Bruce L. Bergman wrote:
On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:07:26 -0500, "jusme" wrote:

This time, I need to pull 150 feet or more of 3 conductors of 4/0 wire
through 4 inch, pvc conduit.

Does anyone have suggestions for a cheap solution - pardon pun?

This wire is some sort of vinyl or rubber compound outer insulation and I do
not wish to chance petroleum distillates or some such to lubricate it. Yes,
they do make a wire soap for pulling through a conduit but, I don't have
any, live in the country and would like to find an alternative.

Don't think soap, the old standby pulling compounds like Ideal
"Yellow 77" are wax based. Crystalline wax in an aqueous suspension,
and when the work is completed and the water dries up (which is why
they tell you to wait 24 hours before energizing the wires...) it
turns into darned near candle wax.

That said, they sell the proper wire pulling lubricants in 1-gallon
and 5-gallon pails (slop it on with your hands or a chip brush) and
when bought in bulk it's very reasonable, darned near 'cheap' -
certainly will cost FAR less than the effort of mixing something on a
hunch, then finding out it reacted with the insulation and when the
insulation failed your new wires shorted and burned up in the conduit.

(They make fancier and much more expensive 'super lubricants' like
"Polywater", but they're for special uses like delicate fiber-optic
cables where any friction at all can snap and ruin the cable. Or for
high-rise building risers, where the flammability of the wax based
lube residues might be an issue. For plain power cable underground
[where fire isn't a concern] you don't need anything that fancy.)

And when the wires burn up in plastic underground conduit you often
have to dig up and totally replace the conduit, because the old wires
fuse to the wall and won't come out, and the old wire blocks getting
new wire through.

You're not only out the considerable cost of the wire, but add in
the cost of trenching and running the conduit again. Plus
hard-surface repairs to the trench where it cuts across the sidewalk
and driveway, and the ripped up landscaping that must be replaced.

And factor in a lengthy power service outage, and/or an even bigger
bill to rent and fuel a generator, or rig a temporary utility feed...

Doing it 'the cheap way' might work, but it can easily cost a hell
of a lot more than the right way.

-- Bruce --


Good advice. I wondered why I had to read so far to see where someone suggested regular wire-pulling compound! ;-) This can be bought at *any* electrical supply store. Yellow 77 is a very good one and reasonably cheap. I think they have it in 1 quart squeeze bottles. I suspect 1 quart will probably take care of your job quite well, but if you have to drive very far to get it get two quarts just in case. Probably under $10 each. Wire lube is *much* cheaper than labor so use it plentifully. It'll make your job much easier.

Polywater *may* also be available in 1 qt. containers. Either will work beautifully.

OH! Pick up a hand full (or bundle) of wipe rags while you're at it! You'll figure out why. ;-) Most any hardware store or auto parts place will have the wipe rags if the electrical supply does not.

Just look in the yellow pages for Electrical Supplies - Wholesale

Al