Pulling Through a 250' conduit

[600SL]

I just purchased 250' of 3/4" liquid tight conduit to run my Ethernet through. A Cat 6 or 7 Ethernet in 3/4" conduit should be an easy pull but what can I use as a pull wire for 250 ft.

I'm assuming that if I try to just push it after about 100' I will get stuck. The conduit will be buried this week.

 

[vekster]

**** a string through with a vacuum first

 

[ishiboo]

They sell pull string specifically for this in the electrical aisle.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-500-ft-Pulling-Line-56108/100660158

I'm not sure how easy anything will be to get through that much liquid tight, and 240' is the longest fish tape they will sell in most places locally. So you're up for a challenge with the vacuum/blowing trick I would do 2" or 2.5" PVC unless you need something flexible.

 

[JohnK007]

Hook up a vacuum hose at one end. Get yourself a long enough piece of parachute cord and wad up a small piece of paper. Tape or tie to the end. Turn on vacuum and **** the cord to the other end of the run. Then pull the Ethernet cable through. After you get the cable pulled I would repeat the process but just leave the cord in the conduit in case you ever want to pull something else through the run.


EDIT: I see I am late to the party.

 

[stikman56]

**** a string through with a vacuum first

Yep,tie something to the string, I used the foundation seal material for our house and it worked great. I've heard nerf balls, garbage bags, etc. If it's stuff that's hard to pull, and it sounds like it won't be, you can buy mule tape in different ratings, I used 2500 lb. to pull my 350 URD aluminum wire through 190 feet of 3" conduit for 400 amp service to the house. Ebay has mule tape for cheap, electrician told me I had to buy 500 feet locally and it would be 125 bucks, I needed 200 feet, went to ebay and got it for 20 bucks delivered.

 

[shamrock12]

That's a long run. You'd need a fish tape like this:

http://www.idealindustries.co.uk/index.cfm?pid=18&op=dsp&pk=9956&fk=185

Most stores that stock fish tapes probably will only carry up to 240 feet like this one. So if your run is 250' then you may need to 'cheat' by removing the last 10-15 feet of conduit for the initial pull.

 

[frankush]

**** a string through with a vacuum first

That's the way to do it. Take a portion of a plastic bag and tie it to the end of the string, so that it looks like a small balloon. You'll need a second person. One to work the vac hose and a second to pull the line back when it gets stuck. Keep working it, back and forth if it gets stuck.

 

[mach158]

Know anybody that would have a fish tape that's 250' long otherwise you can buy one but they may range up to $100 or more depending on where you get it.

You could also try using fishing line with a little parachute tied to the end and then used compressed air to blow it as far as you can and then hook a vacuum to the other end and **** the rest of the way. This trick works on shorter (100') distances no idea on 250'.

 

[alfredeneuman]

With 250' of Sealtite buried in a trench your bound to have more than 360° of bends, which is a Code violation.

What's wrong with PVC? It's about 10X less expensive than sealtight,

 

[Rookie2]

You won't **** 250 feet ! either use the exhaust and blow a small baggie or use an air compressor. If it already burried it will have condensation in it ,blow that out first.

 

[stikman56]

You won't **** 250 feet ! either use the exhaust and blow a small baggie or use an air compressor. If it already burried it will have condensation in it ,blow that out first.

Might depend on the shop vac, I dunno? Mine's 6.5 hp. and had no trouble with almost 200 feet both to the house and from the house to the shop is 10 feet farther yet. I pulled the mule tape through with it when I ran it from the house to the shop in the 2" conduit. Just try stuff until something works. I tried a fish tape and it wouldn't go quite all the way, wasted two hours on that.

 

[Slowgsr]

Why are you using seal tight? That's terrible stuff to pull through and I mean terrible. You'd be better off buying direct burial cat5e. Then sleeve it with pvc when it comes above grade. If you need flexable use coreline before sealtight,

You won't push a fish tape through even 100' of coreline if it's laid out straight, you'll have to use a mouse and cheese, tie a string to its tail and hold cheese at the other end, send it through and it will pull the string for you.

Customer believed that when she asked how we would get a rope through 650' of 3".

 

[walrus]

I just purchased 250' of 3/4" liquid tight conduit to run my Ethernet through. A Cat 6 or 7 Ethernet in 3/4" conduit should be an easy pull but what can I use as a pull wire for 250 ft.

