“Why are you watching the video?” The answer to that question is simple, you’re always hoping that someone knows something that you don’t that’s going to make your job easier!😜
As an electrician, I use this repeatedly and daily. The head you made is pretty good except that we don’t strip the line at the front we let the insulation take the beating at the front so the copper pulls strong the whole way, we also use THHN insulation so it slides easier instead of XHWN insulation (I did see the part you said you used thhn but just saying for people to have in mind). Another thing we do is use wire pulling lube liberally applied if it keeps getting caught but always use it if there are already wires in the conduit. And the plastic line you tie on the end, we call it p line or pull line not that that bit matters 🤷🏻♂️. The other thing is that when you did the Home Depot bag trick, that’s called a mouse (kind of because you find rodents in large conduits on jobs a lot) and the reason you had a hard time sucking it through the line is because of the way you tied the mouse. You want to make like a limp balloon in it with your finger, then tie a knott around the finger area, take your finger out, and tighten it up. It makes a parachute in the conduit that forces it through a lot better.👍🏻
Commercial, not residential or solar btw, if you have a minute to chat about solar, I’m gonna install some on my house and I need some help with knowledge on products👌🏻
I an a audio visual system integrater installer, use that trick all the time. Cant say I came up with it. It was an electrician who showed me that and I thank him everytime I use that method
Here's an old electrician's trick (and I qualify on both counts): If you're going to be an idiot and step on your wires while you are rolling them out, at least roll out your HOT wire last. If you want to get yelled at on a jobsite, walk, or better yet, drive, across the electrician's wires. And I rolled out everything including Romex (which I completely agree that you should do), but I managed to do it while walking forwards and even occasionally chewing gum.
MrWaalkman I backed into the electrical trades from solar so Aside from a week here and there, I’ve had never had the privilege of working under a single “.master”
Use ping pong balls for the line vac. Drill holes through, string through, tie double knot, and vac away. They fly through the conduit with no chance of snag or bind. Clip the string. Put the balls back in truck. Always on hand if needed.
If you tie the bag on one end instead of the center it flies thru the pipe. I have done many pulls over 700’ this way. I use 50 lb monofilament fishing line then pull a rope thru for the really long pulls. The monofilament is ridiculously fast thru the pipe.
I always separate the strands on the head and bend them over the loop of the pull string then reverse twist around the head. Will never come apart. No matter how far your pulling. Nothing more embarrassing than your head pulling apart and you need to start over.
The vacuum is a clever trick. You don’t actually have to walk backwards when walking out a custom length roll. I haven’t walked backward like that in 25+ years. When you have enough practice, and if your rolls were well done, you can walk out two or three rolls simultaneously. Two is easy, three is about the limit. It's a lot easier just to get full spools, put a piece of conduit through them, put that across an open ladder, grab the ends and go. If you brace the ladder so it doesn’t tip, you can walk out 6 conductors at a time. Alternatively, a couple nails in wall studs on open frame houses, or conduit straps in steel studs instead of a ladder on commercial sites. A handy trick when you have to run 0.9 miles worth of conductors in total, such as wiring a factory or distribution center.
Something I learned when I was an apprentice electrician, I live in Australia, was the use of a vacuum to suck a string through a conduit. You can then use it to pull the cables through. To help the cables, we used to use talcum powder. The J&J worked the best plus it smells good. It worked great and doesn't leave the cable sticky.
@@GainSolarPower It works wonders. You don't get dirt sticking to the cable like you do if you use slippery lube. It reduces the friction a lot when pulling cables through conduit. You don't need a lot. What I do it have the Talc container and drill a 1/4 inch hole in the top. I give each length of conduit a quick puff of talc. Make sure the ends are CLEAN of talc if you are going to glue them. Ants hate talc too.
I learned this trick a couple of decades ago watching the network techs pulling fiber optic cable down seven floors through a partially filled conduit. They told me it was a lot less likely to fracture the fiber than yanking it through with a fish tape or the like. i used it to pull a fish line through a long, multiply curved buried conduit, which then pulled a coax through. I've also used a shop vac to suck a fungal mat that had clogged the drain for my air conditioner's drip pan. Vacuum is just a wonderful tool.
@@GainSolarPower l love the way the 'Vac can just suck those old studs right out, after the termites have been at them, although snaking the new ones in can be a bit tricky. :)
Can you preload it on a spool reel with a fixture holding it with a pipe in the center? If it's something you do frequently it might be handy to make one for that purpose.
I always pull a string after running long lengths of pipe and when i tie on the conductore i usually cut off most of the strands on each conductor leaving about 4 or 5 and tie all conductors to the string/snake staggering. The "head" is smaller and there is little chance of a conductor coming off. Some underground installs DO get mud in them unfortunately for a multitude of reasons and this method increases your chances of pulling them all through the first time.
I use a similar method to pull new circuits though the frames of RV's. Then once it's through I push convoluted split conduit over the wire and follow the pvc conduit as I pull the conduit off the wire. Being a retired Power Company LIneman I've pulled hundreds of miles of wire through conduits. All the way from 120 Volt to 345 KV Million gauge high voltage urd wire. Good Video for the DIY'er who are just learning.
