. They are in a shrink wrapped package. Much more eco-friendly than a metal or plastic spool. :whistling2:


Why would you want to buy such a short length? Buy a 500 ft spool, only 1 piece left over. Buy 2 short spools, 2 wasted left overs.
Twice the number of trips to bring in material.



FrunkSlammer said:


> Oh don't misunderstand me, DIY'ers and hacks can buy it like that in Canada as well. :whistling2:


:thumbsup::thumbsup:



99cents said:


> Actually, that metal or plastic spool can be re-manufactured into something else. That shrink wrap takes generations to break down at the landfill :whistling2:


:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

wcord said:


> Why would you want to buy such a short length? Buy a 500 ft spool, only 1 piece left over. Buy 2 short spools, 2 wasted left overs.
> Twice the number of trips to bring in material.



We don't have much choice, it's either 250' coils or 1000' reels. They do make 500' coils but they are very rare and not commonly stocked.


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## Next72969 (Dec 9, 2012)

MTW said:


> We don't have much choice, it's either 250' coils or 1000' reels. They do make 500' coils but they are very rare and not commonly stocked.


 ive seen. 500 ft coils one time on one job. Its either 250 or 1000 ft here as well


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## crazyboy (Nov 8, 2008)

Bring in 250 ft coils and have two leftovers, or break back lugging in 1000ft spool and trying to hang it so I have one piece left over. 250' please. Back hurts enough as is!


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

Next72969 said:


> ive seen. 500 ft coils one time on one job. Its either 250 or 1000 ft here as well


That sucks.
I found that 500s are ideal, not overly heavy and enough length to use a couple of reels for a small basement reno.


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

wcord said:


> Why would you want to buy such a short length? Buy a 500 ft spool, only 1 piece left over. Buy 2 short spools, 2 wasted left overs.
> Twice the number of trips to bring in material.
> 
> 
> ...


Some of us wire houses that are more than 1 story tall. Lugging 1000' spools up two flights of stairs is no fun. Now if all we had to do is wire RTM's that would be no problem.


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

wendon said:


> Some of us wire houses that are more than 1 story tall. Lugging 1000' spools up two flights of stairs is no fun. Now if all we had to do is wire RTM's that would be no problem.


Like wcord said, I find 150m (500') spools just right.. not too heavy to lug around, but holds quite a bit of wire. Slap a 14/2, 14/3 12/2 and 12/3 spool on a piece of conduit and you're good to pull! keep it in one spot and go crazy. 

I can't imagine dealing with little coils of wire individually plastic wrapped and having some goofy spinner to uncoil it individually. How do you guys make any money on jobs!!!


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## Rollie73 (Sep 19, 2010)

FrunkSlammer said:


> How do you guys pull multiple cables at once? I can put 3 or 4 rolls on a piece of pipe, and pull them at the same time.
> I use one of these:


I must have about 15 sets of these. They work perfectly, they're stackable in a pinch and take up no space in the van or the gangbox. We don't pull much loomex....or romex...or whatever the hell you wanna call it.
90% of our work is conduit and RW90.


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

FrunkSlammer said:


> Like wcord said, I find 150m (500') spools just right.. not too heavy to lug around, but holds quite a bit of wire. Slap a 14/2, 14/3 12/2 and 12/3 spool on a piece of conduit and you're good to pull! keep it in one spot and go crazy.
> 
> I can't imagine dealing with little coils of wire individually plastic wrapped and having some goofy spinner to uncoil it individually. How do you guys make any money on jobs!!!


Must be tough to have to set up a stand, find a piece of conduit, try to get all your clumsy reels slid on without tipping the whole thing over and then have to take the whole thing down and start over when you move to a different area. How do you keep your head from spinning in your toque. 
Grab a 250' reel, peel off the plastic and throw it on the floor for the homeowner to take out and burn. Sit it on the dispenser, loop the wire thru the guide and your off and running. Separate reel for different sizes so you can pull from different locations at once. How much better could it get?


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

wendon said:


> How do you keep your head from spinning in your toque.


They have my head spinning in my toque as well, wendon :laughing:

We could have used those pulling wire in hallways in apartments. Remodeling some rich widow's bathroom, four rolls at a time, not so much.


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

wendon said:


> Must be tough to have to set up a stand, find a piece of conduit, try to get all your clumsy reels slid on without tipping the whole thing over and then have to take the whole thing down and start over when you move to a different area.


