Storing cable in Gulf humidity

Average relative humidity in south Louisiana runs above seventy per cent for most of the year, and summer heat drives moisture into any cable end that is not sealed. Add salt air near the coast and the result is a storage environment that punishes careless handling.

What actually goes wrong

• Water wicks into unsealed conductor ends and travels along the strands, corroding copper from the inside.
• Ultraviolet light hardens and chalks PVC jackets, which then crack when the cable is bent.
• Heat softens insulation in a closed shed and accelerates the plasticiser loss that makes old jackets brittle.
• Steel reels rust, the flanges swell, and the reel stops being safe to lift.
• Rodents find warehouse cable convenient, particularly in buildings that sit empty between projects.

What good storage looks like

Indoors, off the floor, with sealed ends and reels standing on their flanges rather than lying flat. A cable that has been stored this way for years is often in better condition than one that spent a single summer in a yard.

• Seal cut ends with tape or heat-shrink caps before storing, not before shipping.
• Store reels upright on a hard surface, chocked, with the tag facing out.
• Keep cable out of direct sun, and off concrete that stays damp.
• Record the storage location and date, so the history is available when the lot is reviewed.

What to check before selling

Walk the store with a knife and a torch. Cut back six inches of jacket on a suspect reel and look at the conductor: bright copper is fine, green or black copper has taken water, and white powder on aluminium is corrosion. On medium voltage cable, look at whether the ends were sealed at all.