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Pulled 500 feet of coax through a 3/4 inch conduit this morning in Phoenix without a single snag
I had this job where the customer wanted a new line to their backyard shed. The conduit was already buried (thankfully) but it was that skinny 3/4 inch stuff. Normally I hate those because the cable always gets stuck halfway. I tried the old trick of taping a piece of string to a shop vac and sucking it through first. Then tied the coax to the string and pulled. Worked perfect. No lube either (which I usually forget anyway). Has anyone else tried the vacuum method for tight runs? My buddy says he just uses a fish tape but that never works for me in small conduit.
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williamhenderson14d ago
You ever think about how the vacuum method is basically the same thing as blowing a line in for data cabling? I do the same trick with a shop vac and a plastic bag tied to a string for long underground runs. Only difference is you gotta be careful not to melt the bag if the vac gets hot in the Phoenix sun. Also, I find that the vacuum works better than fish tape in 3/4 because the tape just binds up on every bend. Fish tape is fine for big commercial stuff but in residential that small conduit it's a headache.
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smith.elliot14d ago
Wait is pulling coax through conduit really that big of a deal? I mean yeah it can be a pain sometimes but people act like its brain surgery. I just use the old lube and fish tape combo and it works like 90% of the time unless the conduit is completely wrecked. The vacuum trick does sound neat I guess but seems like a lot of setup for something thats usually not that hard. I think half the time guys overthink this stuff when really all you need is a steady hand and some patience.
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...and honestly I used to be in the "just use fish tape" camp till I tried the vacuum trick on a job like that. I was the same way, thought it was overcomplicating something simple. But @williamhenderson is right, the tape binds up in 3/4 inch way too easy and you're just fighting it the whole time. Now I'll take the extra 5 minutes to set up the shop vac and it saves me a headache every time. Probably the best tip I've picked up on this forum in a while.
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