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Pulling A Draw String through a long conduit?

There are kits you can get from Graybar, and other telecomm suppliers, that are designed to help with this situation. Ask about the Greenlee 'Portable Blower Fishing System.' You might also google for 'Conduit Pistons.'

It's worth noting that these kits draw their inspiration from the pneumatic message-capsule delivery systems seen in Sam's Club, Costco, and other large buildings. Such systems have, if I recall my history correctly, been around since the latter part of the 19th century.

Direct-burial cable would certainly be an easier route, but you should check your local electrical codes. It may be that you would need to run power in a separate conduit (assuming that it's 115VAC). If it's low-voltage, this may not be an issue.

Happy tweaking.

Reply to
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee
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I regularly suck a string through 150-200' of either 2" or 1 1/4" PVC with no problem. If there are axcessive bends, I will either suck a string with a vaccuum and then pull a fishtape back with the string and pull the cable with the fishtape, or suck in 2 strings.

Through the 2" I'm pulling an RG 11 coax and then a CAT5e flooded and a

16-2 twisted pair (2 pulls), and the 1 1/4" gets an RG 6, CAT5e flooded, and a 16-2 in 1 pull. I did have a 280' pull through 1 1/4" that caused some grief (even with lube) until I decided to pull in a fishtape with the string and attach the cables to the fishtape tape with 2 strings.

CIAO!

Ed N.

Lucas Tam wrote:

Reply to
Ed Nielsen

Hi all,

I have a driveway that is ~150 feet long. At the base the drive way, I wish to install a CCTV camera.

In a couple of weeks, I'll be gettig the front lawn landscaped and I thought it'll be a good idea to place a conduit run down to the base of the driveway.

I read in this group that some of you pull a draw string through a conduit using a vaccuum, sucking the string through it - what is the realistic distance for drawing a string through... before the length/weight of string gets too long for the vaccumm cleaner to pull it through?

Any suggestions on pulling such a long run like this, or should I just direct bury a CCTV cable + power?

Thanks.

Reply to
Lucas Tam

Don't pull a string. Lay one.

Go buy a "mouse" for your size conduit. This is a hunk of foam, with a SPOOL of nylon twine attached.

Tie down the end. Insert mouse. Apply air compressor, or shop vac, or in one case I used a water hose... (Not the best idea, but it got stuck.....)

Reply to
David Lesher

Ed Nielsen wrote in news:-q2dnXJrcssKaenfRVn- snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Thanks for the reassurance and clarification : )

Reply to
Lucas Tam

I've seen the telco guys pull a new 6-pair thru a 2.5" conduit that was filled with a 200 pair cable. They used a parachute, and on the end they had a compressor (trailer on the back of their truck) that's used for a jackhammer. It'll put out over 100 PSI at a lot of cu ft per minute. It just blows the parachute thru the pipe.

I would use a conduit 'cause it's cheap to use stuff like sp[rinkler pipe. It'll make it a lot easier to change the cable if it goes bad. Sometimes roots grow thru an area and squeeze the hell out of anything in their way. Using conduit gives a bit more protection for the cables.

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

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