Tangled Pull String

1" innerduct.

So if I understand you right, you're really sucking the cord not blowing it.

-- Bob Simon remove both "x"s from domain for private replies

What is the diameter of the innerduct ?

To get a new pull cord in, hook up a strong shop vac to the end of the innerduct. attach something light that has some volume, a section of plastic grocery bag crumpled up in a ball usually works. your probably going to have to use something lighter than pull cord first, and then pull the pull cord in.

Correct, this way you can secure the hose to the duct with out any leakage. you usually know when your home when the vac motor whines because your bag just clogged its air intake.

blowing also works, blowing and feeding the cord at the same usually leaks to much air to blow it any distance.

Dmitri, Yes, corrugated orange flexible plastic. I guess it's about 160' long with three 90 degree bends in it.

This is really dissapointing. The innerduct was supposed to provide easy access from the phone closet to the customer's computer room after the ceiling was installed. I had expected it would be really easy (little force required) to pull the two new cables.

-- Bob Simon remove both "x"s from domain for private replies

I have not had good luck with pull strings in occupied conduit. 3 90's is tight but depending on the type of optical cable you are using I bet I could fish the interduct with my 200' fiber fishtape. It might be difficult to add

2 more data cables without stressing them with excessive pulling force. Don't pull too fast; You might burn the cable jacks.

1" and some stuff in it that's already tangled? And the innerduct is corrugated, I presume? You may be out of luck, Bob. Depending on the length of the run and whether or not you have any significant bends, you may be able to carefully move the cables back and forth until they let go on the pull string, but I'm very skeptical about the vac-through method you are going to try.

If you attempt to blow it through, I wish you luck by all means, but be prepared for a plan B.

The only reasonable way to prevent tangling would be to use generous amount of lubricant, which is rather messy and rarely done on indoor jobs. You can do couple other things to prevent that in the future, like breaking your innerduct run into smaller sections with pull boxes in between and selecting larger diameter innerduct. I would say smooth wall-type innerduct would have helped you to free up the pull string, but it would probably not prevent this from happening in the first place.

Good luck!

I guess, nobody tells you how to properly use an innerduct, and the manufacturers are happy to sell it on any occasion they could. However, the only way innerduct can help you do a cable pulling job is when you have an EMPTY innerduct with a pull string, going exactly where you need it. Like, a customer did not have money for a fiber solution couple years back, and they bought an innerduct instead, and an electrician installed it. Now you show up in all your fiber glory and, using the EMPTY duct, fly your fiber in in a matter of couple hours. Every other type of encounter with an innerduct is a royal pain in the neck.

When pulled in a conduit, innerduct makes fiber use up three or more times as much as it would without one. Concerned about fiber safety? Pull a properly fire-rated indoor/outdoor cable that's stronger that the innerduct itself, and three times smaller. Alternatively, pull an armored fiber cable that's still half the size of the innerduct and twice the protection. It's been my experience that people specify innerducts for fiber just to make it some kind of an extra jacket without realizing that for the half the price of the innerduct they can get a cable that does not require any extra protection.

Worst you could burn the cables, both new and existing.