I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4"
or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't
aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't
involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface
mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

just use a length of stiff wire instead of a fish tape; a 14AWG single
copper conductor will work, or even better would be some smaller yet
stiff steel wire (aka "mechanic's wire")

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Eigenvector wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Make your life easy, go buy a low voltage type remodel "box" (low
voltage ones are open back), cut the appropriate sized opening in the
wall for the "box" and then just reach into the wall cavity to find your
wire. A regular wall plate type jack looks better than surface mount
anyway. Should cost you all of $5 and make life a lot easier.

"Pete C." wrote in message
...
Eigenvector wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so
hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there
is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Make your life easy, go buy a low voltage type remodel "box" (low
voltage ones are open back), cut the appropriate sized opening in the
wall for the "box" and then just reach into the wall cavity to find your
wire. A regular wall plate type jack looks better than surface mount
anyway. Should cost you all of $5 and make life a lot easier.

Well I appreciate both answers, yours and Nate's. Question 2, at some point
I have to push it through into the crawlspace, I'm presuming it will break
again, so my question is how can I connect the two cables securely yet not
add to their diameter?

Nate Nagel wrote:
Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied
the old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately
the two became separated and now I need to push the new cable through
the 1/4" or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes
aren't aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that
doesn't involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a
surface mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the
drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head
on fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes
are almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller,
whoever did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole
is small enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing
this job.

just use a length of stiff wire instead of a fish tape; a 14AWG single
copper conductor will work, or even better would be some smaller yet
stiff steel wire (aka "mechanic's wire")

nate


In a pinch a straightened wire coat hanger can work pretty well. And it
has the benefit of being free.

OP: how far is it that you need to thread this telephone wire? Straight
through a normally-constructed wall? Is the construction brick or
something else difficult? Normally the original telephone installer
would have used an "installer's bit" (what else?) to go through the
entire structure and then to pull the wire through. This means that the
path really should be quite straight but not necessarily perpendicular
to the walls and once you figure out what the original path is,
threading the new wire becomes much easier. Normally I'd just put a
piece of coat hanger wire perhaps 18" long onto the end of the wire like
a needle on a thread (but _firmly attached_ using minimal taping without
looping)and poke around a bit to figure out the path and then push it on
through.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:39:15 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4"
or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't
aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't
involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface
mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

just use a length of stiff wire instead of a fish tape; a 14AWG single
copper conductor will work, or even better would be some smaller yet
stiff steel wire (aka "mechanic's wire")

nate

That's what I've done to get those flexible wires through walls.
--
110 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Unlike biological evolution. 'intelligent design' is
not a genuine scientific theory and, therefore, has
no place in the curriculum of our nation's public
school classes." -- Ted Kennedy

Eigenvector wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
...
Eigenvector wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so
hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there
is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Make your life easy, go buy a low voltage type remodel "box" (low
voltage ones are open back), cut the appropriate sized opening in the
wall for the "box" and then just reach into the wall cavity to find your
wire. A regular wall plate type jack looks better than surface mount
anyway. Should cost you all of $5 and make life a lot easier.

Well I appreciate both answers, yours and Nate's. Question 2, at some point
I have to push it through into the crawlspace, I'm presuming it will break
again, so my question is how can I connect the two cables securely yet not
add to their diameter?

Strip about 3" of the outer jacket of each cable. Take the wires and
bend in a U on each side. Interlock the Us and twist the U tail back
around each side. Wrap the joint lightly with electrical tape. The
finished joint should be about the same diameter as the overall cable
and the joint should be plenty strong.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or
so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned,
so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut
the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.
Stick a hooked wire through from BOTH sides, and then move one of the wires
in a circle till they hook up, and pull. Cut up coat hanger will work fine.
It'll take a few tries. You can enlarge the interior hole some- just put the
surface-mount jack over it.

Yet another of many reasons I HATE through-the-wall installs. Basement and
fished through walls to open-back boxes, or even basement and diagnal hole
drilled through baseboard right under the surface-mount block, is the
correct way to go, IMHO. Of course, on a new house, a proper home-run
prewire is the only way to go.

aem sends...

