Hi There

I need to drop an alarm cable down through a cavity wall. Any hint/tips
about how to do this?

Thanks

Andrew

In article ,
Andrew Barnes wrote:
I need to drop an alarm cable down through a cavity wall. Any hint/tips
about how to do this?

Normal way is to use a 'mouse' - a small but heavy weight on string. Lead
is best. Then fish out the string at the bottom using a wire hook.

--
*If you lived in your car, you'd be home by now *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Normal way is to use a 'mouse' - a small but heavy weight on string. Lead
is best. Then fish out the string at the bottom using a wire hook.

In practice brick ties can get in the way, one tip I've heard is to poke
a large loop of net curtain spring wire in to your exit hole to act as a
catcher ...

Andrew Barnes wrote:
Hi There

I need to drop an alarm cable down through a cavity wall. Any
hint/tips about how to do this?

Thanks

Andrew

Mungo Henning recommends attching a short piece of ferrous chain to the end
of length of string, and a fishing it out down below with a magnetic,
telescopic wand.

I've had excellent results with this technique, using some 'Kite String' I
bought at a kite festival a while ago. It is ideal for this, as it is very
light and smooth, so doesn't tend to catch, but is also really quite strong;
certainly plenty strong enough to draw through something very much stronger.

It's also far easier job if you're careful drilling the holes so that they
are exactly above one another, and if you have two people doing it.

Hope this helps,

Chris Key

"Andrew Barnes" wrote in message
...
Hi There

I need to drop an alarm cable down through a cavity wall. Any hint/tips
about how to do this?

Accurate measuring to get the holes as near to vertically aligned as
possible.

Small torch to shine into lower hole- often you find the line is exactly in
the place it should be. If not, a little 'wiggling' will usually allow you
to hook it with a bit of coat hanger wire etc.

I've also used an old flat retractable tape measure in the past. Fold in
half and push the loop into the lower hole. It tends to 'spring out' in the
cavity making a large loop you can 'drop' the weight into. When you pull the
tape out, the string comes with it.

Always tie a spare string to the first and pull it through with the cable.
If the cable comes adrift, you still have a string in place to try again.

If the cable in thick, make the first 6" more flexible by stripping the
outer insulation, or it may snag, rather than "bend", into the hole.

--
Brian Reay
www.g8osn.org.uk
www.amateurradiotraining.org.uk
FP#898

Thanks for all your help, i'll get a strong line and give it a go!

Thanks

Andrew

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:48:58 UTC, Andy Burns
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Normal way is to use a 'mouse' - a small but heavy weight on string. Lead
is best. Then fish out the string at the bottom using a wire hook.

In practice brick ties can get in the way, one tip I've heard is to poke
a large loop of net curtain spring wire in to your exit hole to act as a
catcher ...

Flexible tape measure works well and can conform pretty well to the
edges of the cavity; make the loop big enough to circumnavigate the area
at the bottom.
--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!

"Christopher Key" wrote in message
...
Andrew Barnes wrote:
Hi There

I need to drop an alarm cable down through a cavity wall. Any
hint/tips about how to do this?

Thanks

Andrew

Mungo Henning recommends attching a short piece of ferrous chain to the
end
of length of string, and a fishing it out down below with a magnetic,
telescopic wand.

I've had excellent results with this technique, using some 'Kite String' I
bought at a kite festival a while ago. It is ideal for this, as it is
very
light and smooth, so doesn't tend to catch, but is also really quite
strong;
certainly plenty strong enough to draw through something very much
stronger.

It's also far easier job if you're careful drilling the holes so that they
are exactly above one another, and if you have two people doing it.

Hope this helps,

Chris Key


My tip is to drill the top hole first and then use the string and weight as
a plumb line to line up for drilling the bottom hole.

Paul

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:45:04 -0000, "Paul \( Skiing8 \)"
strung together this:

My tip is to drill the top hole first and then use the string and weight as
a plumb line to line up for drilling the bottom hole.

Obviously only useful when doing it all in one room, I only really
drop things in cavities when it's going over 2 storeys.
--

SJW
Please reply to group or use 'usenet' in email subject

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Bob Eager wrote:

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:48:58 UTC, Andy Burns
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Normal way is to use a 'mouse' - a small but heavy weight on
string. Lead is best. Then fish out the string at the bottom using
a wire hook.

In practice brick ties can get in the way, one tip I've heard is to
poke a large loop of net curtain spring wire in to your exit hole to
act as a catcher ...

Flexible tape measure works well and can conform pretty well to the
edges of the cavity; make the loop big enough to circumnavigate the
area at the bottom.

All this discussion so far seems to have assumed that the cavity is full of
fresh air!

Surely, everything built for a good few years now will have cavity
insulation - and a good many older properties will have had the cavities
insulated retrospectively.

Doesn't this make the job more difficult - if not impossible?
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 13:22:20 UTC, "Set Square" wrote:

All this discussion so far seems to have assumed that the cavity is full of
fresh air!

Surely, everything built for a good few years now will have cavity
insulation - and a good many older properties will have had the cavities
insulated retrospectively.

Fairy nuff. I was thinking of internal walls - tho' with the term
'cavity' I perhaps should have thought otherwise.

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 13:22:20 -0000, "Set Square"
strung together this:

Surely, everything built for a good few years now will have cavity
insulation - and a good many older properties will have had the cavities
insulated retrospectively.

Doesn't this make the job more difficult - if not impossible?

There is that, I had assumed an empty cavity, if it's full of
insulation then you're pretty much stuffed.
--

SJW
Please reply to group or use 'usenet' in email subject

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Bob Eager wrote:

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 13:22:20 UTC, "Set Square" wrote:

All this discussion so far seems to have assumed that the cavity is
full of fresh air!

Surely, everything built for a good few years now will have cavity
insulation - and a good many older properties will have had the
cavities insulated retrospectively.

Fairy nuff. I was thinking of internal walls - tho' with the term
'cavity' I perhaps should have thought otherwise.


Well, if you're talking about stud partition internal walls, you've got a
different set of problems - because there are horizontal noggins which get
in the way!
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Andrew Barnes wrote:
I need to drop an alarm cable down through a cavity wall. Any hint/tips
about how to do this?

Normal way is to use a 'mouse' - a small but heavy weight on string. Lead
is best. Then fish out the string at the bottom using a wire hook.

If you attach the string to a piece of bent wire at the top you can swing the
'mouse' which may make it easier to find at the bottom.

--

Michael Chare

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 17:08:36 UTC, "Set Square" wrote:

Fairy nuff. I was thinking of internal walls - tho' with the term
'cavity' I perhaps should have thought otherwise.


Well, if you're talking about stud partition internal walls, you've got a
different set of problems - because there are horizontal noggins which get
in the way!

Yes...I was wondering why people hadn't mentioned them. Mind, in one
case I was lucky enough to find no noggins! Quite a narrow bit of wall
though..

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!

In article ,
says...
On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 13:22:20 -0000, "Set Square"
strung together this:

Surely, everything built for a good few years now will have cavity
insulation - and a good many older properties will have had the cavities
insulated retrospectively.

Doesn't this make the job more difficult - if not impossible?

There is that, I had assumed an empty cavity, if it's full of
insulation then you're pretty much stuffed.


I recently had to get a coaxial cable down a wall which was full of
insulation. I used a set of cable rods, drilled the lower hole first,
then carefully measured up in the loft. Pushed the rods down, keeping
them tight against the inner skin, with a piece of string tied to the
end. When I came down from the loft, and shone a torch through the hole,
the rod and string were there!

I don't suppose I could do it again if my life depended upon it!