Fishing Cable Challenge

[Neil McDonald]

Having just fitted a pair of Alpenglow lights to my cabin roof, I now need to run in two cables to provide 12V power. Nearby there is a convenient 1 inch diam corrugated plastic duct that seems to snake all the way to the rear of the instrument panel by an unknown route. It presently carries two smallish wires, so there seems to be lots of room for another pair. I have a regular household spring steel snake to pull in the new cables over a total distance of possibly 12-14 feet.

Any tips on fishing techniques and in particular the best lubricant. I am thinking perhaps washing-up liquid?

 

[Ross]

There is a purpose made lube for cable pulling. It is not expensive. Don't spare the plastic tape. Have someone feed the wire as you pull. Also pull in a string with the wire. There may be a next time.

 

[duality]

if that tube is solid you could try to suck a nylon string though on a mouse. take a baggie and make an air bubble close to the size of it. attach the string to the baggie and suck with a shop vac. if the string comes through use it as a pull.

good luck
mike

 

[Neil McDonald]

There is a purpose made lube for cable pulling. It is not expensive. Don't spare the plastic tape. Have someone feed the wire as you pull. Also pull in a string with the wire. There may be a next time.

Thanks Ross. Found a quart of Ideal Yellow 77 Wire Pulling Lubricant at Home Depot for under ten dollars...... but don't understand you comment "Don't spare the plastic tape"?

 

[Timo42]

Thanks Ross. Found a quart of Ideal Yellow 77 Wire Pulling Lubricant at Home Depot for under ten dollars...... but don't understand you comment "Don't spare the plastic tape"?

Use lots of tape to secure the wire to the snake, or the old wires, so it doesn't pull loose half way, once the wiring is lubed, it's a lot harder to make a secure connection. also have someone pushing the wire from the other end, makes a big difference. Probably cutting one of the old wires and pulling a replacement for it too would be easier than a fish tape though, Tim

 

[Neil McDonald]

Probably cutting one of the old wires and pulling a replacement for it too would be easier than a fish tape though

Now that is a clever idea!

 

[Dan H]

And pull an extra wire or two just in case.