*Perfect and I’ve used it for ballon arches as **enjoyable.fishing** recommend well as other decor with parties. It is strong and will hold up well. It works so good that another decorator stole my roll at an event!*
After 30 years on commercial projects I watch to see if someone knows a trick I don't know. I'm retired as an electrical contractor and after ten years of watching CZcams videos I haven't seen anything new. 1. The code says no more than 120° of bends between access points. If you could get a string through 360° you wouldn't even be able to pull even the string much less a wire. 2. What makes the wire drag is friction. The flat string doesn't really matter. It could be round as long as you don't exceed it's breaking strength. The smoother it is the better. Those little string containers from Home Depot or Lowes are just a mess of kinks. Buy the large bucket of pull string. It's handy to have for lots of reasons even it you are just a homeowner and don't need that much. 3. You are correct about staggering the wire end for a smooth entry and taping the ends. However, (here comes the pulling argument) tape the loose ends of your string back past the farthest piece of wire in your pigtail. Hold that point with one hand (use your left if you are right handed). Use your right hand to make a simple loop in the middle of the string and flip the string loop over and slide the string loop up the wire end to the end of the farthest wire. When you pull the string tight it will form a small knot. If you did it correctly that small knot will clamp down on the wire like a Chinese Grip. The harder you pull, the tighter it gets. It will take several attempts to figure out the right way to flip the loop over. Tape the loop in place so it doesn't move. With practice you will learn to put the slip knot at the very end of each wire (or cable) you add to your pull. The knot helps smooth out the pigtail so there are fewer/smaller high spots to get hung up. Move your left hand to the knot you just made and repeat this process with making the loop with you right hand about every 6"/8" to a foot until you have worked your way back to the leading end of your pigtail. Put one last knot as close the the end of the pigtail as possible. Always hold the string tight while making the knots. This will never pull off. It eliminates that whole shepherds hook you made which sometimes gets caught at joints and entry points. The harder you pull the tighter it gets. Those multiple knots spread out the tension on the pull. Practice until you get this right and teach it to others. There will be no more arguments! 4. The string alone won't "cut" the conduit on the inside of a bend. Heat generated by friction does that. The heat softens the pvc and the string abrasion does the rest. If you are having that much trouble use wax based wire lube, sparingly. Try not to get it on your hands. 5. Start your pull at the end of your conduit run with the most bends or with the closest bend. It's easier to pull past the worst part at the beginning. 6. If possible (outside on long runs) pull down hill. Gravity matters! 7. Try not to pull more than 200'/250' between pull boxes. If you break a string/rope it's easier to fix your problem. Also, if a conductor comes up short it gives you options. 8. Lay out your conduit run so that you have room to pull the string. Trying to pull something hard when you are tight against a wall/floor/etc is no fun. 9. You are correct about laying out your wire. Be careful outside. If it gets dirty that will add a lot of friction to the pull. Use wire on spools whenever possible and wire in boxes only when necessary. I have built thousands of miles of aerial and underground utilities and pulled hundreds of thousands of miles of THHN, fiber, data, comm cable. The trick with the string loop never fails but it takes some practice. There have been only a few guys that have worked for me over the decades that just couldn't figure it out. I'm probably forgetting something but if you got this far in life you can figure it out.
@Jim Remmell, sure would like to see a vid of you rigging up a pull. What you're saying sounds good but I can't envision it. And that tip about the closest or mostest bend being the starting point is great!
@@seanflanagan5674 I don't have a CZcams channel and don't really have an interest in starting one. However, a friend of mine does. I'll ask him if he is interested in helping me demonstrate the pigtail setup. I taught him. If he's interested we'll shoot the video and I'll respond to this video with his channel so you can see it. I knew it was going to hard to figure out without actually seeing it. Even after seeing it practice is required. Once you get it you'll be amazed how easy it actually is.
NEC code: There shall not be more than the equivalent of four quarter bends (360 degrees total) between pull points, for example, conduit bodies and boxes
About 30 years ago, I was doing a pull, and didn’t have any Electrical Poly String on the truck. Walked to a downtown hardware in DC, and bought Masons Twine. It works a lot better in my opinion, been using in since.
I like to use 2 or more half hitches depending on amount of conductors and a full hitch and then you can leave a tail to add a back string if needed, and tape the knots
@@crack1270 Is that right? You can turn your head you know. You ever think there might be a reason he suggests walking backwards? Same reason I do. Not stepping on or over the wire.
Sure enough, I just remembered something else. 1. If you need to pull your wire multiple times from point to point use a long piece of string to make up your pulling pigtail. Leave the long end hanging at the beginning end. As you get to each new pull point you can cut off your string knot and have plenty of slack to tie on a new piece without retaping the whole thing. 2. Once you get good at reversing the string loop you can begin to think about what happens someday when it becomes necessary to add wire to your conduit. Remember the first loose end of string that you held in place with your left hand? That is the "following end". Leave it several inches long and use it as a tie point for a pull string. It will drag a string along with your wire and make life much easier for you or the next guy. 3. You don't need a fancy knot or tape to connect/reconnect pull string to your pigtail. Simply overlap two parallel ends of your string (this works best with two pieces of the same material) and tie a simple over and through knot. It's not necessary even to double knot the string. Once again, the harder you pull, the tighter it gets. A double knot just makes something else to get hung up. 4. If you find yourself doing this a lot buy a pvc oven. Buy 21' lengths of pipe from a pipe supply and make your own bends when where you need them. The fewer joints the easier the pull. Ok, I think I covered it all this time.
@@GainSolarPower The first one I bought was a Greenlee. It worked great and was designed for use on pvc up to 2". It had skate wheels on each end to help with rolling it in the oven. One of my employees loaned it to a contractor the day we finished a project and then he went on vacation for a week. I didn't find out he had loaned it until after he returned from vacation and remembered to tell me. I never saw it again. It was about $400 in the mid 1990's. I bought a replacement a couple of years later. It wasn't as well made and cost about $275. It was red. I still have it somewhere. I don't remember the manufacturer. It did the job but wasn't as well designed. They are both about 30" long. You have to learn by doing. I've burned more than a few pieces of pipe. On cold days the pipe sets it's shape pretty fast. Carry a full water cooler with ice on hot days. Hot PVC is like carrying a wet noodle. Put it into position and pour (or squirt) cold water on it. It will freeze into position. Once you get good with the oven you make lawn furniture. I never tried it on 2 1/2" or white pvc. For conduit larger than 2" use a heat blanket. If I was to do it all over again I would buy another Greenlee. As a bonus keep a roll of heavy aluminum foil handy. The ovens are great for grilling hot dogs and sausages! I also have owned a Greenlee vacuum pulling system (I still have it too). It comes with foam "mice" for each size of conduit and lots of attachments, including a string gun. It is all very well designed and very fast. I recommend it too. No I don't have any association with Greenlee. I just buy good tools the take care of them.
Was at a job site one day and the guys were pissing and moaning about no rope in what was probably near a 200 ft run of buried conduit with several bends going around the house. (got caught on a machine and pulled it all out) One guy comes up with a small plastic grocery bag and a ball of string. Another guy scrounges up a shop vac and a power cord. Ten guys gather around and say it wont work. Two minutes later the string had made it's journey and they were pulling a new rope through.
