I have a job to install 350' of 4" conduit. I have never pulled a rope thought conduit of this length before. My question is will a shop vac pull 3/8 this vinyl rope that far? It will be fairly strait with no bends. One other thing what would be the best thing to attach to the end of the rope to help suction. Thanks
I'm not sure how heavy 350' of the rope is and if the vac will pull it but you could pull some lightweight string through first and then use that to pull the rope through. Adding something like a ping pong ball may help the suction grab the string.
Don't know about a shop vac, but I have seen electricians run a pull rope through/string though conduit with air from a tow behind air compressor.
We use a 180 compressor to blow pull string through 2", 3" 4" or 6" conduits, making a parachute out of some tie wire and visqueen. A shop vac will probably work use baler twine or pull string to pull the heavy rope through.
I doubt the vac will pull rope that heavy. There's a plastic twine made for this purpose, or a tape like line that is used as well. You can then step up progressively to whatever your end size needs to be.
A good vacuum will work, if you use real blow string. Not that size rope. They make foam pieces to blow string with. We call the mice in the trade. But if you don't have one, tray a plastic bag. You will have to put something like sand or something lighter in it and tie it off to make it the right size. Use the biggest vacuum you can find. You may want to remove the filter to make it blow stronger. It should work. When you get the string ready, make sure it is coming out of the bucket cleanly without binding on anything. It is a better 2 man job because you may need someone at the string end to pull it occasionally if it gets caught. It should go through in maybe 10 or 20 seconds, barring any problems.
I did 1200' of 3" along my driveway. Tied the 1/4" nylon to a 2' piece of rebar and threw it down each stick as I went. Was carefull not to get glue on the rope.
:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup don't know how many kilometers I done this way Ron...................................
Use a lightweight string tied to some fiber glass insulation. The wad of insulation should be sized to fit loosely in the pipe.
They call the line "Jet line" contact any of your utility co's I'll bet they will ether give you or sell you what you need. A good shop vac will pull jet line 1500 feet or better. a wadded up plastic bag works for a parachute.
I've seen it done multiple ways. One way is to lay all of the conduit and suck the string through with a shop vac. You can use a piece of fiberglass insulation, a plastic bag or a ping pong ball etc. the shop vac will suck it right through. We always just use regular string. Make sure the string is on a dowel or something that will let it roll freely. Another way is to fasten the ping pong ball to the string , put it in the conduit and blow it through with a leaf blower or a big tow behind compressor. Once its through, fasten it to your pull rope and hook the string to a dowel, put the dowel in the chuck of a cordless drill and use the drill to pull the rope through. Works slick. If you do this put the other end of the dowel in a soda bottle so it can spin freely but you hold it to prevent the dowel from breaking from the stress on one end.
just get a roll of copper wire, doesnt have to be real thick, it will do the trick
I use a shop vac all the time. That far with a 4" pipe, you want to make sure you have a big shop vac and a big generator. I use a plastic grocery bag and I use pull string that is made by Ideal. It comes in a bucket. Pull the lighter string through first, then tie onto that and pull the bigger rope.
I watched a couple of cable TV guys do that, for a conduit where the shop vac wasn't doing the trick. The trouble was, the conduit had been in place for quite a while, and was full of muddy water. Looked like Old Faithful, and the guy at that end had to dry himself off before getting back in the truck...
draw ropes we have one of these 4" drain stopper with a small hole drilled in it for the rope to pass through ,then a quater turn tap ,connected to the air compresser we use foam swabs ,but have used plastic bags etc to get it done
Use the right string it is not that expensive. Also you can go to an electrical supply and get a plastic/ foam puck based on the size of the pipe tie the string to it and shop vac the other side. I use a shop vac with diffrent size adaptors. I have pulled 500' in 3" and 4" only takes a few seconds.
we pull all our conduit with a shop vac and idea pull sting. We found that visquien (sarand wrap) works the best. we don't blow it threw through we suck it through at the other end. use a rag to make a good seal with the vac and have someone hold the bucket of string inline with the pipe to reduce drag. You will be amazed at how fast that string comes out of the bucket. mason string will also work just make sure its long enough before you start.
ha ha....rookies....ol grampa uses a balloon....blow it up to the size that fits, tie it on to the line on ur fishing rod and blow away,,when done the line reels up and your done so quickly ya gots time to go fishing....bah ha hha.....
I always use a standard Home depot bag or similar for 2-3" pipes and 4" just stuff another bag into the bag and you're good to go. If the bag doesn't get wet you can you use it several times.
That's using 1/4" nylon rope up to 500'. Just make sure you're wearing gloves when holding the spool of rope. The bolts on each end of the spool will draw blood.
I have always used a baggie tied on a roll of mason twine to pull with a vac. Duct tape the vac for a good seal and have the string on one of those hand wheels. Use it to pull the 1/4 inch rope.
love that idea gradpa. Will definetly have to try that next time. Thanks for the tip.:drinkup
We always use a plastic grocery bag when we mandrel sewer lines
You can use a thin plastic bag, like from the grocery store for a, we call them "rats" in the trade. Heavy plastic won't work. A sandwitch bag for smaller pipes. Tie the jet string to the bag in a way that it cioses the bag with a little air traped insde the bag. It will resemble a slightly flat balloon or ghost. the bag can't have any holes in it infront of the string, and it doesn't need to fit tight in the pipe. cram a rag or piece of plastic around the vacum hose to seal suction side, and turn the rat loose. If things are right, it will go 350' in 10 - 20 seconds. thats why we call em rats, their fast. Then tie whatever size rope to the string and pull it in. You are gonna need 5hp vac with 2" - 2 1/2" hose . Take the filter out. Good luck
I like to build a little boat just small enough to fit in the line, then tie a string to the back of it, put it in the line, fill a bunch of five gallon buckets with water and start pouring. hehehe. Last winter we built a shopping mall, our site lighting subcontractor didn't tape the ends of his conduits when he stubbed up for light pole bases. It rained, they filled with water and froze we had to use the compressor on one of our service trucks to blow the ice out, but it was cool to watch!
The replies seem to be pretty much evenly divided between pushers and pullers. Has anyone pushed with one and had another on the other end pulling. Walla a push-pull. :>)
Yes. When you have a problem with the raceway(pipe)obstruction, mud in pipe, pipe came loose at coupling and misaligned, crushed, etc. I prefer the vacum because when blowing if something is in the pipe the jet string will just bunch up in the pipe, like backlash on a open face rod & reel and it makes a rats nest. Its a real mess.
We were doing some conduit install using HDD and we ended up getting mud in the pipe. We used our vac. That sucked out the pipe and the string. It was a 4" hose though.