A cable reel is a round, drum-shaped object such as a spool used to carry various types of

electrical wires Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of cabling and associated devices such as switches, distribution boards, sockets, and light fittings in a structure. Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and installation. Allowable ...

. Cable reels, which can also be termed as drums, have been used for many years to transport electric cables, fiber optic cables and wire products. Cable reels usually come in four different types, each with their own uses:

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

, plywood,

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

and steel.

Wooden drums

Wooden drums come in three different varieties: steel-tyred for multiple use, export for sending abroad, and one-way drums for single trip use. Wooden drums can carry heavy loads and are constructed in resinous wood. Discarded wooden reels can often be obtained cheaply and are, owing to their shape, commonly used as furniture (usually coffee tables) for college students and others seeking inexpensive furnishings.

Plywood drums/reels

Plywood reels are used for transporting lighter loads and are a cheaper alternative to other types of drums, used extensively in the building industry and by commercial electricians. Often made of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...

or poplar ply, they are both strong and light-weight. In normal situations, plywood reels are used only once and then destroyed.

Plastic drums/reels

Often manufactured from

recycled plastic Plastic recycling is the reprocessing of plastic waste into new products. When performed correctly, this can reduce dependence on landfill, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions ...

, these reels are environmentally friendly and used for lighter weight cables.

Steel drums/reels

Nowadays the steel drums have replaced the orthodox wooden drums in the cable and wire industry, but mainly in the offshore industry. Steel drums are normally welded as a fixed drums, but collapsible steel drums do also exist. The steel reels/drums are manufactured in an eco-friendly manner and are more durable than wooden drums, but to a significant higher cost. These steel reels are not as easily stolen. The off shore industry today prefers steel reels/drums instead of wooden or plywood or plastic reels/drums, but the traditional land based industry preferred wooden drums due to lower cost. The steel reels can be loaded with a different range cables and wires from the most heavy cables to the lightest wires. So it can be said to be multipurpose reel.

Retractable cable reels

Certain cable reels are built with a retracting mechanism built in. In most cases, the cables on these reels carry

mains electricity Mains electricity or utility power, power grid, domestic power, and wall power, or in some parts of Canada as hydro, is a general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power that is delivered to h ...

, though a similar mechanism is used for air hoses. Retractable cable reels are particularly useful for environments where access to electricity or air is needed in a wide variety of places. All retractable hose reels operate using a

constant force spring An ideal constant-force spring is a spring for which the force it exerts over its range of motion is a constant, that is, it does not obey Hooke's law. In reality, "constant-force springs" do not provide a truly constant force and are constructed f ...

to provide

torsion Torsion may refer to: Science * Torsion (mechanics), the twisting of an object due to an applied torque * Torsion of spacetime, the field used in Einstein–Cartan theory and ** Alternatives to general relativity * Torsion angle, in chemistry Bi ...

for the spool, and a ratcheting mechanism to prevent the cable from retracting while it is being used.

References

Eland Cables (UK) Cable Drum DimensionsDraka: General information about cable reelsGeneral Cable: Standard sizes of wooden drums
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cable Reel

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

Bulk material handling