"John McGaw" wrote in message
.. .
Nate Nagel wrote:
Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4"
or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't
aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't
involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface
mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

just use a length of stiff wire instead of a fish tape; a 14AWG single
copper conductor will work, or even better would be some smaller yet
stiff steel wire (aka "mechanic's wire")

nate


In a pinch a straightened wire coat hanger can work pretty well. And it
has the benefit of being free.

OP: how far is it that you need to thread this telephone wire? Straight
through a normally-constructed wall? Is the construction brick or
something else difficult? Normally the original telephone installer would
have used an "installer's bit" (what else?) to go through the entire
structure and then to pull the wire through. This means that the path
really should be quite straight but not necessarily perpendicular to the
walls and once you figure out what the original path is, threading the new
wire becomes much easier. Normally I'd just put a piece of coat hanger
wire perhaps 18" long onto the end of the wire like a needle on a thread
(but _firmly attached_ using minimal taping without looping)and poke
around a bit to figure out the path and then push it on through.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat hanger in
years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't have anything that
needs to be drycleaned.

"aemeijers" wrote in message
...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or
so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned,
so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut
the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.
Stick a hooked wire through from BOTH sides, and then move one of the
wires in a circle till they hook up, and pull. Cut up coat hanger will
work fine. It'll take a few tries. You can enlarge the interior hole some-
just put the surface-mount jack over it.

Yet another of many reasons I HATE through-the-wall installs. Basement and
fished through walls to open-back boxes, or even basement and diagnal hole
drilled through baseboard right under the surface-mount block, is the
correct way to go, IMHO. Of course, on a new house, a proper home-run
prewire is the only way to go.

aem sends...


Well I appreciate all the responses, they help. I have gone ahead and
picked up a low voltage box and wall mount kit, to replace the aging surface
box. Once I cut a hole in the drywall for the box, I should be able to
easily see the hole in the siding.

Another BTW: What gauge is phone wire typically, and do normal wire
strippers work on it? Picking up some new cable the package read 22 gauge,
but I've seen 24 and 26 too. Seems like none of my strippers work on
anything below 18, even though they claim to. I bring this up because I
also picked up some fork connectors for the bolts - smallest I could find
was 22-18awg which doesn't mean much to me other than its 22 guage wire,
with 18 gauge jacketing???

Eigenvector wrote:

"Pete C." wrote in message
...
Eigenvector wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied
the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so
hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Make your life easy, go buy a low voltage type remodel "box" (low
voltage ones are open back), cut the appropriate sized opening in the
wall for the "box" and then just reach into the wall cavity to find your
wire. A regular wall plate type jack looks better than surface mount
anyway. Should cost you all of $5 and make life a lot easier.

Well I appreciate both answers, yours and Nate's. Question 2, at some
point I have to push it through into the crawlspace, I'm presuming it
will break again, so my question is how can I connect the two cables
securely yet not add to their diameter?

You are STILL a putz eigenlostmyvector

coat hangar.


s


"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or
so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned,
so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut
the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

On Thu, 6 Sep 2007 17:35:57 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Unless you are planning to use DSL, I would think the existing cable
would last for years. Any peculiar reason you would want to change
the phone cable?

I get the feeling that you won't have much success in fishing a route
that spans more than one stud. (let us know how you did it)

You might consider just abandoning the run and put the phone cable in
the crawl space. You can mount phone jacks on the baseboard at floor
level and you only need a 3/8 hole in the floor that the jack will
cover when you are done.

The last option is to buy a base phone that comes with 2 or 3 cordless
extension phones. I have an AT&T phone I love. It came with one
extra handset.

"Terry" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 6 Sep 2007 17:35:57 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Unless you are planning to use DSL, I would think the existing cable
would last for years. Any peculiar reason you would want to change
the phone cable?

http://photos.imageevent.com/eigenve...e/PC160076.JPG
That's why.


I get the feeling that you won't have much success in fishing a route
that spans more than one stud. (let us know how you did it)

You might consider just abandoning the run and put the phone cable in
the crawl space. You can mount phone jacks on the baseboard at floor
level and you only need a 3/8 hole in the floor that the jack will
cover when you are done.

