Threading Flex conduit

[i_am_fubar]

Don't know if this is already a thing, but I've found a very easy way of getting cables through flexible conduit and thought I would share.

Take piece of nylon string about 2ft longer than the conduit.

Tie something to one end that can't fit into the conduit to act as a stop (e.g. large screw). Then tape a few rawl plugs into a cone at the other end (the other half suggested an (un-used) tampon as an idea of shape).

Put rawlplug cone in conduit and connect shop vac to the other end and suck the whole thing through.

Then use string to pull cables through. Also pull another piece of string through at the same time to add more in the future.

Fubar.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Why not use an actual tampon - light weight should be picked up by a vacuum cleaner quite well.

You might get a few funny looks if they're spotted in your toolbox though...

 

[i_am_fubar]

that would be one to explain away

There was so much inuendo threading that conduit.

Grab my rod...

You're not sucking hard enough...

Are you sure it wouldn't be better if you blow...

Is it in yet...

It's too tight, try wiggling it while you push...

Engineering is such a dirty subject

 

[bernardgreen]

I find fluffy string does a good job, it gets sucked through quite well.

 

[kbdiy]

that would be one to explain away

There was so much inuendo threading that conduit.

Grab my rod...

You're not sucking hard enough...

Are you sure it wouldn't be better if you blow...

Is it in yet...

It's too tight, try wiggling it while you push...

Engineering is such a dirty subject

.... and then the question ..."Is it in yet?"

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Tie something to one end that can't fit into the conduit to act as a stop (e.g. a couple of large nuts).

"Yes - but the nuts are stopping it going any further."

 

[Lectrician]

Very similar to blowing black bags down a 4" cable duct buried in the ground with an air compressor. Once the string is in, pull in a rope.

While I agree pulling a rope through a duct is a good idea with large ducting, I would not pull a string through with cables in a flexi-conduit. Pulling more cables through at a later date is likely to damage the cables already installed (cable friction burn).

 

[securespark]

Yeah.

I tried that once and had to rewire the whole lot because some insulation got stripped pulling the new stuff through.

Same old story. Tried to save time, but it ended up taking 4 times longer and costing me dear....good lesson learnt, though.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

 

[SimonH2]

One of my customers from years ago made sub-sea cable assemblies - they made the actual connectors, and assembled them into cables. The cable was essentially a length of wired hose though which they threaded the requisite singles, they then terminated the cable and oil filled it (a subsea cable must have no voids in it whatsoever as these just crush under pressure). There are some interesting pressure compensated and underwater mateable connectors around !

They had a "home made" jig that blew a lump of foam attached to a fishing line down the pipe. But such was the length of some of them, it was "hard work" pulling the cables in.