Nice job, ya. Like u said. Many ways to make a head. The only thing I do different is use EMT instead of PVC on the interior, I use PVC underground only. Just my preference. Nice job tho
Lol when i had to string wire up above false ceiling at work i would tie fishing line or twine to a nut or bolt then use my slingshot and shoot it to ware i was going to pull wire. Then tie wire on fishing line and go to where bolt landed and pull it accross. It beat moving ladder every 5 feet to reach my 100 foot mark.
If there isn't room to lay it out then pull from a spool. If the conduit already has some wiring in it use pulling gel to make wires slick. Rub the gel on as wires enter the conduit. Make sure there are no sharp edges to get stuck cover with tape.
I have a project coming up that will end up with 4 90s and about 100' long. Your video answered so many questions. In particular getting individual wires. Thanks again. And why are there (at this time) 103 thumbs down?
That’s all the electricians that watched and want to argue with me about it. Armchair electricians. The video was made for people like you. Thanks for watching.
Nice video,explained well.just one other tip is when you are taping the end where you are attaching the string, start taping from where you have all the cables and tape towards the loop where you attach the string,and the tape will lay without any edges that might catch on any of the joins in the conduit.
counterpoint: if you pull a lot of the same size wire, get the rolls, in all your colors, and then you don't have to measure your conduit and order cuts (or walk them out and have them tangle, anyway)
Another trick is to always include an extra pull string when pulling things in pipes. Next time, there is already a pull string waiting for the person that needs to pull something through,
I had a 15 ft stretch of conduit under my patio and was going to “push” the wire and it wouldn’t make the turn on 90s. Used a small ball of tin foil on a string and the shop van. Wife’s neighbor ladies were over and they laughed at me and said it would never work! That ball went through in a split second!!! LOL!!! Now I have new respect in the neighborhood. 😉
always unroll wire that way, regardless if single, multiple and type :) the best trick with larger gauge or odd runs is pull/push it in while running the conduit and not after.
@@DonkeyLipsDA3rd just be careful you don't backup and walk off the open stair hole to basement or out a door into non-backfilled walls. they always left that stuff out to the last and no safety rails when I was in the field (mid 90's). lol, we've all disappeared down a rabbit hole before! none of the concrete was in yet, so it was a soft gravel/wet landing since the sump pumps were often not active yet, no doors windows and hardly a roof. we were the sparkies ;)
I pulled 3 #6 through 3/4" emt, not more than 20' at a time. Not easy going through elbows. Didn't have a bender for 3/4", so I went to the store and used one there in the aisle. Got to the register and asked the teenage girl if I can get a discount on the emt because it was all bent up. She was about to ask someone, then I told her no, that's ok. She didn't know what to say at that point.
It's their fault for putting the pipe bender right in the middle of the aisle. Heck, if they had a hacksaw in the aisle I'd bend the pipe, cut it to length and ask for a discount for only needing half the pipe.
A couple of years ago I was going to pull a wire through 10 meters (32 feet?) Of PVC pipes but had no correct tools for this. . Then there was only one thing to try, I took the vacuum cleaner at one end and sealed it against the pvc pipe and at the other end I fed in sewing thread. This sewing thread had to pull through a string which then pulled through the power cable!
If you wrap the tape from the back towards the head then the overlapping tape groves don’t get caught inside pipe/ fittings. Every little bit helps on tough pulls....good video
I tried this with a paper napkin and poly string for about a 150 ft run but it won’t pull the napkin. I’m using a 6.5 amp shop vac taped and on the other end very little suction. What does this mean? Conduit is new and buried now.
Thanks for the tips bro! I’ve been doing this for many years but it’s always enjoyable to see how others do things. You should think about doing more tip videos on the basics. People eat that stuff up.
p.s.. Always - always - add at least ONE extra cable - to the one's you need. As that way - if you ever need another circuit "pulled" through - you don't have to remove them all - just to "suck" another draw string through - you have a SPARE there already. Plus - if one wire has a short or "burns out" somewhere in it's length - you have a spare that is easily used ..
Why not just leave a string in the tube for the next pull? I always leave a string in my conduits that is double the length of the conduit (plus a little more). For example, of you have a 10meter conduit, I leave a 21meter string in there. This gives you enough string to pull a wire through either way, and not "lose" the string in the conduit.
Could just use a fish tape that’s quite a small pull could even use a fiberglass fish tape to make it easier and if you buy the spool of wire you don’t have to walk it off before you pull it just pull straight off the spool which saves time money, and makes it easer
You applied the tape in the wrong direction. It should be wrapped towards the conduit, think of fish scales or roof shingles. Those wraps done the wrong way will get caught up. Also, the tape should be stretched tight as you wrap so as to eliminate stretch which causes wires to come loose. There's really no need to tape each stagger, that just adds to bulkiness.
I look to learn, you can always pick up tips here and there no one’s born with all knowledge ya gotta learn from someone besides if you stop learning you become extinct good video.
When you drop a wire out of a head like that, you'll understand why its wrong. All the wires get attached, strip em back and cut off most of the strands.
Right all wires need put on fish tape going oppisite directions. The way he did it is when you could push the wire an just dont want to waste that time.
Don’t say something is wrong just because you don’t do it like that. Why waste time stripping the wire back if you don’t have to? It is not always necessary. Especially for smaller wire and shorter runs. Besides that half hitches would be much better.
@@pradaxaboudraux368first of all all the wires can’t go opposite directions because at least 2 out of four would be in the same direction. Second you should split the strands and take THEM through the fishtape/rope loop in opposite directions which is what I think you meant.
You don’t have to walk backwards I can do it faster walking forward. Also it’s a better idea to fold copper back on itself and not over the other insulation and trim some of the wire strands off makes for a cleaner streamline head
That's thwn it's dual rated for 75c thwn-2 is dual rated for 90c most terminations are 75c rated and code says that u have to follow the lowest rating for amp calculations. That's why thwn is widely used for underground feed applications.
All of that teasing and we didn't get to see it pulled!! I like to half hitch up the head with the mule tape covering the staggered ends. It just makes me feel like if some tape slipped somewhere that i have better chances of not losing a wire. On big stuff i like weaving a basket with steel wire and taping with duck tape. On a run as short as this i would just shove them through.