I'm assuming that if I try to just push it after about 100' I will get stuck. The conduit will be buried this week.

Liquid tite as in flexible metallic or non metallic conduit? Non metallic ***** to pull in, metallic can be done but 250 ft won't be easy

 

[Bronson]

You won't **** 250 feet ! either use the exhaust and blow a small baggie or use an air compressor. If it already burried it will have condensation in it ,blow that out first.

I worked at a Nuke plant where We routinely pulled cable much further than that with a 5 hp shop vac. Easy.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Take the seal tite back and get some 1" pvc conduit and fittings to run it through.
Then you can get a bucket of jet line from a box store or supply house.I take a piece of plastic grocery bag and tie a piece of the string around the center and shove it down into the pipe.(mouse)
Make sure you have somebody to make sure the line is getting fed into pipe without knotting up while somebody else works the shop vac on other end,sometimes it takes a couple of times to get it to work.
Then you can use the string to pull in your wire.

 

[Speedy Petey]

You won't **** 250 feet ! either use the exhaust and blow a small baggie or use an air compressor. If it already burried it will have condensation in it ,blow that out first.

100% incorrect.
Sucking in a line is MUCH easier than blowing it in, IF you are using the right line. We do it with 3/4" and up ALL the time with ease. Done right 250' will **** in in about 5 seconds, literally. You just CANNOT use the jet line to pull the wire in. You must pull in a pulling rope. I use MuleTape.

 

[Speedy Petey]

I just purchased 250' of 3/4" liquid tight conduit to run my Ethernet through. A Cat 6 or 7 Ethernet in 3/4" conduit should be an easy pull but what can I use as a pull wire for 250 ft.

I'm assuming that if I try to just push it after about 100' I will get stuck. The conduit will be buried this week.

A lot of speculation and questioning here, and I'll add. Let clarify this once and for all.
Do you mean liquidtite flexible conduit, as in Sealtite???
Or are you talking about rigid PVC conduit?

If Sealtite, all bets are off. You'll NEVER pull thru 250' of that. Does it even come in 250' lengths? All I have ever seen is 100' rolls.

And pushing Cat cable in will probably go in about 15-20 feet. It's not even close to worth considering.

 

[alfredeneuman]

Be sure to use the proper flooded cable ......
Flooded cable has a waxy substance injected into the cable jacket to make it waterproof. It tastes horrible, as bitter as it can be (to repel critters) so be careful when you handle it not to get any in your mouth (It only took me 1 bad experience to learn that)

All underground conduits are considered a wet location, and regular cat6 or 7 will not last very long at all.

 

[Steevo]

Be sure to use the proper flooded cable ......
Flooded cable has a waxy substance injected into the cable jacket to make it waterproof. It tastes horrible, as bitter as it can be (to repel critters) so be careful when you handle it not to get any in your mouth (It only took me 1 bad experience to learn that)

All underground conduits are considered a wet location, and regular cat6 or 7 will not last very long at all.

In my career, I had to pull cat6 through some old, water filled underground facilities. I found that if I used plenum rated cables, and was careful not to make any cuts in the sheathing, they actually lasted as long as the technology did.

 

[rkevins]

when you **** the pull string as suggested be sure to cover the end of your vacuum with a piece of ***** hose to stop the baggy and string, also may want to look at some pulling soap

 

[ALinCarolina]

100% incorrect.
Sucking in a line is MUCH easier than blowing it in, IF you are using the right line. We do it with 3/4" and up ALL the time with ease. Done right 250' will **** in in about 5 seconds, literally. You just CANNOT use the jet line to pull the wire in. You must pull in a pulling rope. I use MuleTape.

This^ A regular shop vac will pull a piece of plastic garbage bag attached to string in seconds. Also, if you used bell end pipe, pull from the bell end toward the small end. It is a little smoother in that direction.

 

[Dagny]

Nonmetalic sealtite you practically need a fishtape and some lube for 5 feet. GO ridgid pvc at least 1 in.

 

[BillK]

Sl,
When I moved my business to our present location, we had to pull phone lines through about 270 ft of 3/4" pvc from the telephone company box to our unit. It was very easy. We just used the colored string they sell at Home Depot for landscaping setups. We tied a plastic bag to the end of the string and sucked it through with a shop vac. No need for ***** hose etc, you will know when it comes through. We pulled two lines through in case there was ever an issue with one of them. Took us about 30 minutes to do the entire job. No lube or anything else, just pulled it through. One guy feeding it in and another pulling. Probably 4 90 degree bends.

