Cable Duct draw cord

[Penelopejean]

Hell there,
We are in the process of getting a new electric supply fitted to a garage. UK Power Networks have inspected and will be fitting a cable thro' some 32mm diameter polypipe ducting 25metres long, once we have layed it, in a trench, to the garage. UK Power have asked that we put thro' this ducting, some draw cord to pull the cable thro'. My question is..............What is this draw cord, where can I get it from and how do you get it thro' the pipe?
Hopefully this is not a silly question and there is a simple answer please from those people out there who do this everyday!
Many thanks
Penny

 

[ricicle]

Just some reasonably sized nylon rope will do (5mm min. or so)

 

[Penelopejean]

Thanks I'll look for some, but how can I thread it through a 25 metre length of duct as it's not straight!

 

[Penelopejean]

Silly questions get silly answers...........obviously!

 

[sherlockholmes]

Sorry. If you haven't buried yet you shouldn't have too much difficulty feeding the rope through each individual section of your ducting, in the right order, before pushing them together.

 

[Penelopejean]

The ducting is one continuous 25metre length as it will be containing a mains supply so no joins. I had thought about tying a heavy weight to the rope and then rolling the coiled pipe along the ground until the weight comes out the other end. Haven't bought the pipe or the rope yet so can't experiment until I have. Surely someone must have done it before!

 

[bernardgreen]

When I had to get a draw cord into a 50 yard long duct the method that worked was a vacuum cleaner at one end with the "suck" pipe into the duct and sealed with a plastic bag wrapped around them. This sucked a ball of cotton wool tied to a length of cotton through in a few seconds.

The cotton was used to pull some fine fishing line through and that was used to pull the draw cord through.

 

[Penelopejean]

Now that sounds more like it, thanks.
I'll try the cotton thread firstly(hopefully I have a 25m+ length) to pull the fishing line but what is the actual draw cord you mention? Is it a special cord or can I use any old rope?
Thanks in advance............

 

[RossR]

Just some reasonably sized nylon rope will do (5mm min. or so)

 

[bernardgreen]

the most common draw cord is 10 mm polypropyline rope. But for a one off you might get away with a good quality clothes line.

If you can lay the duct out straight when you suck the cotton through. If it coiled then the cotton thread will drag along the inside of the bends and this creates more friction.

Have you thought of using 50 mm rain water pipe and solvent weld the joins ? That would provide a duct more than adequate to take the steel wire armoured ( SWA ) cable which is designed to be laid directly into ground without ducting. ( but ducting is very convenient and worth the extra cost ).

Don't forget to get some " Electric Cable Beneath " marker tape which is buried about a foot below the surface above the duct and helps to avoid accidents when digging after the cable has been forgotten about.

 

[Penelopejean]

Hello again, I've found a 50m length of steel reinforced washing line about 3mm thick. I think that'll do the trick won't it if I can tie a knot in it that is? Thanks everyone for your help and ideas.......... even the hamster one. Much appreciated.
Penny

 

[TicklyT]

Install a larger diameter duct, say 50 or 60mm. The cable is less likely to bind as it is pulled in.

Pull another draw rope in alongside the cable when it's installed, even if you can't think of a use for it at the moment. One day it may be useful.

Drain rods could be used to pull a draw rope into an empty duct.

In 'the good old days', it was not unusual for the GPO (now BT) to use a ferret.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Product...3031&OVCAMPGID=616189531&OVADGRPID=9974372419

 

[flameport]

The washing line might do - or it might not.

Since a length of polypropylene rope can be purchased for under £5, why risk the washing line breaking?

 

[westie101]

Have you thought of using 50 mm rain water pipe and solvent weld the joins ? That would provide a duct more than adequate to take the steel wire armoured ( SWA ) cable which is designed to be laid directly into ground without ducting. ( but ducting is very convenient and worth the extra cost ).

Sorry but NO, NO, NO, NO, at any cost, even with marker tape (not required by the REC's) there have been serious accidents putting cables through the wrong type of duct!

That is the sort of situation where we will walk away aqnd insist the correct pipe is used.

Don't forget to get some " Electric Cable Beneath " marker tape which is buried about a foot below the surface above the duct and helps to avoid accidents when digging after the cable has been forgotten about.

As mentioned not required, also REC's cannot legally "forget" about cables connected to the network, regular audits (and the threat of fines) means we don't forget!

Pull another draw rope in alongside the cable when it's installed, even if you can't think of a use for it at the moment. One day it may be useful.

Again NO, you cannot put another cable in the same duct, again serious accidents have occurred.

(oh and if the cable is aluminium cored and the duct run fairly straight, we've pushed it through pipes longer than that! The steel reinforced clothes line should be fine, but as suggested the correct stuff is easily available from builder.s merchants)

 

[digdilem]

Feeding it through:

Roll out the duct and tie down both ends to something hefty.

Tie some thin nylon string (the thin electric fence stuff, or orange twin - incredibly strong) to a fairly heavy nut, pile of washers or anything that will pass easily down the pipe. Spanners are often used too. Anything heavy and narrow, really.

Pop in one end, then lift up and shake the pipe to work it down. Keep repeating every few feet and eventually it will pop out the far end. Running a hose down if it's heavy going will help too. If you happen to live on a hill, run it down the road, makes life a lot easier.

Once that's through, tie it to some blue 5mm polyprop rope and pull that through. Leave PLENTY spare at both ends (six feet plus) and tie it to the pipe itself so it can't be pulled through. I fold it back against the pipe and use insulation tape to hold it snug. This is good since the free end can be yanked to free it up, even if the duct end is buried.

Now you can bury the pipe. The eleco will be happy provided there aren't any tight bends, but 32mm duct is not that easy to make a tight bend anyway. If you can, leave the trench open as just in case the eleco have a jobsworth on the site, you can re-do without the heavy work.

There are other ways, such as a rag with an airline behind it, but the above will work on 25m and shouldn't take more than 15 minutes.