# bend saddles

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sundowner

sundowner

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West Wisconsin
Any of you guys who run conduit a lot, make your 3 bend saddles using 15,30,15 degree bends? Or am I all mixed up and everyone does it with
22 1/2, 45, 22 1/2 degree bends. Curious. Mine are'nt workin' out.

S
 
My advice.... Don't bend that saddle at all, they S**K to pull through. Find another way if at all possible. If you must do it (and there are times when you have no other choice) Barbeer's link is a very good guide.
Good Luck
 
sundowner said:
Any of you guys who run conduit a lot, make your 3 bend saddles using 15,30,15 degree bends? Or am I all mixed up and everyone does it with
22 1/2, 45, 22 1/2 degree bends.
Click to expand...
Sorta depends on how many degrees in that pull I'm up to already. Smaller pipe I tend to do 22 1/2, 45, 22 1/2. Bigger pipe I tend to do 15, 30, 15. Also depends on my mood and maybe the phase of the moon. I can't really say that I have a real pattern myself. I try to keep all the 3 point bends in a given area the same, though.
 
Thanks guys, that is a really good link, just checked it out. My real deal is that I sorta like to only make saddles with my bender going one way-- ya remember from apprentice school the multiplier of three if your to do it this way.. What I can't seem to work out is the inch per rise with this way.

If I'm not explaining this well...here goes, I start at my 4 square box, run over 30 inches to an existing 1 1/2 pipe I want to saddle around.

Could you guys give me your procedure for saddling this with the technique of keeping the bender on the conduit in only one direction. (This is just the way I've been trained to make saddles, mark it out and never take the bender off the pipe...been a long time since I've had to make a saddle like this though.)

Thanks
Steve
 
Jljohnson said:
My advice.... Don't bend that saddle at all, they S**K to pull through. Find another way if at all possible.
Click to expand...
Uni-Strut. I'm thier best customer. Pass right over those other conduits.

I build lots of racks.
 
Jljohnson said:
My advice.... Don't bend that saddle at all, they S**K to pull through. Find another way if at all possible. If you must do it (and there are times when you have no other choice) Barbeer's link is a very good guide.
Good Luck
Click to expand...


What would make a saddle any harder to pull through than another bend?
 
infinity said:
What would make a saddle any harder to pull through than another bend?
Click to expand...
Maybe it's not so much the "pulling" that I don't like, but more the "pushing" of the 1/8" steel fish tape. If you don't have a leader installed on your tape they can be a bear to get a fishtape through. I once coaught an apprentice of mine bending 3-point saddles to be installed INSIDE of a steel framed wall. I went ballistic if my memory serves me correctly.
 
IMO a three point saddle is just as easy to pull through as a 90 degree elbow (typically they're 90 degrees worth of bends). Do you install elbows within the walls too?
 
dont waste bends with saddles

dont waste bends with saddles

sundowner said:
Any of you guys who run conduit a lot, make your 3 bend saddles using 15,30,15 degree bends? Or am I all mixed up and everyone does it with
22 1/2, 45, 22 1/2 degree bends. Curious. Mine are'nt workin' out.

S
Click to expand...
Try to use 90s and kicks instead you will waste less bends
 
quogueelectric said:
Try to use 90s and kicks instead you will waste less bends
Click to expand...

Huh?
How do you use 90's in a 3-bend saddle?
Waste less bends?

Maybe it's been too long of a week. :cool:
 
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what?

what?

quogueelectric said:
Try to use 90s and kicks instead you will waste less bends
Click to expand...

that makes absolutely no sense to me? I am not sure where you're going with this. Can you explain how you would substitute 90's and kicks for a saddle, and how this will waste less bends..

By the way, I don't think saddles are that big of a deal. Just pull a little harder, or put some lube on it. If your using solid wire, make your partner exert a little effort, and push on his end, this will help a lot. thanks gentlemen

Gerry
 
In certain situations I am not even a fan of box off-sets - and use mineralacs for the whole run... ;) Or trapezes... And avoid 3, and 4 point saddles as much as possible.

From and old boss of mine - "The secret to the use of that bender is to use it as little as possible." - by planning your runs better.
 
I agree on planning

I agree on planning

I think a few extra minutes on planning def help. The only problem is if you spend too much time planning and hinder production, how are you really helping. Not trying to offend, but our trade is difficult at times, and if it means exerting a little effort on a pull, then that is what we do. My father always said if it were easy, than everyone else would do it. Besides, I can't recall a time when I wasn't able to pull through a pipe run.

thanks gentlemen

Gerry
 
Jljohnson said:
..If you don't have a leader installed on your tape they can be a bear to get a fishtape through.
Click to expand...

Pardon this interruption, but I've been wondering if fishtape leaders are really any better than a factory paper-clip end. With some care & patients, I have shoved the factory end thru EMT full of wires with no damage.

Has anybody actually had to cut the factory end and install those flexible leaders to get the fishtape thru?
 
ramsy said:
Pardon this interruption, but I've been wondering if fishtape leaders are really any better than a factory paper-clip end. With some care & patients, I have shoved the factory end thru EMT full of wires with no damage.

Has anybody actually had to cut the factory end and install those flexible leaders to get the fishtape thru?
Click to expand...

Every fishtape I own has a 'worm' on it. IMPO, they work. Most of the ones I have I installed myself. You only need a propane torch to heat the tape up so you can bend it tight enough.
 
ramsy said:
Pardon this interruption, but I've been wondering if fishtape leaders are really any better than a factory paper-clip end. With some care & patients, I have shoved the factory end thru EMT full of wires with no damage.

Has anybody actually had to cut the factory end and install those flexible leaders to get the fishtape thru?
Click to expand...
You won't catch me jamming a steel fish tape in a pipe full of conductors. Even if de-energized, the round profile of the fiberglass tapes goes through much better without slicing into the inuslation of the already installed conductors. There's no way to gauge the extent of the damage you're doing with a steel fish tape. A lot of the time, when I'm adding conductors to a pipe that already has conductors in it, I'll pick a smaller one to "sacrifice" for use as a pull wire, and never really need to push a tape through.
 
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