He wanted us to stop watching so we wouldn't beat him up in the comments. I've seen worse. Thanks for not using soap, every homeowner that watch this would have insisted on soap for something as short as 10 feet. Only have one problem with the vid: You do all the prep work and lay everything out so nicely and you keep teasing a pull, but no pull? I wanted to watch you pull wire with a camera in your hand. ;)
Good helpful video. I like yto take my die grinder to soften the inside radius of the LB. On difficult pulls this sharp edge of the LB conduit stop chafes the wire if you don't ease the edge, even then you need to be careful.
@@GainSolarPower ... Not sure if he worded that clearly, but I think he means any conduit with a square edge gets a slight rounding on the inside to avoid snags. That might include straight sections too if there's a coupling involved. Kinda like deburring EMT but doing it on plastic to remove the sharp edge.
I sucked a ball of paper tied to a string through 200 feet of conduit about 20 years ago when I ran power to my shed. Came up with the idea on my own ha ha. Must have been ahead of the times. It worked like a charm.
30 years ago Greene Lee made a conduit machine for this application. First time we tried it, we wasted the whole roll of string. It pulled it through so fast and we didn’t know when to stop it. Was a whole pile of string left on the ground 😂😂😆😩
I don’t believe the bundling of NM-B is any different from putting THHN in a conduit. You are right that it may not be used, that is because outside would be considered a wet location. “THHN” that is sold today seems to always be dual rated as THHN/THWN-2 which is good for 90 degree Celsius in wet locations.
It’s considered different in the code. The individual wires are factored differently in wire fill calculations than a bundled cable such as NM-B. Think about this. Thhn/thwn is rated for more amps than the same size wire in NM-B.
Poly line will still destroy the conduit if there is enough tension. Rope has less resistance in than mule tape.. If you completely lube the entire mule tape it's probably the same.
NM dash B. The hell. NMB non-metallic building wire. No dash. I came here because I like watching other guys work and I don't get to do that during the day.
Remember, The more tape you use the harder it is to pull. - Learn to cut the he wire back and use no tape at all over a bowline in the end of the jet line, No tape. .....There is also something called a "fishing lure" - A piece cut from a metal stud smaller then the pipe and 6" or so long. Drill a bunch of holes (Or better yet use a Whitney punch) in it just over the diameter of the insulation of whatever you are pulling and just stick the wire through - do not bend the wire back just let it offset through the steel. the edges of the metal will cut into the insulation with a death grip - Been pulling 9 and-#12THHNs through 360 degrees of bends in 1/2" EMT at 100 ft for over 30 years that way, 10 if you are pulling a green. ,,, jet line, a lure and NO TAPE. - Good for anything up to #6 or so Anything bigger, unless you are some kind of a masochist you are looking at finger puzzles and a tugger, or pull it with a towmotor and no matter what don't be afraid of using plenty of soap! (Industrial electrical/millwright contractor since 1980 - Retired in 2019)
What would ypu do for 4 strands of 4 awg and about 130 foot of underground pvc conduit? Not a test i really dont know im trying to save cash on my 50 amp rv setup
![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
im a commercial electrician and i can confirm everytime its time to pull wire get ready to fight everybody
😂😂😂😂
Lol yes sir, it never gets old.
Lol.. oh you are dead right.
“Why are you watching the video?”
The answer to that question is simple, you’re always hoping that someone knows something that you don’t that’s going to make your job easier!😜
Hope you enjoyed!!!
Refresher course.
Na wanted to see what is done in USA. Still cant get used to the white as a neutral and cable measured in old imperial sizes.
nope, I'm having lunch and decided to watch anything interesting on my "recommended to you" list.
Gay emoji
As an electrician, I use this repeatedly and daily. The head you made is pretty good except that we don’t strip the line at the front we let the insulation take the beating at the front so the copper pulls strong the whole way, we also use THHN insulation so it slides easier instead of XHWN insulation (I did see the part you said you used thhn but just saying for people to have in mind). Another thing we do is use wire pulling lube liberally applied if it keeps getting caught but always use it if there are already wires in the conduit. And the plastic line you tie on the end, we call it p line or pull line not that that bit matters 🤷🏻♂️. The other thing is that when you did the Home Depot bag trick, that’s called a mouse (kind of because you find rodents in large conduits on jobs a lot) and the reason you had a hard time sucking it through the line is because of the way you tied the mouse. You want to make like a limp balloon in it with your finger, then tie a knott around the finger area, take your finger out, and tighten it up. It makes a parachute in the conduit that forces it through a lot better.👍🏻
Commercial, not residential or solar btw, if you have a minute to chat about solar, I’m gonna install some on my house and I need some help with knowledge on products👌🏻
Appreciate the intelligence in solving the problem with what you have. Using the right tools = Saves your time.
You nailed it. How we used to do it when I was a electrician. Homedepot bag and vacuum.
Thanks for sharing! I'm about to pull wire for the first time, this should be a big help!
"The colors are pretty." Haha!
I an a audio visual system integrater installer, use that trick all the time. Cant say I came up with it. It was an electrician who showed me that and I thank him everytime I use that method
Here's an old electrician's trick (and I qualify on both counts):
If you're going to be an idiot and step on your wires while you are rolling them out, at least roll out your HOT wire last. If you want to get yelled at on a jobsite, walk, or better yet, drive, across the electrician's wires.
And I rolled out everything including Romex (which I completely agree that you should do), but I managed to do it while walking forwards and even occasionally chewing gum.
Thanks old sage
@@GainSolarPower Anytime, and let me know when you want to go over the benefits of that new-fangled Knob and Tube method of wiring. :)
MrWaalkman I backed into the electrical trades from solar so Aside from a week here and there, I’ve had never had the privilege of working under a single “.master”
Use ping pong balls for the line vac. Drill holes through, string through, tie double knot, and vac away. They fly through the conduit with no chance of snag or bind. Clip the string. Put the balls back in truck. Always on hand if needed.
I will try this
this is clever.. nice tip
If you tie the bag on one end instead of the center it flies thru the pipe. I have done many pulls over 700’ this way. I use 50 lb monofilament fishing line then pull a rope thru for the really long pulls. The monofilament is ridiculously fast thru the pipe.
I always separate the strands on the head and bend them over the loop of the pull string then reverse twist around the head. Will never come apart. No matter how far your pulling. Nothing more embarrassing than your head pulling apart and you need to start over.
I thought the same thing. Hoping the tape holds is a Apprentice thinking.
Plus a shot of lub will sure help.
The vacuum is a clever trick.
