[TowerTalk] Wire lubricant for cable pull thru conduit

[Patrick Greenlee]

I may be in the minority but... I have a 3 inch conduit run from my exit 
point from the house to the barn where I have a 1 in 5 out remote coax 
switch and coax lines running off to different antennas/towers as well as a 
Hy-Gain Hy-Tower on the roof of the metal barn.  In my opinion you might 
find your bundle hard to pull.  If you break it up into more than one pull 
then put in the little stuff first and then the coax so you don't have to 
pull hard on the small stuff and ruin something.  If you haven't installed 
the conduit yet it is far far easier to run the cables and then assemble the 
conduit one piece at a time. That is SO VERY much easier than pulling 
through preassembled conduit.

The big box stores sell lube by the quart and electrical supply houses 
sometimes have in also in gallons. A quart should do you. Don't be bashful, 
you can use too little but you can't use too much. Mine is sold via Klein 
Tools and is labeled Clear Wire Lubricant. It is conductive before it dries 
and an insulator after dry. You can apply it to the conduit, the wire, or 
both. It cleans up with mild soap and water if you get it where you don't 
want it.  Just keep adding more as the wire goes in. Best to have a helper 
at the entry end of the run slathering it on as the cable is pulled toward 
the exit end of the conduit. If you do pull in more than one bundle don't 
put wire ties or anything around the bundle except tape as it causes it to 
be harder to pull.  Also, if pulling in more than one bundle do lube the 
first bundle liberally even though it may go in easy without. This lube will 
be very useful as you pull the next bundle.

And finally, do make a continuous loop of rope (can be part string) so you 
don't lose track of one end of the rope and not be able to use it for 
subsequent pulls.

Heed  Don's suggestions, below.

Good luck.

Patrick AF5CK

-----Original Message----- 
From: Don Moman VE6JY
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 2:47 PM
To: TOWERTALK at contesting. com
Cc: Dick Dievendorff
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Wire lubricant for cable pull thru conduit

If its a straight run and no bends 100' should go smoothly.  Any rope will
be fine, that cheap 3/8 poly trucker rope is plenty good enough. A few half
hitches around the bundle and some tape to secure it is all I've ever done.
Home Depot etc has the lube, don't think you need all that much. I don't
know if there's a need to tape the bundle - it would lie flatter untaped
and make more room for the next pull.  Plus you can pull out a cable that
way or use it to pull in another.  But always keep in mind:  Run as much as
you can in the first bundle - i.e. put a spare run or two if you can, plus
all that you need.  The second time will always be tougher.  The problem is
the pull line you leave in there to pull "next time" will often become
spiralled around the other cables, greatly increasing friction and could
damage the existing bundle.  If you have room, I'd pull in a run or two of
3/4 PVC water pipe with a fish line in so you have a nice smooth channel
for the "next time".

73 Don
VE6JY

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