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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall

I need to pull 100 feet of service wire...two 2awg...one 4awg
neutral...and one 6awg ground wire through 100 feet of 1 1/2 inch thin
wall. The heaviest I have ever pulled is 12 awg

What's the best way to pull this through...mostly straight run with a
90 degree up/down of about 8 feet at each end.

I have a number of regular fish lines...but is there a "heavy duty"
fish line for this type of work ?

Any other pointers...tips....will be really appreciated !

Thanks, Tim

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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall

Fish a heavier rope through the wall and use that to pull while you have
someone push from the other end. If your opening is really small you may
need to do all the wire at once. The first one will be the easiest and it
will get increasingly tight as you progress. Good luck.


"tr" wrote in message
oups.com...
I need to pull 100 feet of service wire...two 2awg...one 4awg
neutral...and one 6awg ground wire through 100 feet of 1 1/2 inch thin
wall. The heaviest I have ever pulled is 12 awg

What's the best way to pull this through...mostly straight run with a
90 degree up/down of about 8 feet at each end.

I have a number of regular fish lines...but is there a "heavy duty"
fish line for this type of work ?

Any other pointers...tips....will be really appreciated !

Thanks, Tim



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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall

If it's possible, lay out the cables and assemble the conduit over the
bundle, piece by piece.


I have a number of regular fish lines...but is there a "heavy duty"
fish line for this type of work ?

Any other pointers...tips....will be really appreciated !

Thanks, Tim

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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall

Another way to pull the lube through is to create a home made "pig" just put
the shop vac on one end and have it suck some small rags through the pipe
covered in lube.


wrote in message
...
On 23 May 2007 07:19:42 -0700, dpb wrote:

Have you done the capacity calculation?


I just did the calc and he could actually use 1.25" at 24.8% fill so
1.5 is plernty.
I agree with the push/pull theory and use the pulling lube Get the
real thing, not something you have in the garage. You can pre-lub the
pipe by squirting lub in and sucking it through with a vaccum



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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall

I vote no to this idea.


On Wed, 23 May 2007 12:28:16 -0500, Robert Barr
wrote:

If it's possible, lay out the cables and assemble the conduit over the
bundle, piece by piece.


I have a number of regular fish lines...but is there a "heavy duty"
fish line for this type of work ?

Any other pointers...tips....will be really appreciated !

Thanks, Tim



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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall


"tr" wrote in message
oups.com...
I need to pull 100 feet of service wire...two 2awg...one 4awg
neutral...and one 6awg ground wire through 100 feet of 1 1/2 inch thin
wall. The heaviest I have ever pulled is 12 awg

What's the best way to pull this through...mostly straight run with a
90 degree up/down of about 8 feet at each end.

I have a number of regular fish lines...but is there a "heavy duty"
fish line for this type of work ?

Any other pointers...tips....will be really appreciated !

Thanks, Tim


Some contractor rental yards rent power and hand crank pullers. Make sure
that your conduit is well strapped especially at the ends. If you have a
bunch of friends you should have two guys feeding the wire into the pipe.
One guy who actually does the pushing and the other guy who pulls up the
slack and keeps the conductors straight. You don't want the wires to get
twisted. At the pulling end two guys should suffice. The trick is to get
the push end coordinated with the pull end Have the pusher yell "Pull"
when he is ready and just pull a certain amount at a time. Don't try to
pull 100' in one motion. Do it in steps; maybe 2' - 3' at a time. Some
pulls will be better than others. The pusher should also be applying lube as
the wire goes into the pipe. You should have at least a gallon of lube for
this.

Strip the ends of the wire back about a foot. Cut off the outer strands of
the #4 and #2 conductors to make them smaller. Use a 1/2" or 5/8" pulling
rope with a bowline knot at the end. Pull the rope through the conduit.
You can use a shop vac with a Home Depot bag (Or similar) tied to
lightweight string to put a pulling string into the pipe. I call this the
parachute method. This may not work too well with EMT since it leaks air.
Use the pulling string to pull your rope into the pipe. Bend 6" of the
stripped wires through the bowline knot. Squeeze them tight and wrap them
with steel tie wire in several places. Keep the tie wire as compact as
possible and twist the ends of the tie wire to make it tight. Bend the
twists away from the direction of the pull. Wrap this up with vinyl
electrical tape.

If you don't have a bunch of friends you could probably get away with two
people and a come-along. The come-along will need to be secured to
something solid at one end in a straight path to the conduit end. Put a
slip knot in the rope, have someone feed while you crank the come-along.
When the cable is used up, undo the slip knot, pull the cable back out and
repeat with a new slip knot.

Don't use a car or truck for pulling wire. You need to be able to feel the
pull. If you are pulling with a car and the wire gets jammed you can rip
the conduit and whatever it is attached to right off.

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Default Best way to pull heavy wire in thin wall


I have a number of regular fish lines...but is there a "heavy duty"
fish line for this type of work ?

Any other pointers...tips....will be really appreciated !

Thanks, Tim

Robert Barr wrote:
If it's possible, lay out the cables and assemble the conduit over the
bundle, piece by piece.


That is a specifically forbidden practice in the US NEC. Attempting to
install raceway over the conductors inevitably leads to insulation damage.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

300.18 Raceway Installations.
(A) Complete Runs. Raceways, other than busways or exposed raceways
having hinged or removable covers, shall be installed complete between
outlet, junction, or splicing points prior to the installation of
conductors. Where required to facilitate the installation of utilization
equipment, the raceway shall be permitted to be initially installed
without a terminating connection at the equipment. Prewired raceway
assemblies shall be permitted only where specifically permitted in this
Code for the applicable wiring method.
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