Hope this helps,

 

[nadogail]

Back in my shipyard days, I once wadded up some rags into a ball to fit into 3" conduit. We attached a long length of 3/8" Manila rope and using a 1" air hose controlled with a ball valve, after sort of sealing around the rope with rags, we shot the rag all the way through the conduit just like a ball from a cannon.

Working Smarter, not Harder.

 

[teamextreme]

I had to look this up, because I didn't believe you could bury sealtite. Turns out it's allowed, but I've never in my life seen anybody bury sealtite. Sounds like a horrible idea to me. Like many have suggested, return the sealtite and get some PVC.

 

[600SL]

This is the stuff I'm using. The actual run is about 210'. Some good ideas here. I can use a shop vac at on end and a compressor at the other.

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like something will work.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwir...48479?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053

 

[gregtwojeeps]

210 Ft of 3/4 LT Flex = $133.00

210 ft. of 3/4 PVC = $43.00 ...................................http://www.lowes.com/pd_72809-1716-A52AG12U___?productId=3568512&pl=1&Ntt=3%2F4+%22+pvc+conduit

Put the pull string in it has you glue each length of pipe to the other.

 

[600SL]

That's a long run. You'd need a fish tape like this:

http://www.idealindustries.co.uk/index.cfm?pid=18&op=dsp&pk=9956&fk=185

Most stores that stock fish tapes probably will only carry up to 240 feet like this one. So if your run is 250' then you may need to 'cheat' by removing the last 10-15 feet of conduit for the initial pull.

My run is only about 210' so that will work just fine. There are several like that on E-bay $15 and up. Never knew they made them this long.

Thanks

 

[RoyBell]

210 Ft of 3/4 LT Flex = $133.00

210 ft. of 3/4 PVC = $43.00 ...................................http://www.lowes.com/pd_72809-1716-A52AG12U___?productId=3568512&pl=1&Ntt=3%2F4+%22+pvc+conduit

Put the pull string in it has you glue each length of pipe to the other.

This is how you do it.

We just put in a 550' continuous run of 5" pvc for the power to a building we are doing. Told my guys to make sure they push the string in with each section of pipe or they would never get it in over that distance and size of conduit. Worked well and the power company pulled all their cable in no problem.

2015-10-31_11-04-39 by RoyBelluomini, on Flickr

 

[padroo]

I like the PVC idea also. Whatever you attach your pulling string to make sure it isn't too tight in the conduit, you won't need a fish tape. If you use PVC you could break up the pull into two pulls by only doing half of it, pull your string through the first half then go again. The shop vac works great.

I always usee something like masons line for a light duty pull and for heavier pull I start with the masons line and pull a heavier line behind it.

I have been on 1000 foot continuous pulls where we used a fork truck to pull heavy gauge wire in the mill where I worked.

 

[dutchgray]

Over here the corrugated flexible conduit is about all you ever see used, we always manage to get the wires in one way or another. Phone company does use strait PVC but they won't allow a run over 50m (160ft approx) between manholes.

 

[jdieter]

After you get a string vac'd in, get a few packages of the 1/4" yellow poly braided rope you see in every big box store to use as a pull rope. Only comes in 100 feet but easy to splice, get the brand that includes a splicing fid in the bag with the rope. Better use wire pulling lubricant, with sealtight you're in for a battle even though it 3/4" and you're only pulling 1 cable. Don't bury it till you have the cable in and you've checked all the conductors for continuity.

 

[sberry]

I agree the quality of the pipe is overkill. You can pull a phone line thru 300 ft of 1/2 rolled poly. A mouse would **** thru a 3/4 would be even better.

 

[myredracer]

EE here. If you can, take the liquid-tite back and get a refund. Forget about conduit. Use black poly water pipe - it's cheap and easy to work with. You aren't pulling in 120 or 240 volt wiring so water pipe is fine. Depending on soil conditions, you have a choice of the thin or thick wall type (different pressure ratings). Depending on presence of rocks and whether small round or sharp larger ones, you may want to bed the pipe in a layer of sand for protection. Bury it min. 24" below grade.

