DIY Wire Reel?

[DRP6833]

The sub-panel's in and I'm getting ready to run wiring in my unfinished basement. Anybody have any ideas for building some sort of reel to put the coil of wire on to keep it from tangling?

 

[rockwithjason]

unless you want to spend money the easiest way is to either roll it out on the floor and then pull it in or pull it from the center with the outer wrapper in place. depending on how much wire you are running you may want to get the cable on a reel instead of the 100ft packages. then you can put a pipe thru the reel and just pull it off

 

[mbatarga]

I just made my own this past week - as I am starting the wiring task for my shop now.
I cut two pieces of OSB into rough circular shapes and drilled a 1/2 hole in the middle for it to spin on some EMT. I then took a 2x4 and cut 4 pieces down to about 4" in length - glued them in the center of 1 disc in about a 7" diameter circle (I measured the 250' romex coil for the size) and reinforced the glue joint with some wood screws through the OSB. I made a stand by screwing 2 lengths of 2x4 about 20" high into the sides of a 2x8 header scrap. Then drilled a hole through one of the 2x4's and only a little over half way through the other. I then placed the romex coil on the disc with the 2x4s and screwed the other OSB side to it. Took a scrap piece of EMT cut to length of about a foot and fed it into 1 of the 2x4's, through the disc and into the other partway drilled hole. I added a scrap of 2x4 to the top of the header base and drilled a hole in it. That allows me to feed the romex through the hole - which helps keep the cable from free-spinning off the coil. I'll try to post a picture or two later. It's not a beautiful thing - but it works.

 

[kamesama980]

I built a much rougher one a few weeks ago for running romex in my garage: 2 square-ish 1x10 cut offs from previous projects. 4 6" long lag bolts that were tool hangers in the garage when I bought the house, 2 drywall screws in the centers for an 'axle' through shelf brackets. Works so well it nees a brake to stop it spinning (and unspooling more wire making a mess) after I have enough wire, I'm thinking of just putting the center screws off-center so it stops by gravity.

 

[Jagmandave]

I use a piece of EMT on two jackstands, depending on how much the wire weighs I might have to clamp the EMT to the stands with a couple of C-Clamps.

 

[DRP6833]

Thanks for the ideas. mbatarga, I'd like to see a picture if you can. I'm thinking a hub along these lines clamped on jackstands as Jagmandave suggested would work for me.

 

[Higgins]

Use 2 ladders of the same type, use either a broom handle, or EMT and place across steps with 2-3 spools of wire on each rung. Can pull multiple wires at the same time....................

AL

 

[wrench409]

I used a short barrel, 2 1/2' tall, and put all three reels on a piece of pipe across the top and ran the wires through large bull ring to hold tension on them as I pulled them. Vise grips to hold the pipe in place. A few bricks in the barrel to hold it in place.

 

[Jagmandave]

my jackstands look like these, so the pipe tends to stay in the middle pretty well, plus if you want to load more reels of wire, you just use a longer pipe and spread the jackstands out wider.

 

[theoldwizard1]

A stepladder and a broom stick, 1" diameter piece of EMT or other round tube. Rest the tube on the folding side supports and run the wire out between the steps.

 

[Kevin C]

This is what I did for 500' spools of 12 AWG. Might be able to scale the same idea up for Romex. Put the axle the other way and use taller stands for it.

 

[fast one]

The jackstands are the best idea with a piece of pipe. At work (electric utility distribution yard) the reals of copper, aluminum, underground wire are on, we have them where the stands are taller and don't adjust.

 

[DRP6833]

Good suggestions, thanks. I have a set of jackstands like that, Jagmandave, they should work great! Or maybe a 5-gallon bucket along the lines of wrench409's suggestion.

 

[wrench409]

Good suggestions, thanks. I have a set of jackstands like that, Jagmandave, they should work great! Or maybe a 5-gallon bucket along the lines of wrench409's suggestion.

Jack stands were my first attempt, that's why I tried the rag barrel idea...no tip overs after that.

 

[thammel]

Another hint for the standard rolls of NM from HD or Lowes....the ID of these rolls will fit perfectly around an 8" OD construction tube. I used this and put a piece of PVC pipe inside the tube and then another pole inside the PVC (think it was 3" PVC) and put this whole assembly into a U shaped rig I made out of scrap OSB. I pulled a LOT of 12 gauge and 10 gauge and this helped tremendously to have non-twisted wire.

Tom

 

[jvitez]

I hadn't built anything with wood for a while, and after fighting with twisted and tangled 14/2 as I pre-wired two garage circuits I decided I needed to do something.

I built this using left over scraps of 2x3's, 1x4's, screws, PL Premium construction adhesive, 1" PVC pipe, and the same gray paint I'm using for the interior garage trim. I like the industrial gray look.

I sized it for a spool of 8/3 NMD.

Edit: BTW, the jackstands and pipe idea is brilliant!

 

[StayThirsty]

6' ladder with emt run through 2 rungs!

 

[stangster]

I made these about 20 years ago. They are cheap to make, portable, work well and you can hang them up out of the way. It's all 1/2 TW and two 4X4 boxes and connectors.

 

[BJ42LX]

Here's mine. 14 ga on the left, 12 ga on the right.

I bought this when I bought my house. Used it to wire the basement and garage. I keep inventory on hand to add outlets and switches without a trip to the store.

 

[BigGMC]

I built this:
View media item 29559
View media item 29560
Details here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40592&highlight=cable&page=15 post #293

 

[mbatarga]

Here are two pictures of the reel I explained above. Like I said - it's not pretty - but it works great. The extra 2x4 placed aside the reel was to fill the gap from the 2x6 width. It helps keep the disc from free-spinning:

 

[mx500]

wooden sawhorses work pretty good and cheap get the bracket kits for $5 at home depot cut some 2x4, done the peice of pipe that runs through your spool rests on the sawhorses. couple drywall screws drilled in halfway to hold the pipe from moving done

 

[ForceFed70]

Seen the family (electricians) jerry rig a bunch of different roll holders a million different ways.

The simplest - Cut off a 3' piece of romex, feed it through the reel, then affix both ends to some studs/framing in the building using wire staples. Cheap, quick to do, and requires no special materials/tools to setup.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Not the greatest picture but you get the idea.

 

[gatchel]

I use these. They are more of a "half-DIY" soltuion.

http://www.rack-a-tiers.com/product/6/Rack-A-Tiers-Wire-Dispenser

 

[DRP6833]

Lots of great ideas, guys, thanks! I'll post pictures of what I end up with.

 

[mbatarga]

Seen the family (electricians) jerry rig a bunch of different roll holders a million different ways.

The simplest - Cut off a 3' piece of romex, feed it through the reel, then affix both ends to some studs/framing in the building using wire staples. Cheap, quick to do, and requires no special materials/tools to setup.

This does however require an internal wall.