Shaped Wire Coil Weight and Packaging | ERQI WIRE

Coil weight looks like a packing detail until you cost it. A line that draws or welds continuously spends real time on changeover: stop, cut, thread, re-set, scrap the first metre while the tension settles. A 20 kg coil on a job consuming 1 kg per hour means a changeover every shift and a half. A 250 kg coil means one a week. The wire is identical; the uptime is not.

Why not simply order the heaviest coil

Because heavy coils bring their own problems, and this is the part buyers discover after the first delivery.

• Set takes over. Wire wound tight on a small core holds the curvature. Pay it off and it comes out as a spring instead of a line, which shows up as feed problems and dimensional drift on the part. The fix is a bigger core, not a bigger coil.
• Light sections collapse. Fine wire on a heavy coil sags and the layers press into each other in transit. You get tangles and surface marks, and on a shaped section those marks land on a functional face.
• Handling. Above a few hundred kilos the coil needs a lifting point, a decoiler that can take it, and floor space. A coil you cannot safely lift is a coil you cannot use.

Numbers that work in practice

Wire size	0.5–2 mm	3–8 mm	Over 8 mm
Coil weight	5–25 kg	100–250 kg	Bundled coil or cut lengths
Carrier	Plastic spool	Wooden or steel reel	Strapping, no reel
Core / bore	100–200 mm	300–400 mm	—

These are starting points, not rules. A shaped section with thin legs needs more core than a round wire of the same weight, because the legs crush before the body does.

Packing that keeps the wire usable

Stainless needs interleaving paper between layers, mainly against scratches — a scuff on a sealing face is a leak. Carbon and copper wire want VCI paper plus a moisture barrier. Sea freight adds a crate, either fumigation-free or carrying the IPPC stamp, and a shaped section deserves more care than round stock here: layers press on the high points, and a section with a thin edge can arrive with that edge deformed. If the part is cosmetic or seals, say so on the order and it gets layer paper, not just a bag.

The four lines that belong on the PO

Weight per coil. Give a range, and say whether a short coil is acceptable at the end of a run.

Core diameter. Big enough that the wire pays off straight at your take-off radius.

Carrier type. Returnable steel reels cost more up front and less over a year; disposable wood is simpler if you do not want the reverse logistics.

Splice policy. This is the one people forget. For continuous welding, state that butt welds are not allowed and that each coil must be one length — otherwise a splice arrives mid-run, the weld fails, and the line stops anyway.

Sections and sizes are under shaped wire. If the part is still a drawing, the drawing-to-sample walkthrough covers the sequence. Tell us the line speed and the take-off setup and we will propose a coil weight that fits it.