You don’t actually have to walk backwards when walking out a custom length roll. I haven’t walked backward like that in 25+ years. When you have enough practice, and if your rolls were well done, you can walk out two or three rolls simultaneously. Two is easy, three is about the limit.
It's a lot easier just to get full spools, put a piece of conduit through them, put that across an open ladder, grab the ends and go. If you brace the ladder so it doesn’t tip, you can walk out 6 conductors at a time. Alternatively, a couple nails in wall studs on open frame houses, or conduit straps in steel studs instead of a ladder on commercial sites. A handy trick when you have to run 0.9 miles worth of conductors in total, such as wiring a factory or distribution center.
Something I learned when I was an apprentice electrician, I live in Australia, was the use of a vacuum to suck a string through a conduit. You can then use it to pull the cables through. To help the cables, we used to use talcum powder. The J&J worked the best plus it smells good. It worked great and doesn't leave the cable sticky.
Gonna remember the talk trick. That could save some cussing and fighting one day lol.
Never heard of guys using talcum
@@GainSolarPower It works wonders. You don't get dirt sticking to the cable like you do if you use slippery lube. It reduces the friction a lot when pulling cables through conduit. You don't need a lot. What I do it have the Talc container and drill a 1/4 inch hole in the top. I give each length of conduit a quick puff of talc. Make sure the ends are CLEAN of talc if you are going to glue them. Ants hate talc too.
@@GainSolarPower I could see it making slick wire slicker
@@GainSolarPower cause it gave them ovarian cancer and they didn't live long enough to tell anyone about it- ;)
Great video. A couple of nice little tips. Much appreciated.
I learned this trick a couple of decades ago watching the network techs pulling fiber optic cable down seven floors through a partially filled conduit. They told me it was a lot less likely to fracture the fiber than yanking it through with a fish tape or the like.
i used it to pull a fish line through a long, multiply curved buried conduit, which then pulled a coax through.
I've also used a shop vac to suck a fungal mat that had clogged the drain for my air conditioner's drip pan. Vacuum is just a wonderful tool.
I love my shop vac. I renovated my whole house with it
@@GainSolarPower l love the way the 'Vac can just suck those old studs right out, after the termites have been at them, although snaking the new ones in can be a bit tricky. :)
Lay the wire out in long S patterns instead of straight so you aren’t pulling all the weight of all the wire.
figure 8's. takes up less space.
Those are pretty good ideas for an industrial setting.
this man pulls cable
Can you preload it on a spool reel with a fixture holding it with a pipe in the center? If it's something you do frequently it might be handy to make one for that purpose.
Union clowns
Thanks, I just used your vacuum trick to pull 200 feet of mule tape through a two inch conduit.
Then this video was worth it. I’m glad it helped.
Always blow a line with a lightweight string. Then use the string to pull a heavier mule tape if necessary. String blows easier.
I always pull a string after running long lengths of pipe and when i tie on the conductore i usually cut off most of the strands on each conductor leaving about 4 or 5 and tie all conductors to the string/snake staggering. The "head" is smaller and there is little chance of a conductor coming off. Some underground installs DO get mud in them unfortunately for a multitude of reasons and this method increases your chances of pulling them all through the first time.
I use a similar method to pull new circuits though the frames of RV's. Then once it's through I push convoluted split conduit over the wire and follow the pvc conduit as I pull the conduit off the wire.
Being a retired Power Company LIneman I've pulled hundreds of miles of wire through conduits. All the way from 120 Volt to 345 KV Million gauge high voltage urd wire. Good Video for the DIY'er who are just learning.
I’m new at anything like this. I see where it can work for any situation. Thanks. Much appreciated.
*Perfect and I’ve used it for ballon arches as **enjoyable.fishing** recommend well as other decor with parties. It is strong and will hold up well. It works so good that another decorator stole my roll at an event!*
After 30 years on commercial projects I watch to see if someone knows a trick I don't know.
I'm retired as an electrical contractor and after ten years of watching CZcams videos I haven't seen anything new.
1. The code says no more than 120° of bends between access points. If you could get a string through 360° you wouldn't even be able to pull even the string much less a wire.
2. What makes the wire drag is friction. The flat string doesn't really matter. It could be round as long as you don't exceed it's breaking strength. The smoother it is the better. Those little string containers from Home Depot or Lowes are just a mess of kinks. Buy the large bucket of pull string. It's handy to have for lots of reasons even it you are just a homeowner and don't need that much.
3. You are correct about staggering the wire end for a smooth entry and taping the ends. However, (here comes the pulling argument) tape the loose ends of your string back past the farthest piece of wire in your pigtail. Hold that point with one hand (use your left if you are right handed). Use your right hand to make a simple loop in the middle of the string and flip the string loop over and slide the string loop up the wire end to the end of the farthest wire. When you pull the string tight it will form a small knot. If you did it correctly that small knot will clamp down on the wire like a Chinese Grip. The harder you pull, the tighter it gets. It will take several attempts to figure out the right way to flip the loop over. Tape the loop in place so it doesn't move. With practice you will learn to put the slip knot at the very end of each wire (or cable) you add to your pull. The knot helps smooth out the pigtail so there are fewer/smaller high spots to get hung up. Move your left hand to the knot you just made and repeat this process with making the loop with you right hand about every 6"/8" to a foot until you have worked your way back to the leading end of your pigtail. Put one last knot as close the the end of the pigtail as possible. Always hold the string tight while making the knots. This will never pull off. It eliminates that whole shepherds hook you made which sometimes gets caught at joints and entry points. The harder you pull the tighter it gets. Those multiple knots spread out the tension on the pull. Practice until you get this right and teach it to others. There will be no more arguments!
4. The string alone won't "cut" the conduit on the inside of a bend. Heat generated by friction does that. The heat softens the pvc and the string abrasion does the rest. If you are having that much trouble use wax based wire lube, sparingly. Try not to get it on your hands.
5. Start your pull at the end of your conduit run with the most bends or with the closest bend. It's easier to pull past the worst part at the beginning.
6. If possible (outside on long runs) pull down hill. Gravity matters!
7. Try not to pull more than 200'/250' between pull boxes. If you break a string/rope it's easier to fix your problem. Also, if a conductor comes up short it gives you options.
8. Lay out your conduit run so that you have room to pull the string. Trying to pull something hard when you are tight against a wall/floor/etc is no fun.