It's a handyman coil vs a professional electrician reel type of thing. :whistling2:

Do you guys just drop coils of single conductor on the floor and pull them through conduit? :blink:


99cents said:


> We could have used those pulling wire in hallways in apartments. Remodeling some rich widow's bathroom, four rolls at a time, not so much.


You can buy the pre-packaged short length coils at Home Depot.. seen'm there. I'd be embarrassed buying them though.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

FrunkSlammer said:


> It's a handyman coil vs a professional electrician reel type of thing. :whistling2:
> 
> Do you guys just drop coils of single conductor on the floor and pull them through conduit? :blink:
> 
> You can buy the pre-packaged short length coils at Home Depot.. seen'm there. I'd be embarrassed buying them though.


What's the 12/3 for? Ballast, so your contraption doesn't fall over?

Anyway, the geography of most of our jobs would make putting four rolls of cable on a stand impractical.


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

99cents said:


> What's the 12/3 for? Ballast, so your contraption doesn't fall over?


For the split counter plugs you guys sold me on. MOAR POWAH!!! :tank:


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

FrunkSlammer said:


> For the split counter plugs you guys sold me on. MOAR POWAH!!! :tank:


That's what I was thinking :laughing:


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## electricmanscott (Feb 11, 2010)

drspec said:


> I agree with the associated electric products
> 
> The 415D wire wheels are the best thing since sliced bread


How do you know how much wire is left? If I'm on the second of third floor and pulling up a couple of circuits I don't want to see the ass end of the coil of wire come through the hole. :laughing:


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

If you think _these_ are made for the same purpose




















.....you _might_ be a ******* sparky :jester:

~CS~


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## 120/208 (Nov 18, 2012)

Ordered 9 more of the 415D models yesterday.


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

electricmanscott said:


> How do you know how much wire is left? If I'm on the second of third floor and pulling up a couple of circuits I don't want to see the ass end of the coil of wire come through the hole. :laughing:


You use some common sense and check the remaining wire before you start pulling?


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## bml215 (Jul 2, 2012)

Anyone have experience with the green Lee 37218?


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

electricmanscott said:


> How do you know how much wire is left? If I'm on the second of third floor and pulling up a couple of circuits I don't want to see the ass end of the coil of wire come through the hole. :laughing:


Then you say, "Oh $hit" and start again.


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## electricmanscott (Feb 11, 2010)

drspec said:


> You use some common sense and check the remaining wire before you start pulling?


Ooookayy


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## electricmalone (Feb 21, 2013)

Worth it's weight in gold


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

Working on a site today that other electricians were wiring, they just put a piece of 14/2 through the cable spool and then staple it to the bare studs.

Pretty hack looking, but it seemed to work fine. Could probably be done with your little baby coils of cable too. :whistling2:


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## electricmanscott (Feb 11, 2010)

FrunkSlammer said:


> Working on a site today that other electricians were wiring, they just put a piece of 14/2 through the cable spool and then staple it to the bare studs.
> 
> Pretty hack looking, but it seemed to work fine. Could probably be done with your little baby coils of cable too. :whistling2:


:laughing: Canada


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

FrunkSlammer said:


> Working on a site today that other electricians were wiring, they just put a piece of 14/2 through the cable spool and then staple it to the bare studs.
> 
> Pretty hack looking, but it seemed to work fine. Could probably be done with your little baby coils of cable too. :whistling2:


Those guys are smart  . This is as fancy as we will ever be:


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

electricmanscott said:


> :laughing: Canada


You won't be saying that once you guys get onto the 500' bandwagon  .


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## Ty Wrapp (Aug 24, 2011)

electricmalone said:


> Worth it's weight in gold


Those are awesome! I've got 2 of them :thumbup:


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## Sparky J (May 17, 2011)

The rack a teirs roll holders are awsome my only gripe with them is the hanger hook is too small to hang on anything bigger than 2 by material. So you need to either slam a couple nails in or use wire or something to hang it from.
With spools I usually use a cut in half ground rod and nail it up in stud space or door frame opening. Yes I'm a hack. And now you all know.


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## daveEM (Nov 18, 2012)

Sparky J said:


> With spools I usually use a cut in half ground rod and nail it up in stud space


That's all I've ever done. Only a 10 foot piece of 3/4 emt conduit cut in 3 pieces with two rolls of wire per... that makes 6 rolls of various wire ready to go. 

Then a 3 foot piece of 1/2 emt for the LV doorbell wire. Then a couple of 1000 foot boxes of cable TV wire and Cat 5.

