[TowerTalk] Pulling coax through PVC pipe

[Gary Schafer]

I have an electrician friend that will not pull romex in conduit. He always
uses single multi stranded wires instead. He says they are much easier to
pull than romex that is less flexible.

Consider running a couple of runs of cat5 cables for your control lines.
Plenty of pairs to work with. I also ran a couple of #12 stranded wires for
the rotor motor.

I ran some 7/8 hard line in a 2 1/2 inch conduit along with some cat 5
cable. I left the conduit straight to pull the cable. At the end I latter
attached a 5 foot length of conduit with a long sweep to come up out of the
ground. I worked the 7/8 cable around the sweep before attaching it to the
rest of the conduit. That was the only way to get it in the sweep. Then
glued the sweep and 5 foot length after the sweep was in place.

(by the way 2 1/2 inch electrical conduit seems to be the best for the buck
as 3" price jumps a lot)

73
Gary K4FMX


> -----Original Message-----
> From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
> Dave Sublette
> Sent: Monday, January 29, 2018 9:01 AM
> To: Patrick Greenlee
> Cc: kj6y--- via TowerTalk
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Pulling coax through PVC pipe
> 
> Patrick and all --
> 
> Patrick makes a very good point and I am planning to remove both the old
> coax and the 14-2 wiring.  To clarify (again) there was never 117VAC on
> that 14-2.  I used it because it is a large diameter wire and the run is
> 250 feet between the control box in the shack and the base of the tower.
> There has never been more than 15 VDC on that cable.
> 
> I am planning to replace the 14-2 with a multipair control cable.  It
> will
> have several pairs and I can double up if the voltage drop is too much.
> This newer cable is smoother and should be easier to pull.
> 
> Now I must wait for good weather.
> 
> Thanks and 73,
> 
> Dave, K4TO
> 
> On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 8:40 AM, Patrick Greenlee
> <patrick_g at windstream.net>
> wrote:
> 
> > Yes there are wire pulling lubricants available at your local big box
> > store.  Use plenty, be lavish, it won't hurt your wires or conduit and
> it
> > will make the job easier. You don't have a real tight fit (cables to
> ID of
> > conduit) but you can cause yourself a problem if you make a bulge
> where you
> > connect the old to the new if you use the old to pull the new.
> >
> > If it were me I would consider using the existing cable to pull a
> stout
> > string which in turn would pull a stout rope or wire cable which would
> be
> > used to pull the new cable. Another consideration is wether to leave
> the
> > old 14-2 in the conduit or to remove it and put it back with the new
> coax.
> > I recommend removing the 14-2 when removing the old coax and re-
> pulling it
> > at the same time as the new coax. Why, you say?
> >
> > Pulling the coax into the conduit with 14-2 already in it has friction
> > between the irregular 14-2 and the new coax that can cause problems
> pulling
> > the new coax. When re-pulling the 14-2 at same time as coax there is
> no
> > relative motion between the coax and 14-2, only between the coax plus
> 14-2
> > vs the ID of the conduit which is much smoother than the 14-2.  Is
> this
> > last bit of "finesse" required?  Maybe. You might be lucky and not
> need to
> > use the above approach and have everything just go easy and smooth.
> Doesn't
> > happen often for me, hence the "self defense" strategy.
> >
> > I recommend the Chinese finger grabbers to connect pulling ropes or
> wire
> > cables to the coax and 14-2.
> >
> > Best of luck to you.
> >
> > Patrick        NJ5G
> >
> >
> >
> > On 1/27/2018 10:16 AM, Dave Sublette wrote:
> >
> >> Good morning,
> >>
> >> 28 years ago I buried a 1.5 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe in the ground
> and
> >> ran some low loss coax and a three wire electrical control cable (14-
> 2
> >> house wiring cable).  The 14-2 is used to operate a remotely control
> >> phasing box for my 80 meter four square.  The coax feeds either my
> 160
> >> vertical or the 80M array.
> >>
> >> Well it's time to replace the coax.  The PVC pipe is 250 feet long
> and in
> >> a straight line(thankfully).  I suspect I will have to pull both
> cables
> >> with the new cables tied to the end.  I've never done this before and
> could
> >> use a little advice.  I googled but most of what I found started with
> empty
> >> pipe and ran a "string mouse" through with a shopvac. When I
> installed the
> >> cables initially, I laid them out on the ground and slipped the pipe
> over
> >> them ten feet at a time. Fortunately, there is a fair amount of room
> left
> >> in the pipe.  The two cables did not fill up the space entirely.
> >>
> >> My first question is if there is some sort of lubricant I should use
> to
> >> reduce friction?
> >>
> >> That's also my last question, but I know there must be several things
> to
> >> consider I am betting that this group has the answers. I have a come-
> along,
> >> a tractor, and a fair amount of tools.  I'm just not sure how to
> proceed.
> >>
> >> I am eager to see what you all have to say.
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >>
> >> Dave, K4TO
> >> _______________________________________________
> >>
> >>
> >>
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