The last option is to buy a base phone that comes with 2 or 3 cordless
extension phones. I have an AT&T phone I love. It came with one
extra handset.

Tekkie® wrote:
Eigenvector wrote:


"Pete C." wrote in message
...

Eigenvector wrote:


I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied
the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or
so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the
head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did
the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.


Make your life easy, go buy a low voltage type remodel "box" (low
voltage ones are open back), cut the appropriate sized opening in the
wall for the "box" and then just reach into the wall cavity to find your
wire. A regular wall plate type jack looks better than surface mount
anyway. Should cost you all of $5 and make life a lot easier.


Well I appreciate both answers, yours and Nate's. Question 2, at some
point I have to push it through into the crawlspace, I'm presuming it
will break again, so my question is how can I connect the two cables
securely yet not add to their diameter?


You are STILL a putz eigenlostmyvector

I'm afraid I have to agree with that sentiment. He's "gilding a turd"
with his attempts to solve a simple problem and keeps asking questions
which make him sound like he shouldn't be allowed out of his crib
unattended.

The part about not owning any wire coat hangers and sounding like he
hasn't got a clue how to get one from a someone else is a good tip off.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

Steve Barker LT wrote:

coat hangar.

That's a place they store coats in, like a garage for cars, right?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

In article ,
"aemeijers" wrote:

Yet another of many reasons I HATE through-the-wall installs.

My guess is that your real dislike is for a house "wrapped" in wire. Stapling
wire along exterior siding is, after all, the ONLY reason for a
"thought-the-wall" installation.
--

JR

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

Tekkie® wrote:
Eigenvector wrote:


"Pete C." wrote in message
...

Eigenvector wrote:


I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied
the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or
so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the
head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost
exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever did
the
fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so
that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.


Make your life easy, go buy a low voltage type remodel "box" (low
voltage ones are open back), cut the appropriate sized opening in the
wall for the "box" and then just reach into the wall cavity to find your
wire. A regular wall plate type jack looks better than surface mount
anyway. Should cost you all of $5 and make life a lot easier.


Well I appreciate both answers, yours and Nate's. Question 2, at some
point I have to push it through into the crawlspace, I'm presuming it
will break again, so my question is how can I connect the two cables
securely yet not add to their diameter?


You are STILL a putz eigenlostmyvector

I'm afraid I have to agree with that sentiment. He's "gilding a turd"
with his attempts to solve a simple problem and keeps asking questions
which make him sound like he shouldn't be allowed out of his crib
unattended.

The part about not owning any wire coat hangers and sounding like he
hasn't got a clue how to get one from a someone else is a good tip off.

I don't believe I have any wire coat hangers. They tend to put nasty
creases in shirts. I'm pretty sure I could get my hands on one though,
or more likely just grab a 36" length of 70S-2 TIG filler rod from my
shop.

In article ,
"Eigenvector" wrote:

I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the old
cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two became
separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or so hole
in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned, so I'm
hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut the
drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so there is
no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

If the original work was done as "old work", that is, added AFTER the house
was built, I can't imagine any wireman not having a drill bit long enough that
the two holes WOULD line up. I RARELY drill-in from both sides, then fish for
the wire.

Now that you've lost the pull (old) wire, it might just as well never have
been there to begin with. You can try to reuse the original holes or you
could much more easily drill another two.

Many old holes drilled for added phone cable were 1/4-inch in diameter. That
nicely accommodated the old "quad wire" (R/G/Y/Bk) (D-Station wire, light
olive gray). The new stuff, particularly the 4-pair Cat 5e rarely makes it
easily through those old holes. I regularly "ream out" the holes with my
1/4-inch x 12-inch bit and see if I can shove through the new piece of four
pair. After a couple of failures, I simply get out the 5/16-inch x 12-inch
bit and "hog out" the existing holes or drill new ones, caulking-up the old
ones.

As for a coat hangar-type pull/lead wi Go just about ANYWHERE and snatch a
utility locating flag. The straighter the wire, the better. I use more NEW
locating flags for fishing telephone cable than I do for actual cable locates.

