I've tried it both ways, and the professional way is the only way for me.
Trying to thread conduit on a long run of rope and/or cables can be an exercise
in frustration. The cables/ rope tend to get tangled and both the cable bundle
and the inside of the pipe get coated with dirt, making it difficult to get a
clean cement joint (if it's not clean, it will leak.) It also takes much longer
to do the job because you have to walk to the end of the rope/cable, slip the
conduit over it, and walk the conduit back to the joint.
I used the professional method on my three 265' conduits (1", 2/5" and 4"), and
it worked like a charm. I believe the correct method is to use a "mouse" made
of foam rubber and suck it through the pipe with a shop vac. You can make your
own mouse easily enough, or you can buy one made for the size conduit you're
using from your local electrical supply house. The ones I've seen consist of a
short cylinder of foam material sandwiched between two circles of stiff
cardboard or plastic, with a small eyebolt stuck through the center for
attaching the twine. You mount the spool of twine on a rod (I put a broomstick
between the legs of a stepladder), connect the free end to the eyebolt, then
stuff the mouse in the conduit. Then you run to the other end, slip the vacuum
hose in the condiut, seal it with duct tape, and turn on the vacuum. In a
second or so the mouse will crash into the vacuum hose. Remove the twine, and
use it to pull a larger rope through.
73, Dick WC1M
-----Original Message-----
From: Wilson Lamb [mailto:infomet@embarqmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 5:10 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Subject: Pull Rope in Conduits?
Professionals use cheap plastic pull twine and blow it through with compressd
air. No doubt a cap with a hole for the twine and a hole for air is used by
some, but I've seen them just use their hand and an airgun. I think a wad of
paper is the usual puller.
Those who know can chime in now.
Wilson
W4BOH
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