Metal-clad cable, interlocked armour
MC cable buyers in New York
Metal-clad cable is the armoured branch-circuit cable of New York commercial construction. What decides its value is not the copper alone but the armour, the coil set and whether the length is still long enough to pull.
Sell this cable
Send the construction, size and footage. Photographs can follow.
Prefer to talk? 614-715-3047 · saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com
MC cable is THHN or XHHW conductors inside interlocked aluminum armour, 600 V, from 14 AWG to 600 kcmil. It is listed to UL 1569 and covered by NEC Article 330. HCF is the hospital variant with a redundant ground path. Value turns on conductor count and size, whether the armour is straight and undamaged, and whether the coil still has usable continuous length rather than a set memory.
Conductors, armour and the grounding question
Type MC is a factory assembly: insulated conductors laid up with fillers inside a strip of aluminum that is formed into an interlocking spiral. The armour is mechanical protection first, but on a listed assembly it is also permitted as an equipment grounding conductor, which is why MC can replace conduit and a separate ground wire in a ceiling plenum. The conductors inside are usually THHN or THWN for branch sizes and XHHW-2 for the larger feeder constructions.
The hospital variant is the one that catches people out. NEC 517.13 requires a redundant ground path in patient care areas: an insulated copper equipment grounding conductor plus a metallic armour that is itself listed as a grounding means. That is what MC-HCF is, and it is not interchangeable with ordinary MC in a hospital. A coil of HCF left from a healthcare fit-out is a specific asset and should be labelled as such, because a buyer for a hospital job will pay for the redundancy and a buyer for a warehouse will not.
Where MC is used in New York, and in what sizes
In New York City and the dense suburbs, MC is the normal way to wire a commercial ceiling. It is permitted in concealed and exposed locations, it satisfies the requirement for a metallic wiring method in most commercial occupancies, and it can be fished through a ceiling without installing conduit. Large multi-tenant residential buildings use it above corridors and in tenant fit-outs, and hospitals use HCF throughout patient areas.
The size pattern follows the building. Branch circuits are 12/2 and 12/3, with 10/2 and 10/3 for small equipment and 14/2 in lighting-only work. Feeder sizes from 1/0 to 600 kcmil appear in risers, rooftop equipment and mechanical rooms, usually on reels rather than coils. A lot that is mostly 12/2 with some 10/3 is a fit-out residue; a lot with 4/0 and 250 kcmil is a riser or plant job and is worth a different review.
| Construction | Typical use | Usual form | Value driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14/2 MC | Lighting branch circuits | 250 ft coil | Copper weight, coil condition |
| 12/2 MC | Receptacle and general branch circuits | 250 and 500 ft coils | Volume and continuous length |
| 12/3 MC | Multi-wire branch circuits, shared neutral | 250 ft coil | Conductor count |
| 10/2 and 10/3 MC | Small equipment, 30 A circuits | 250 ft coil | Gauge and length |
| 12/2 and 12/3 HCF | Hospital and clinic patient areas | 250 ft coil | HCF marking and ground |
| 1/0 to 4/0 MC | Risers and feeder drops | Reels | Size and reel footage |
| 250 to 600 kcmil MC | Service and large equipment feeders | Reels | Aluminum or copper, footage |
Armour damage and coil set decide the price
MC is the one family where the metal outside matters as much as the metal inside. The interlocked armour is thin aluminum, and it dents, crushes and opens at the seam when a coil is dropped, stepped on or dragged. Once the interlock separates, the cable cannot be pulled through a stud bay or a ceiling without snagging, and the damaged section has to be cut out. A coil with three crushed spots may still be ninety per cent good cable and forty per cent usable length.
Coil set is subtler and just as expensive. MC is wound tightly at the factory and takes a memory; a coil that has been sitting in a hot storage trailer or under a pile of reels will hold a helical set that makes it fight every bend. Electricians will cut a long length out of a badly set coil rather than wrestle with it, so the remaining length drops. Coils stored flat, banded and out of the sun hold their set far better, and that is visible in a photograph.
- The full coil photographed flat, so the armour and the bands are visible
- A close-up of the armour showing whether the interlock is closed and undamaged
- The print on the armour or the conductor, which gives type, size and conductor count
- The coil label or tag with footage and any HCF marking
- Any crushed or opened section, photographed honestly rather than cropped out
Specification
What a buyer needs to know about this cable
Every row below changes what a lot is worth. If the reel tag is gone, the jacket print and a cut end usually answer most of it.