9. You are correct about laying out your wire. Be careful outside. If it gets dirty that will add a lot of friction to the pull. Use wire on spools whenever possible and wire in boxes only when necessary.
I have built thousands of miles of aerial and underground utilities and pulled hundreds of thousands of miles of THHN, fiber, data, comm cable.
The trick with the string loop never fails but it takes some practice. There have been only a few guys that have worked for me over the decades that just couldn't figure it out.
I'm probably forgetting something but if you got this far in life you can figure it out.
@Jim Remmell, sure would like to see a vid of you rigging up a pull. What you're saying sounds good but I can't envision it.
And that tip about the closest or mostest bend being the starting point is great!
@@seanflanagan5674
I don't have a CZcams channel and don't really have an interest in starting one. However, a friend of mine does. I'll ask him if he is interested in helping me demonstrate the pigtail setup. I taught him. If he's interested we'll shoot the video and I'll respond to this video with his channel so you can see it. I knew it was going to hard to figure out without actually seeing it. Even after seeing it practice is required. Once you get it you'll be amazed how easy it actually is.
NEC code: There shall not be more than the equivalent of four quarter bends (360 degrees total) between pull points, for example, conduit bodies and boxes
About 30 years ago, I was doing a pull, and didn’t have any Electrical Poly String on the truck. Walked to a downtown hardware in DC, and bought Masons Twine. It works a lot better in my opinion, been using in since.
I’ve pulled that too. It’s seems like it cuts the pipe a lot quicker than twine.
I like to use 2 or more half hitches depending on amount of conductors and a full hitch and then you can leave a tail to add a back string if needed, and tape the knots
You can walk the wire out walking forward not backwards, much safer that way.
Exactly what I was gonna say. Much safer cuz you cuz you can see where you're going
Exactly... You definitely do not " have to walk backwards..."
Some people have difficulty walking backwards apparently. You don't have to sprint.
@@BADALICE walking forwards is just easier than walking backwards, and walking backwards poses safety issues cause you can't see behind yourself.
@@crack1270 Is that right? You can turn your head you know. You ever think there might be a reason he suggests walking backwards? Same reason I do. Not stepping on or over the wire.
Awesome!!! Wish i saw this before wasting yesterday!!
Dude.. Thanks for posting this video.. You just gave me an idea on how to run my IP security cameras.. Kudos brother
Your welcome. Thanks for watching. Happy string sucking.
nice job. Wish I would have known this before I used a magnet on the outside of the conduit to pull a small string.
I didnt know for a long time, when someone told me my head exploded for a moment.
Sure enough, I just remembered something else.
1. If you need to pull your wire multiple times from point to point use a long piece of string to make up your pulling pigtail. Leave the long end hanging at the beginning end. As you get to each new pull point you can cut off your string knot and have plenty of slack to tie on a new piece without retaping the whole thing.
2. Once you get good at reversing the string loop you can begin to think about what happens someday when it becomes necessary to add wire to your conduit. Remember the first loose end of string that you held in place with your left hand? That is the "following end". Leave it several inches long and use it as a tie point for a pull string. It will drag a string along with your wire and make life much easier for you or the next guy.
3. You don't need a fancy knot or tape to connect/reconnect pull string to your pigtail. Simply overlap two parallel ends of your string (this works best with two pieces of the same material) and tie a simple over and through knot. It's not necessary even to double knot the string. Once again, the harder you pull, the tighter it gets. A double knot just makes something else to get hung up.
4. If you find yourself doing this a lot buy a pvc oven. Buy 21' lengths of pipe from a pipe supply and make your own bends when where you need them. The fewer joints the easier the pull.
Ok, I think I covered it all this time.
Which oven do you recommend
@@GainSolarPower
The first one I bought was a Greenlee. It worked great and was designed for use on pvc up to 2". It had skate wheels on each end to help with rolling it in the oven. One of my employees loaned it to a contractor the day we finished a project and then he went on vacation for a week. I didn't find out he had loaned it until after he returned from vacation and remembered to tell me. I never saw it again. It was about $400 in the mid 1990's.
I bought a replacement a couple of years later. It wasn't as well made and cost about $275. It was red. I still have it somewhere. I don't remember the manufacturer. It did the job but wasn't as well designed. They are both about 30" long.
You have to learn by doing. I've burned more than a few pieces of pipe. On cold days the pipe sets it's shape pretty fast. Carry a full water cooler with ice on hot days. Hot PVC is like carrying a wet noodle. Put it into position and pour (or squirt) cold water on it. It will freeze into position. Once you get good with the oven you make lawn furniture.
I never tried it on 2 1/2" or white pvc. For conduit larger than 2" use a heat blanket.
If I was to do it all over again I would buy another Greenlee. As a bonus keep a roll of heavy aluminum foil handy. The ovens are great for grilling hot dogs and sausages!
I also have owned a Greenlee vacuum pulling system (I still have it too). It comes with foam "mice" for each size of conduit and lots of attachments, including a string gun. It is all very well designed and very fast. I recommend it too.
No I don't have any association with Greenlee. I just buy good tools the take care of them.
I like the pretty colors
I've used remote control cars back in the day for in between floors or above hard ceilings.
A clove hitch., a marl, and another clove hitch spaced about 6 inches apart and a slick line( zing it) works well also
Half hitch...half hitch...half hitch...half hitch...tightens on each other and will hold the world 🌎
Great. Thank you!
I knew air pressure could have something to do with it! Vacuum makes sense. Thanks
Thanks Johnny... good info for a newbie
Keep the vids coming 💪🏻 good job man
Was at a job site one day and the guys were pissing and moaning about no rope in what was probably near a 200 ft run of buried conduit with several bends going around the house. (got caught on a machine and pulled it all out) One guy comes up with a small plastic grocery bag and a ball of string. Another guy scrounges up a shop vac and a power cord. Ten guys gather around and say it wont work. Two minutes later the string had made it's journey and they were pulling a new rope through.
Plastic grocery bags work best for that.
It’s pure magic
Nice job, ya. Like u said. Many ways to make a head. The only thing I do different is use EMT instead of PVC on the interior, I use PVC underground only. Just my preference. Nice job tho
Lol when i had to string wire up above false ceiling at work i would tie fishing line or twine to a nut or bolt then use my slingshot and shoot it to ware i was going to pull wire. Then tie wire on fishing line and go to where bolt landed and pull it accross. It beat moving ladder every 5 feet to reach my 100 foot mark.