Regardless of whether you use liquid-tite, rigid PVC or poly pipe, make sure there are max. 4 x 90 degree bends. If using poly pipe, especially the low pressure/thin wall type, if it is wavy when placed in the ground, each little wavy bend adds up and can exceed the 4x90 total limit. Nice thing about the poly pipe is you can make large radius sweep bends. Sucking a pull-string through will work fine. I've always just used a piece of plastic garbage bag. You may find it easier to pull a lightweight string through first. Forget about a fish tape. As mentioned, get the pull string in right away.

You might consider installing a pull box about 1/2 way through the run but 250' is not a big deal if conduit/pipe is properly installed. If using water pipe, an ordinary in-ground plastic valve box is fine. You should use lubricant - liquid dishwashing soap or wire lube. You need to be careful not to exceed the max. pulling tension on the cable.

If under a driveway anywhere, pay attention to protection of the pipe/conduit so that it won't get damaged afterwards.

 

[Aceman]

Poly? Is the proper pvc conduit really that expensive?

We just put in a 550' continuous run of 5" pvc for the power to a building we are doing. Told my guys to make sure they push the string in with each section of pipe or they would never get it in over that distance and size of conduit. Worked well and the power company pulled all their cable in no problem.

We did a job a couple years ago for a LARGE farm that needed a lot of underground primary conduit ran for some padmount transformers. It was roughly 23,000 feet of 5" with vaults about every 700'. We used nothing more than a rigid shop vac with a rag around the hose to help seal it in the end of the pipe. We were able to **** 500lb red polystring with nothing more than a walmart bag tied onto it, with another bag wadded up inside it. I've also done 2" at 1600' with the same shop vac.

It can be done, there's no reason to push string through conduit one stick at a time. The only time I've had an issue vacuuming is when I've waited to **** the string in and the conduit got some moisture in it or filled with water.

 

[RoyBell]

Poly? Is the proper pvc conduit really that expensive?



We did a job a couple years ago for a LARGE farm that needed a lot of underground primary conduit ran for some padmount transformers. It was roughly 23,000 feet of 5" with vaults about every 700'. We used nothing more than a rigid shop vac with a rag around the hose to help seal it in the end of the pipe. We were able to **** 500lb red polystring with nothing more than a walmart bag tied onto it, with another bag wadded up inside it. I've also done 2" at 1600' with the same shop vac.

It can be done, there's no reason to push string through conduit one stick at a time. The only time I've had an issue vacuuming is when I've waited to **** the string in and the conduit got some moisture in it or filled with water.

Good to know. I did not think a standard shopvac would have enough vacuum for that much area of conduit. I didn't want to find out after the fact that it couldn't.

1600' continuous? That seems a little excessive

 

[AndyA]

I use a piece of cardboard over the end of larger conduit. Just cut a little X in it and poke the end of the shop vac through the cardboard.

Balloons work as well as the plastic grocery bags. Inflate the balloons slightly smaller than your conduit size. Plastic bags can sometimes have problems not staying inflated. Balloons seem to work better than plastic bags if there's water already in the conduit. You can even **** most of the water out using a balloon.

Wear gloves!!!! The power of the shop vac is more than you expect. You can get some serious rope burns if you aren't ready for it. On smaller conduit you won't get that much pulling force (same suction pressure on a smaller cross section area).

I've pulled 300' with the shop vac, plastic bag, and rope. No problems.

 

[PugetDude]

250' is gonna take a LOT of lube.
Better contact Tampa for recommendations...

 

[checkthisout]

Yes, shop vac no problem.

I used a shop vac to blow Mason Line tied to a foam ball through 200' of 2.5" Conduit.

I had never done it before and knew it would work but was still stunned and amused by how fast and the amount of force with which the string was pulled into the pipe.

Like someone else said, wear gloves.

Pull the mason line through then use the mason line to pull a piece of larger poly rope through then use the poly rope (the cheap yellow stuff works good) to pull your cables through. Tape the rope to the wire(s) so it's nice and smooth.

Be sure the ends of your conduit are clean. They might make a special device to put on the end so the wire won't chaff if it catches on the end when pulling. Otherwise be careful!

 

[Aceman]

1600' continuous? That seems a little excessive

I'm sure you've seen how large some crop circles are? It takes some distance to get from the edge of a circle where the service is to the center where the irrigation pivot machine is. You can't put vaults/pullboxes in the middle of a field either, so that means long runs.

Now we mostly use Cablecon rather than conduit and wire.