Missing detail is not a problem — say what is missing and the review works from photographs.
| Standard | UL 1569; NEC Article 330 |
|---|---|
| Voltage rating | 600 V |
| Armour | Interlocked aluminum strip; steel and smooth aluminum armour also exist |
| Conductors | THHN or THWN, or XHHW-2, copper or aluminum depending on the product |
| Size range | 14 AWG through 600 kcmil |
| Configurations | 2, 3 or 4 conductor, with or without an insulated equipment grounding conductor |
| Hospital variant | MC-HCF, with an insulated ground plus armour listed as a grounding path for NEC 517.13 |
| Packaging | 250 and 500 ft coils are standard; larger sizes and long runs come on reels |
Constructions
MC lots we review
The family is consistent, but the condition categories are not, and they price very differently.
Banded factory coils
250 or 500 ft coils still banded with the label intact. Straight armour, no set, and the only category that goes back into stock without argument.
Part coils from a fit-out
The normal residue: a coil with 60 to 200 ft left, cut square at the end. Reusable if the armour is straight, priced down for the handling and the set.
HCF hospital surplus
Green-ground HCF from a healthcare project. Worth keeping separate and labelled, because the redundant ground is a specification requirement rather than a preference.
Feeder MC on reels
1/0 through 600 kcmil in riser and mechanical applications. The best value in the family when the reel tag and footage survive.
Removed and damaged MC
Cable stripped out of a ceiling with crushed armour and cut ends. Recovery material, valued on copper and aluminum content rather than on length.
New York
MC in the New York market
The downstate commercial market runs on MC. Office fit-outs, retail, hotel and residential towers, laboratories and hospital expansions all generate coils and part coils, and the material is almost always left over rather than removed: a contractor orders 20 coils, uses 17 and a half, and the remainder sits in the gang box until the job closes. That is why so much MC surplus is short, and why length is the first question rather than the last.
Upstate the picture is institutional and industrial. Hospitals, universities, school districts and plant maintenance shops use MC for branch circuits and small feeders, usually in smaller quantities and often with better record keeping. A school district's surplus is a pallet of part coils with labels; a plant's is a mixed pile of MC, tray cable and cord. Both are reviewed, but only one of them can be priced from a list.
What helps a New York lot move
- Construction as printed, including conductor count and any HCF marking
- Remaining length per coil, measured rather than estimated
- Whether the armour is straight, crushed or opened at the seam
- How the coils were stored, and whether they sat in the sun
- Copper or aluminum conductors, since MC-AP changes the value entirely
Seller questions
Questions sellers ask
What is the difference between MC and HCF cable?
HCF is metal-clad cable built for healthcare patient care areas. It carries an insulated copper equipment grounding conductor in addition to armour that is listed as a grounding means, which satisfies the redundant ground requirement of NEC 517.13. Ordinary MC has the armour ground but not the insulated redundancy, so the two are not interchangeable in a hospital.
Can damaged MC armour be repaired?
No. The interlocked strip is the wiring method's mechanical protection and its grounding path, and a separated or crushed interlock cannot be restored in the field. The damaged section is cut out and the rest of the coil is used, which is why a coil with several damaged spots loses far more length than the damage itself suggests.
Why does coil set matter so much?
Because a coil with a hard helical memory fights every bend during installation. An electrician will cut a fresh length rather than straighten a badly set one, so the usable length in the coil drops even though the cable is undamaged. Coils stored flat and banded hold their shape; coils crushed under other material do not.
Do you buy MC with aluminum conductors?
Yes. Aluminum-conductor MC, often marked MC-AP, is common in larger feeder sizes and is reviewed on size, footage and armour condition. It is worth substantially less per pound than the copper version, so the conductor metal needs to be stated rather than assumed.
What lengths of MC are worth selling?
Any length can be reviewed, but a coil with less than roughly 50 ft of continuous cable has little reuse value and is treated as recovery material. Lengths over 100 ft with straight armour are the ones that justify handling, and full banded coils are the ones that command a cable price rather than a scrap price.
Keep reading
Related pages
- Armored cable buyersAC and BX, the steel-armour branch-circuit alternative
- THHN and THWN wire buyersThe conductors inside most MC
- Tray cable buyersThe other armoured multi-conductor family
- Feeder cable buyersLarge-size MC and feeder assemblies
- Partial reel buyersPart coils are the normal MC lot
- Contractor leftover buyersJob-end coils in small quantities
Next step
Send the lot details
Include the storage city, how it is stored and what can reach it. If you have photographs of reel tags or jacket print, send them with the enquiry.
Send the lot
One desk reviews every lot that arrives.
Prefer to talk? 614-715-3047 · saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com