What is the stuff for freeing stuck wires?

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iwire

iwire

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It has been posted here before but I cannot remember the name of the product you can pour into a conduit ahead of time to get old wires out.

Thanks in advance
 
There goes my idea.

305139-dynamite.jpg
 
Discuss the issue within earshot of a local crack head. The wire will be out the next day with no work on your part.:D
 
I once had this problem with large wire about a 200 ft run that had to be pulled out of some 4 inch rmc that had been under the slab for 25 years. We actually broke a large pull rope trying to pull it with a tugger. I had access at the gear to the pipe going down into the floor. This pipe was in the boiler room of an old junior high school. I got a garden hose and hooked it up to the hot water line and stuffed it in the pipe and taped it upr good. ran the hot water til it came out the far end and ran it til it was hot at the far end. let the whole mess sit overnite and whadda ya know. we were hooked up for the pull the next am and out she comes. a bit slushy but the wire came out real easy nevertheless.A rather low tech way of doing it but it worked like a charm. cheap too!
 
stew said:
I once had this problem with large wire about a 200 ft run that had to be pulled out of some 4 inch rmc that had been under the slab for 25 years. We actually broke a large pull rope trying to pull it with a tugger. I had access at the gear to the pipe going down into the floor. This pipe was in the boiler room of an old junior high school. I got a garden hose and hooked it up to the hot water line and stuffed it in the pipe and taped it upr good. ran the hot water til it came out the far end and ran it til it was hot at the far end. let the whole mess sit overnite and whadda ya know. we were hooked up for the pull the next am and out she comes. a bit slushy but the wire came out real easy nevertheless.A rather low tech way of doing it but it worked like a charm. cheap too!
Click to expand...

200 feet of 4 inch pipe should hold about 130 gallons of water, if conductor fill is max of 40% fill then that still is about 78 gallons of water. Plus how much water it takes to heat it all up until you get hot water at the other end. Just FYI.

Would take a large water heater or at least fast recovery to actually get hot water at the far end.
 
iwire said:
That was the one I was thinking of, Thanks.

Unfortunately I cannot de-energize the conductors until the night I plan to change them and when I checked that products instructions it says you have to kill them first.
Click to expand...

I would try forcing some Polywater J through the conduit then. I bought a hand pump like farmers and machine oilers use in their 5 gallon buckets to pump heavy oils and grease. Pumps the Polywater real well.
 
It is a 75' long of walker duct filled with 12 AWGs, but floor wax has been spilling into it for a long time and has glued the conductors in place.
 
masterinbama said:
UUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGG

Walker duct gets some nasty nasty stuff in it over the years.
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Yeah ....... :lol:

This one is under line of supermarket cash registers, it is surprising the stuff that gets in them.


And maybe, the walker ducts used for data lines with out boxes at each opening might make great mouse tunnels ........... :sick:
 
iwire said:
Yeah ....... :lol:

This one is under line of supermarket cash registers, it is surprising the stuff that gets in them.


And maybe, the walker ducts used for data lines with out boxes at each opening might make great mouse tunnels ........... :sick:
Click to expand...

A grocery store, even worse. I don't envy you this project brother.
 
iwire said:
It is a 75' long of walker duct filled with 12 AWGs, but floor wax has been spilling into it for a long time and has glued the conductors in place.
Click to expand...

i've used polywater pulling lube in the past, and we had problems with using it in gear, going up...
worked wonderfully in underground feeds, but would run out the overhead pipes for months after the
pull....

here is a thought, if you don't want to slime the duct out with polysquidge product.....

starting at the far end of the duct, take the wires loose, and move back upstream to the next
handhole, and shove a fishtape up to the end box... make up a double length of form string,
in a U, and pull the ends down to the next handhold, so that the loop is UNDER the old wire....

once you get the strings out the handhold, saw them back and forth, while pulling, so they cut
the wax and crud buildup, and free the wire.... when you get the loop pulled all the way back to
the handhold, freeing the wire, push the fish tape in the next hole, and repeat the process....

replace the string with fresh string so it'll cut well, and won't break. it should cut everything loose,
and not make a mess in the process. snip the wires and pull them out a section at a time.
 
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