Moroseful tale of the perils of trying to run a flat steel fish tape through PVC assembled with those "convenient" built in, bell couplings.
Several things happened. First S. ran 3/4" PVC throughout the tilt-up staircase managing to use less than seven 90? commercial elbows.
Then D. modified the tip of a flat steel fish tape to form a hook to hopefully snag a loop on the jet line.
And then P. [notice how I am using initials to disquise the identities of the imbecilic culprits [& ignore the fact that my name also starts with a "P"]] decided to push same said fish tape into another pipe. It went in pretty far but not far enough. Pulled almost all the way out but then got stuck. Real bad. Like a rat on one of those sticky trays.
So today, I spent three hours trying to get it out. I attached two pairs of ViceGrips and pounded on them for an hour with a five pound hammer to no avail. I twisted the tape 50 times each way to no avail. Pound inward also didn't work.
Finally, D. suggested chucking the end of the tape in a drill and spinning it. Ultimately this worked, sort of. The piece pulled out and the last two inches were twisted like a drill bit. There may be remnants still in there but I don't care.
My theory of what happened is that the hook of the tape imbedded itself in the little cliff formed when the square cut end of the pipe is glued into the bell shaped coupling. If you sliced the assembly in two and followed the interior lining, the straight section of pipe goes along until it drops a sharp 90? about 3/15", then it returns to the diameter with a very shallow sine curve back to the normal diameter of the next piece of PVC conduit.
This is also why it is often impossible to run any fish tape from one direction of the run, but possible from the other end.
My impeccable advice is to eschew all use of bell couplings. They belong in sewer pipes -- pun deliberately intended. It might help to ream the sharp 90? corners on the straight ends of the tubing. Also I noted that adding lots of glue to the female half of the coupling gets shoved into the expansion and helps fill in the gap.
~Peter
Several things happened. First S. ran 3/4" PVC throughout the tilt-up staircase managing to use less than seven 90? commercial elbows.
Then D. modified the tip of a flat steel fish tape to form a hook to hopefully snag a loop on the jet line.
And then P. [notice how I am using initials to disquise the identities of the imbecilic culprits [& ignore the fact that my name also starts with a "P"]] decided to push same said fish tape into another pipe. It went in pretty far but not far enough. Pulled almost all the way out but then got stuck. Real bad. Like a rat on one of those sticky trays.
So today, I spent three hours trying to get it out. I attached two pairs of ViceGrips and pounded on them for an hour with a five pound hammer to no avail. I twisted the tape 50 times each way to no avail. Pound inward also didn't work.
Finally, D. suggested chucking the end of the tape in a drill and spinning it. Ultimately this worked, sort of. The piece pulled out and the last two inches were twisted like a drill bit. There may be remnants still in there but I don't care.
My theory of what happened is that the hook of the tape imbedded itself in the little cliff formed when the square cut end of the pipe is glued into the bell shaped coupling. If you sliced the assembly in two and followed the interior lining, the straight section of pipe goes along until it drops a sharp 90? about 3/15", then it returns to the diameter with a very shallow sine curve back to the normal diameter of the next piece of PVC conduit.
This is also why it is often impossible to run any fish tape from one direction of the run, but possible from the other end.
My impeccable advice is to eschew all use of bell couplings. They belong in sewer pipes -- pun deliberately intended. It might help to ream the sharp 90? corners on the straight ends of the tubing. Also I noted that adding lots of glue to the female half of the coupling gets shoved into the expansion and helps fill in the gap.
~Peter
