Compartment reels

One reel, several cables

A compartment reel is a single reel whose drum is divided by one or more extra flanges, so it carries two, three or more separate cables side by side. Electrical distributors use them to ship several conductors for one circuit together, for example the phase conductors and the ground of a feeder, or a set of control cables for one panel. The installer pulls all of them off one reel at the same time. Once empty, a compartment reel looks like an ordinary wooden reel with extra flanges partway along the drum.

How they are built

Most compartment reels are nailed wood. The outer flanges are two-ply boards nailed crosswise, like any nailed reel. The divider flanges are thinner, often a single layer of boards or plywood, and are nailed or bolted to the drum staves. The drum runs continuously through the dividers. The arbor hole is usually 3⅛ inches, the same as other wooden reels, and the reel mounts on a standard stand. Sizes typically run from about 24 to 48 inches across the outer flanges. The traverse is quoted per compartment rather than for the whole reel.

Why they are useful after the first job

Compartment reels are wanted by the same contractors who used them. A contractor who cuts and bundles several conductors for its own crews can reuse a compartment reel without buying a new one. Rewinders who supply mixed circuits want them. Gardeners and farmers find them handy for keeping hose and wire, or two kinds of fence tape, on one reel. And makers like them because the divider gives a table a middle shelf.

Condition checks

Compartment reels have more parts to fail than plain reels:

• Divider flanges. These thinner flanges crack where the cable bore against them. Check each one for splits running from the rim.
• Drum staves under the dividers. The staves are nailed to the dividers as well as the outer flanges; if the dividers shift, the staves loosen.
• Outer flanges. Same checks as any nailed reel: both layers whole, rims intact, no rot along the bottom.
• Arbor hole. Round and unsplit.

A reel with a cracked divider can sometimes still be reused with the divider removed, as a plain reel with a short traverse. Say what you have and we will say whether it is worth it.

Where they turn up

Compartment reels come out of electrical distributors' cutting rooms and off commercial and industrial jobs, so they collect in the same places as other mid-size reels: contractors' shops in Montgomery and Bucks counties, job sites across Philadelphia, and the yards of distributors who take back customers' empties. They usually arrive mixed in with plain nailed reels and are counted separately because buyers ask for them.

How we treat them

The catalogue gives compartment reels the same two verdicts as plain nailed reels: sound ones sell, broken ones recycle. They are usually one-way. Like any wooden reel, check for a stencil or a tag before selling.

Counting compartment reels in a mixed pile

Compartment reels hide well in a stack of ordinary nailed reels, because from the outside the flanges look the same. The giveaway is a second or third flange partway along the drum, visible when you look between the outer flanges. When counting, list them separately with the number of sections each one has. A buyer who wants a two-section reel for a pair of conductors will not want a four-section one, and a maker building a table with a shelf wants the divider roughly in the middle. Precise widths are not needed; "two equal halves" or "one wide, one narrow" is enough to match a reel to a request.

Repairs worth making

A loose divider can often be refastened with longer nails or screws driven through into the drum staves, provided the staves themselves are sound. A divider with a single crack can be braced with a batten across the crack on the side away from the cable. Neither repair helps if the outer flanges are split or the arbor hole is damaged; those faults end a reel's working life whatever its inside looks like. When we collect compartment reels, the minor repairs are done before resale and the reel is described honestly in the reply to any buyer.

Typical sources by county

Compartment reels in Montgomery County usually come out of distributor cutting rooms and contractor shops around King of Prussia, Norristown and Lansdale. In Philadelphia they come off commercial fit-outs and institutional jobs. In South Jersey they arrive with warehouse and retail construction along the Route 73 and Route 130 corridors.

Uses for the dividers

Compartment reels, with one or more inner flanges dividing the drum into sections, appeal to anyone who winds several lines at once: theatre technicians storing different cords, gardeners keeping two hoses apart, sailors separating halyards, and electricians carrying two sizes of wire to a job. Makers turn them into tiered tables or shelving with a shelf at each divider.

Paired runs and touring kit

Multi-section drums suit any job that places two or more lines at once, and touring productions like them for keeping signal and power looms apart. Divider spacing varies from one maker to the next. You may spot hand-painted labels like "A" and "B" on each section, or chalk tallies recording metres paid out. Those marks are harmless history and simply sand away.

Questions

How do I describe a compartment reel in a request?

Give the outer flange size, the number of compartments and roughly how wide each one is: "36-inch, three compartments, each about eight inches."

Can the dividers be removed?

Yes, carefully, by pulling the nails or bolts that hold them to the staves. Do it only if you want the reel for a single cable or a table.

Are compartment reels worth more than plain reels?

To the right buyer, sometimes. Otherwise they are treated like plain nailed reels of the same size.