I generally imbed about an inch of fish wire into the end of the cable to be
inserted into the hole. The stiff wire easily/eventually finds the other hole
and, with careful straightening of the cable as you ROTATE and push the cable
gently, it usually will follow the locating flag wire/leader through the
opposite hole.

I have to push it through into the crawlspace, I'm presuming it
will break again

You have either the two ends flimsily connected *OR* are pulling too hard.
Obviously, you don't want them to separate.

how can I connect the two cables securely yet not
add to their diameter?

One pair of either cable should be sufficient for even a long pull - with no
significant obstructions or angles to traverse. While in the comfort of your
favorite chair, with your favorite beverage nearby, PRACTICE making a loop of
the end of one pair then create a loop on the OTHER end of the other cable,
threading its loop THROUGH that of the first cable. Try to pull them apart.
Make them so they don't.

Once you have a connection scheme figured out, practice vinyl taping across
the joint so that pulling in EITHER direction will NOT cause a snag against
ANYTHING.

This is an acquired skill that is probably not promptly mastered. It is
certainly NOT easy to describe in this medium.

What gauge is phone wire typically

24, usually. 26 is ridiculously too small.

Old "JK" wire is 20-gauge

do normal wire strippers work on it?

That depends on the stripper. (Duh = 7.6)

Investing in a good, appropriately sized wire stripper is money well spent. I
suspect they are not very expensive.

Picking up some new cable the package read 22 gauge

Most buried service wire (BSW/drop) is 22-gauge. Although it wouldn't hurt a
bit, 22 would be overkill, more expensive and possibly not as data capable
(rated on jacket). 24 is fine inside the premise. Good luck.
--

JR

Climb poles and dig holes
Have staplegun, will travel

"Eigenvector" wrote:
I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat hanger
in years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't have anything
that needs to be drycleaned.

Go to the dry cleaner and ask for some; if they aren't free they are still
cheap. Good for many uses beyond their intended porpoise.

Jon

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Tekkie® wrote:
I'm afraid I have to agree with that sentiment. He's "gilding a turd" with
his attempts to solve a simple problem and keeps asking questions which
make him sound like he shouldn't be allowed out of his crib unattended.

The part about not owning any wire coat hangers and sounding like he
hasn't got a clue how to get one from a someone else is a good tip off.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

The insults don't upset me as much as the fact that you took the time to
respond to the post. The post of a person whom you felt obligated to insult
grossly in a public forum. I tend to ignore people who irritate me, and
would expect others to do the same. You seem to feel compelled to act out
against them.

Taken at face value your comment about the coat hanger is ridiculous. That
you would think I would drive to a dry cleaners for a coat hanger rather
than a hardware store for similar type wire makes me wonder if you said that
simply to insult me. As it is I've already corrected the problem, others
who offered up suggestions early on completely opened my eyes to the fact I
was making this too hard. They managed to do it without resorting to
insults. I'm not afraid to ask questions, even simple ones, on a newsgroup.
I don't EVER expect answers, but when they come I'm grateful. I certainly
don't expect insults.

The telephone guy who did my house used a flexible fiber glass pole to get
the wire through. It came in sections so that he could make it as long as he
liked without needing alot of room. IF you have alot of fishing to do it may
be worth the cost. The one he used runs about $90 but you can go the
homestore and buy a chimney cleaning kit with exact same fiberglass poles
for $19. The difference being the wire attachment point. I drilled a hole in
the end and havent lost a wire yet

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4" or
so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't aligned,
so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't involve "cut
the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface mount jack, so
there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

Eigenvector wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Tekkie® wrote:
I'm afraid I have to agree with that sentiment. He's "gilding a turd" with
his attempts to solve a simple problem and keeps asking questions which
make him sound like he shouldn't be allowed out of his crib unattended.

The part about not owning any wire coat hangers and sounding like he
hasn't got a clue how to get one from a someone else is a good tip off.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia


The insults don't upset me as much as the fact that you took the time to
respond to the post. The post of a person whom you felt obligated to insult
grossly in a public forum. I tend to ignore people who irritate me, and
would expect others to do the same. You seem to feel compelled to act out
against them.