So we have a couple of stud space with 4 pieces of conduit going up starting at the bottom 1, 3, 5 ft. with the doorbell at the top.

Spools, gotta love them. Thank you Canada.


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

daveEM said:


> *Thank you Canada.*


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

500' reels of Romex would be the cat's pajamas. I have never used one of those spin-off things. If I am not using 1000' reels then I just roll off what I need for whatever pull I am doing, and lay it out so it hopefully won't snag laughing, and pull. In resi construction it is 1000' reels hung with either a peice of EMT and some framing nails laying around in a window opening or stud bay, or just looping a piece of romex through the middle of the reel and stapling it on blocking or studs in a corner. I can swing the 1000' reels around, but man are they heavy. Especially in 12-3, 10-2, and 10-3. Those get tiring when you are setting reels by yourself.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Why would somebody like Southwire be trying to sell hand tools when re-packaging their cable is a no-brainer?


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

daveEM said:


> *Thank you Canada*.


I have suddenly lost interest in wire and developed an interest in sisters...


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## denny3992 (Jul 12, 2010)

Look at all the pretty colors....

Only in cananada


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

FrunkSlammer said:


>


Yuck!


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## electricguy (Mar 22, 2007)

I tried the south wire 2 piece coil dispenser what a pos , the coil would just bind in it.


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

denny3992 said:


> Look at all the pretty colors....
> 
> Only in cananada


You guys don't have different colors?

NMWU is black (underground)
#12 is yellow (kitchen counters)
#10 is orange (dryer)
#8 grey (range)
AFCI is blue (bedrooms)
heat is red

Doesn't have to be, but code is minimum, amirite??:thumbup:


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## electricmanscott (Feb 11, 2010)

FrunkSlammer said:


> You guys don't have different colors?
> 
> NMWU is black (underground)
> #12 is yellow (kitchen counters)
> ...


Oh how cute, wire by color. No need to know your numbers and letters. :laughing:

I'd love to have 500' rolls of cable here. Can I come live with you? :thumbup:


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

electricmanscott said:


> Oh how cute, wire by color. No need to know your numbers and letters. :laughing:
> 
> I'd love to have 500' rolls of cable here. Can I come live with you? :thumbup:


You must mean cable by color? 
Pretty sure all wires other than bare ground are colour coded in both our nations. Red, black, blue, white, green.. how cute. :whistling2:

Anywho, you don't have to live with me, just smuggle some over priced spools of wire back to your homeland. I bet you guys pay a lot less for cable than us though.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

FrunkSlammer said:


> You guys don't have different colors?
> 
> NMWU is black (underground)
> #12 is yellow (kitchen counters)
> ...


Black - yes
Yellow - yes
Orange, white, whatever...
Grey? Must be a BC thing...
Blue AFCI - Forget it. Write "AFCI" on white cable with a sharpie.
240V - Yeah, red.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

MTW said:


> Get the foldable stud reel and you'll never go back.
> 
> http://www.studreels.com/


Hey, how well does the heavy duty floor reel work with MC?


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

MHElectric said:


> Hey, how well does the heavy duty floor reel work with MC?


Never used that one. If it's like the stud reel, then I'm sure it's fine.


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

MTW said:


> Never used that one. If it's like the stud reel, then I'm sure it's fine.


They look the exact same to me, other than one sits one the floor. How well would they work if you stacked two rolls of romex on top of each other while pulling multiple hr's?


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

MHElectric said:


> They look the exact same to me, other than one sits one the floor. How well would they work if you stacked two rolls of romex on top of each other while pulling multiple hr's?


Not well at all. :no:


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

MTW said:


> Not well at all. :no:


Dang. That sucks. I need to pull the trigger on one of these bad boys. I guess Ill keep looking.....


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

I Don't do that much residential but I did make a romex dispenser. 2 pcs of 3/4 plywood 2' X 2' and a 1000 pound rated lazy susan from McMaster Carr and a piece of 6" PVC pipe.

Cut a 18" disc from one of the pieces of plywood and fastened it to the lazy susan the PVC pipe is the hub that holds the romex in place.

Fastened the lazy susan to the other plywood square. Drilled 2 one inch holes in the bottom of the PVC hub to stick the end of the romex in for a anchor. Works pretty good and only cost about $30.00 to make.

The hardest part is cutting the disc . I have a circle cutter for my router but you could use a jig saw.

LC


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## bml215 (Jul 2, 2012)

Today I got to use the wire wheel that was mentioned before; only did a small run, but I liked it.


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