If there isn't room to lay it out then pull from a spool. If the conduit already has some wiring in it use pulling gel to make wires slick. Rub the gel on as wires enter the conduit. Make sure there are no sharp edges to get stuck cover with tape.
I have a project coming up that will end up with 4 90s and about 100' long. Your video answered so many questions. In particular getting individual wires. Thanks again. And why are there (at this time) 103 thumbs down?
That’s all the electricians that watched and want to argue with me about it. Armchair electricians. The video was made for people like you. Thanks for watching.
Thumbs increase the metrics, whether up or down. The nay-sayers are trying to be mean, and just helping crank the metrics! Hilarious!
I just watched it to see if you were doing it correctly you are good job
The moths are real proud of that mule tape. 🤪. Good teaching boss.
I think some hitches in the front foot and a half helps her get around the corners
Nice video,explained well.just one other tip is when you are taping the end where you are attaching the string, start taping from where you have all the cables and tape towards the loop where you attach the string,and the tape will lay without any edges that might catch on any of the joins in the conduit.
Nice tip!
counterpoint: if you pull a lot of the same size wire, get the rolls, in all your colors, and then you don't have to measure your conduit and order cuts (or walk them out and have them tangle, anyway)
Thanks for the video! 👍
Another trick is to always include an extra pull string when pulling things in pipes. Next time, there is already a pull string waiting for the person that needs to pull something through,
thanks for this cool sharing men!
I was vacuum with your tips.
Nice job! Glad it helped
I had a 15 ft stretch of conduit under my patio and was going to “push” the wire and it wouldn’t make the turn on 90s. Used a small ball of tin foil on a string and the shop van. Wife’s neighbor ladies were over and they laughed at me and said it would never work! That ball went through in a split second!!! LOL!!! Now I have new respect in the neighborhood. 😉
always unroll wire that way, regardless if single, multiple and type :)
the best trick with larger gauge or odd runs is pull/push it in while running the conduit and not after.
I've been doing this for 15 years and I have been walking the wrong way. Ha
@@DonkeyLipsDA3rd just be careful you don't backup and walk off the open stair hole to basement or out a door into non-backfilled walls.
they always left that stuff out to the last and no safety rails when I was in the field (mid 90's). lol, we've all disappeared down a rabbit hole before! none of the concrete was in yet, so it was a soft gravel/wet landing since the sump pumps were often not active yet, no doors windows and hardly a roof. we were the sparkies ;)
@@throttlebottle5906 oh yes the good ol open stair hole..not fun..
But that's against the National Electric Code! And I do it every so often...
Perfect I also use it to get all the little bits of the floor
I was watching bc Im always looking for diff. Techniques..but good job🏃💥
I pulled 3 #6 through 3/4" emt, not more than 20' at a time. Not easy going through elbows.
Didn't have a bender for 3/4", so I went to the store and used one there in the aisle. Got to the register and asked the teenage girl if I can get a discount on the emt because it was all bent up. She was about to ask someone, then I told her no, that's ok. She didn't know what to say at that point.
It's their fault for putting the pipe bender right in the middle of the aisle. Heck, if they had a hacksaw in the aisle I'd bend the pipe, cut it to length and ask for a discount for only needing half the pipe.
Nice job!!
A couple of years ago I was going to pull a wire through 10 meters (32 feet?) Of PVC pipes but had no correct tools for this. .
Then there was only one thing to try, I took the vacuum cleaner at one end and sealed it against the pvc pipe and at the other end I fed in sewing thread.
This sewing thread had to pull through a string which then pulled through the power cable!
nice stuff man!
If you wrap the tape from the back towards the head then the overlapping tape groves don’t get caught inside pipe/ fittings. Every little bit helps on tough pulls....good video
Good point- it's like dragging something down a staircase instead of up that way.
That make sense, I've always started from the head. I've got a big pull with 2-0 I will use that on.
Hoovering a string.
Bloody genius.
You could probably get a few plastic balls of different sizes that fit just right in each conduit to vacuum.
You should add the tip option, you saved me a few bucks brother
Hey thanks I’m not aware of the tip option but I will look into it
I tried this with a paper napkin and poly string for about a 150 ft run but it won’t pull the napkin. I’m using a 6.5 amp shop vac taped and on the other end very little suction. What does this mean? Conduit is new and buried now.
Wish I'd seen this 2 years ago!
Thanks for the tips bro! I’ve been doing this for many years but it’s always enjoyable to see how others do things. You should think about doing more tip videos on the basics. People eat that stuff up.
Any specific ideas
p.s..
Always - always - add at least ONE extra cable - to the one's you need.
As that way - if you ever need another circuit "pulled" through - you don't have to remove them all - just to "suck" another draw string through - you have a SPARE there already.
Plus - if one wire has a short or "burns out" somewhere in it's length - you have a spare that is easily used ..
Why not just leave a string in the tube for the next pull? I always leave a string in my conduits that is double the length of the conduit (plus a little more). For example, of you have a 10meter conduit, I leave a 21meter string in there. This gives you enough string to pull a wire through either way, and not "lose" the string in the conduit.
I use paracord and fishtape, great idea with vacuum!
Any pull through pvc longer than 250ft should have a GRC 90 at the pulling end
I’ll have to look up GRC 90 now
Could just use a fish tape that’s quite a small pull could even use a fiberglass fish tape to make it easier and if you buy the spool of wire you don’t have to walk it off before you pull it just pull straight off the spool which saves time money, and makes it easer
You applied the tape in the wrong direction. It should be wrapped towards the conduit, think of fish scales or roof shingles. Those wraps done the wrong way will get caught up. Also, the tape should be stretched tight as you wrap so as to eliminate stretch which causes wires to come loose. There's really no need to tape each stagger, that just adds to bulkiness.
Thats a neat trick.
Nice video man!
Thank you
I look to learn, you can always pick up tips here and there no one’s born with all knowledge ya gotta learn from someone besides if you stop learning you become extinct good video.
I never use those pre made sweeps just makes you job harder!
Only plumbers call them sweeps.
Will Engram you're obviously not electrician then
Very impresive ideas. Thanks for sharingvur ideas from other people. Good job
When you drop a wire out of a head like that, you'll understand why its wrong. All the wires get attached, strip em back and cut off most of the strands.