Taken at face value your comment about the coat hanger is ridiculous. That
you would think I would drive to a dry cleaners for a coat hanger rather
than a hardware store for similar type wire makes me wonder if you said that
simply to insult me.


As it is I've already corrected the problem, others
who offered up suggestions early on completely opened my eyes to the fact I
was making this too hard. They managed to do it without resorting to
insults. I'm not afraid to ask questions, even simple ones, on a newsgroup.
I don't EVER expect answers, but when they come I'm grateful. I certainly
don't expect insults.

Insults are sometimes in the eye of the beholder, but I really was taken
aback by your original coathanger comment. Unless you're living in the
boonies, miles away from your nearest neighbor, I'd have expected you
could just ask someone nextdoor if they had one.

Peace. I apologize if my jibes were taken as serious insults, but
something about not being able to take the heat and getting out of a
kitchen is now rattling around in what's left of my mind. G

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

Stop by your local *.* (auto, hvac, plumber) service company. I guarantee
their uniforms come from the cleaners on real wire hangars. What make you
think they don't sell them anymore? Just because you're too good to use
them, doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't.

s


"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...

I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat hanger
in years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't have anything
that needs to be drycleaned.

yeppers.

s

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
. ..
Steve Barker LT wrote:

coat hangar.

That's a place they store coats in, like a garage for cars, right?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

On Thu, 6 Sep 2007 18:40:22 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:


"John McGaw" wrote in message
. ..
Nate Nagel wrote:
Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4"
or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't
aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't
involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface
mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

just use a length of stiff wire instead of a fish tape; a 14AWG single
copper conductor will work, or even better would be some smaller yet
stiff steel wire (aka "mechanic's wire")

nate


In a pinch a straightened wire coat hanger can work pretty well. And it
has the benefit of being free.

OP: how far is it that you need to thread this telephone wire? Straight
through a normally-constructed wall? Is the construction brick or
something else difficult? Normally the original telephone installer would
have used an "installer's bit" (what else?) to go through the entire
structure and then to pull the wire through. This means that the path
really should be quite straight but not necessarily perpendicular to the
walls and once you figure out what the original path is, threading the new
wire becomes much easier. Normally I'd just put a piece of coat hanger
wire perhaps 18" long onto the end of the wire like a needle on a thread
(but _firmly attached_ using minimal taping without looping)and poke
around a bit to figure out the path and then push it on through.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat hanger in
years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't have anything that
needs to be drycleaned.

I have found some recently. They were plastic coated, but still stiff.
--
109 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Unlike biological evolution. 'intelligent design' is
not a genuine scientific theory and, therefore, has
no place in the curriculum of our nation's public
school classes." -- Ted Kennedy

On Sep 6, 9:40 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
"John McGaw" wrote in message

.. .





Nate Nagel wrote:
Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4"
or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't
aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't
involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface
mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

just use a length of stiff wire instead of a fish tape; a 14AWG single
copper conductor will work, or even better would be some smaller yet
stiff steel wire (aka "mechanic's wire")

nate

In a pinch a straightened wire coat hanger can work pretty well. And it
has the benefit of being free.

OP: how far is it that you need to thread this telephone wire? Straight
through a normally-constructed wall? Is the construction brick or
something else difficult? Normally the original telephone installer would
have used an "installer's bit" (what else?) to go through the entire
structure and then to pull the wire through. This means that the path
really should be quite straight but not necessarily perpendicular to the
walls and once you figure out what the original path is, threading the new
wire becomes much easier. Normally I'd just put a piece of coat hanger
wire perhaps 18" long onto the end of the wire like a needle on a thread
(but _firmly attached_ using minimal taping without looping)and poke
around a bit to figure out the path and then push it on through.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat hanger in
years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't have anything that
needs to be drycleaned.

I got a whole mess of white vinyl coated ones in Target. When you
have an older house with small closets those big clunky plastic
hangers take up too much space. Plus they sag when you use them for
drying damp clothes.

nate

"Eigenvector" wrote in message news:E_WdnX-

I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat hanger
in years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't have anything
that needs to be drycleaned.

The OP could unscrew the whip antenna on his car and use that; one of my ham
radio antennas has saved me a few times; it being 4' long and pretty thin,
but strong enough to pull a string along as I push it thru the wall.