Right all wires need put on fish tape going oppisite directions. The way he did it is when you could push the wire an just dont want to waste that time.
Thank you both, I could bot believe his nose prep. Did he happen to gave 2” pipe he wanted to use? 2” for 8’s?
@@inquisitive980 I assumed it was 1" and the camera was making it look oversized, but he does say 2" near the end.
Don’t say something is wrong just because you don’t do it like that. Why waste time stripping the wire back if you don’t have to? It is not always necessary. Especially for smaller wire and shorter runs. Besides that half hitches would be much better.
@@pradaxaboudraux368first of all all the wires can’t go opposite directions because at least 2 out of four would be in the same direction. Second you should split the strands and take THEM through the fishtape/rope loop in opposite directions which is what I think you meant.
You don’t have to walk backwards I can do it faster walking forward. Also it’s a better idea to fold copper back on itself and not over the other insulation and trim some of the wire strands off makes for a cleaner streamline head
You know you don't have to walk backwards when you unroll the wire because you can trip and fall real easy!
That's thwn it's dual rated for 75c thwn-2 is dual rated for 90c most terminations are 75c rated and code says that u have to follow the lowest rating for amp calculations. That's why thwn is widely used for underground feed applications.
Thanks yes I’m just stuck calling it thhn. It’s cross listed
All of that teasing and we didn't get to see it pulled!!
I like to half hitch up the head with the mule tape covering the staggered ends. It just makes me feel like if some tape slipped somewhere that i have better chances of not losing a wire.
On big stuff i like weaving a basket with steel wire and taping with duck tape.
On a run as short as this i would just shove them through.
Lots of ways to do it. Thanks for watching
nice tip man
What do you do if you have multiple 240 volt outlets? Do you pull the wires for each outlet separately using your method or all of them all at once?
Not sure what you are running.
Just wait till next month and he uses the blow method where the string is in the vacuum and you blow it threw the conduit.
I’ve pulled hundreds of times. I’m watching to see if you know what to do.
He wanted us to stop watching so we wouldn't beat him up in the comments. I've seen worse. Thanks for not using soap, every homeowner that watch this would have insisted on soap for something as short as 10 feet. Only have one problem with the vid: You do all the prep work and lay everything out so nicely and you keep teasing a pull, but no pull? I wanted to watch you pull wire with a camera in your hand. ;)
@@donstrickland1270 he needs a helper so he can yell at him. Lol
@@timjohle8876 now that's funny
@@donstrickland1270 Check this one with camera inside.
czcams.com/video/Pch8m51EEz4/video.html
Good helpful video. I like yto take my die grinder to soften the inside radius of the LB. On difficult pulls this sharp edge of the LB conduit stop chafes the wire if you don't ease the edge, even then you need to be careful.
Can you send me a pic of what your talking about. You grind the inside of the short side of the LB?
@@GainSolarPower ... Not sure if he worded that clearly, but I think he means any conduit with a square edge gets a slight rounding on the inside to avoid snags. That might include straight sections too if there's a coupling involved. Kinda like deburring EMT but doing it on plastic to remove the sharp edge.
Same as conduit electrical pvc.Thank you your video
I sucked a ball of paper tied to a string through 200 feet of conduit about 20 years ago when I ran power to my shed. Came up with the idea on my own ha ha. Must have been ahead of the times. It worked like a charm.
30 years ago Greene Lee made a conduit machine for this application. First time we tried it, we wasted the whole roll of string. It pulled it through so fast and we didn’t know when to stop it. Was a whole pile of string left on the ground 😂😂😆😩
I don’t believe the bundling of NM-B is any different from putting THHN in a conduit. You are right that it may not be used, that is because outside would be considered a wet location. “THHN” that is sold today seems to always be dual rated as THHN/THWN-2 which is good for 90 degree Celsius in wet locations.
It’s considered different in the code. The individual wires are factored differently in wire fill calculations than a bundled cable such as NM-B. Think about this. Thhn/thwn is rated for more amps than the same size wire in NM-B.
Rolls are actually cheaper but depends how much you need and if your going out of business
It’s the same price per ft at my supply house by the foot or by the roll unless you order it by the roll on a bid style job
Poly line will still destroy the conduit if there is enough tension. Rope has less resistance in than mule tape.. If you completely lube the entire mule tape it's probably the same.
NM dash B.
The hell. NMB non-metallic building wire. No dash.
I came here because I like watching other guys work and I don't get to do that during the day.
Thanks for the info
An electrician gave this tip to me 1/4 century ago. Every time I use it my friends think I'm a genius😎
It’s a great one
@@Icantfindanavailablehandle yes unless it’s a totally straight run
Thanks for the video =)
I enjoyed watching your video very amazing trick.👍😉
Thanks it’s great trick.
Roll cable into a figure 8 leading end of cable at the top that’s the best way
Remember, The more tape you use the harder it is to pull. - Learn to cut the he wire back and use no tape at all over a bowline in the end of the jet line, No tape. .....There is also something called a "fishing lure" - A piece cut from a metal stud smaller then the pipe and 6" or so long. Drill a bunch of holes (Or better yet use a Whitney punch) in it just over the diameter of the insulation of whatever you are pulling and just stick the wire through - do not bend the wire back just let it offset through the steel. the edges of the metal will cut into the insulation with a death grip - Been pulling 9 and-#12THHNs through 360 degrees of bends in 1/2" EMT at 100 ft for over 30 years that way, 10 if you are pulling a green. ,,, jet line, a lure and NO TAPE. - Good for anything up to #6 or so Anything bigger, unless you are some kind of a masochist you are looking at finger puzzles and a tugger, or pull it with a towmotor and no matter what don't be afraid of using plenty of soap!
(Industrial electrical/millwright contractor since 1980 - Retired in 2019)
Is that Irish cable - the Tricolour?
Pulling wire and sucking string, I hope a blind person never comes across this
I've been down this road for 35 years and just watched to nod my head
Well thank you sir. A lot of the pros hate on this video
I have never walked backwards and i have never seen anyone else roll out backwards...
What would ypu do for 4 strands of 4 awg and about 130 foot of underground pvc conduit? Not a test i really dont know im trying to save cash on my 50 amp rv setup
For 50 A I would run a number eight