Eigenvector wrote:
I'm in the process of pulling new phone cable for my house and tied the
old cable to the new cable with electrical tape. Unfortunately the two
became separated and now I need to push the new cable through the 1/4"
or so hole in the wall and out the house. I know the holes aren't
aligned, so I'm hoping there is an easier way to do this that doesn't
involve "cut the drywall" The jack that it came from was a surface
mount jack, so there is no box in the wall, just a hole in the drywall.

I know that there is fishtape, but for some reason I thought the head on
fishtape was larger than the diameter of phone cable. The holes are
almost exactly the diameter of the phone cable, if not smaller, whoever
did the fishing of the wires did a really good job. The hole is small
enough so that looking through it is hopeless - no eyeballing this job.

I have most of the professional tools for pulling
wire through walls but I often use an old dipstick
with a hole punched in the tip for pulling those
short little runs.

[8~{} Uncle Monster

Good for many uses beyond their intended porpois

You can take a 12" piece of coat hanger and bend a loop in it so a
match can fit in it. This works great for lighting pilot lights.

on 9/7/2007 6:31 PM Bob M. said the following:

"Eigenvector" wrote in message news:E_WdnX-

I like the idea of a coat hanger, but I haven't owned a metal coat
hanger in years - they simply don't sell them anymore and I don't
have anything that needs to be drycleaned.

The OP could unscrew the whip antenna on his car and use that; one of
my ham radio antennas has saved me a few times; it being 4' long and
pretty thin, but strong enough to pull a string along as I push it
thru the wall.

If he has a car with a whip antenna. Most cars now have painted circuits
on the rear window, like the rear window defrosters.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

On Sep 8, 6:59 am, "
wrote:
Good for many uses beyond their intended porpois

You can take a 12" piece of coat hanger and bend a loop in it so a
match can fit in it. This works great for lighting pilot lights.

Cut another 12" piece, twist the end like a pretzel, producing a
"knot" about 2 - 3" across. Chuck the unpretzeled end into
a drill, and you have the best paint mixer money didn't buy.

Eigenvector wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Tekkie® wrote:
I'm afraid I have to agree with that sentiment. He's "gilding a turd" with
his attempts to solve a simple problem and keeps asking questions which
make him sound like he shouldn't be allowed out of his crib unattended.

The part about not owning any wire coat hangers and sounding like he
hasn't got a clue how to get one from a someone else is a good tip off.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

The insults don't upset me as much as the fact that you took the time to
respond to the post. The post of a person whom you felt obligated to insult
grossly in a public forum. I tend to ignore people who irritate me, and
would expect others to do the same. You seem to feel compelled to act out
against them.

Taken at face value your comment about the coat hanger is ridiculous. That
you would think I would drive to a dry cleaners for a coat hanger rather
than a hardware store for similar type wire makes me wonder if you said that
simply to insult me. As it is I've already corrected the problem, others
who offered up suggestions early on completely opened my eyes to the fact I
was making this too hard. They managed to do it without resorting to
insults. I'm not afraid to ask questions, even simple ones, on a newsgroup.
I don't EVER expect answers, but when they come I'm grateful. I certainly
don't expect insults.


NO EIGENLOSTMYVECTOR it's the FACT you do NO RESEARCH then infest usenet
with your already asked questions that annoys us. You are a troll to
insult someone that realizes your idiotic scheme. I am surprised you
haven't post a question on how to get out of bed in the morning.

"Jim Redelfs" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"aemeijers" wrote:

Yet another of many reasons I HATE through-the-wall installs.

My guess is that your real dislike is for a house "wrapped" in wire.
Stapling
wire along exterior siding is, after all, the ONLY reason for a
"thought-the-wall" installation.
Sure, looks is part of it. But durability is the biggest part. The drop wire
is weather-rated. The stuff on house side of demarc usually isn't. The less
wire exposed to weather and sun, the fewer chances for failure.
Through-the-wall installs are done because they are fast and easy,
especially if the house only has a crawlspace and/or shallow attic. And
don't even get me started on typical old-work cable TV/Satt install hack
jobs.

aem sends...