String Theory

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Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
What the difference in thinking between an electrical worker and an EC? Read on.

Back when I was a first year apprentice I worked at a large job where they were pulling wires in with string. There were piles of string all over the jobsite and these just got used once and thrown away. As an environmentalist, I was appalled at the wastefulness of this. As time went by I became less bothered by the wasted string and like everybody else just tossed the lightly used cords in the trash (usually after getting them tangled around my feet and tripping over them or dragging them across the jobsite.)

Today was the first time since I started my EC business almost five years ago that I had an uninterrupted pipe run so long that pull string was required. It was 300 feet to the first LB. My 120 foot fish tape couldn't cut it. I looked at the pile of used string on the ground and all I could think was: "That string is damn expensive! That's $5 in string!" But alas, there is no economical way to save it for the next pull and it's probably dangerous weakened anyway.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
What the difference in thinking between an electrical worker and an EC? Read on.

Back when I was a first year apprentice I worked at a large job where they were pulling wires in with string. There were piles of string all over the jobsite and these just got used once and thrown away. As an environmentalist, I was appalled at the wastefulness of this. As time went by I became less bothered by the wasted string and like everybody else just tossed the lightly used cords in the trash (usually after getting them tangled around my feet and tripping over them or dragging them across the jobsite.)

Today was the first time since I started my EC business almost five years ago that I had an uninterrupted pipe run so long that pull string was required. It was 300 feet to the first LB. My 120 foot fish tape couldn't cut it. I looked at the pile of used string on the ground and all I could think was: "That string is damn expensive! That's $5 in string!" But alas, there is no economical way to save it for the next pull and it's probably dangerous weakened anyway.

i filled up a couple wheelbarrows with 1/2" mule tape, used once,
the last time i did a good size underground installation.

was money well spent. if you think the tape is expensive, try getting thru
a 3" pipe 600' after it has some silt and water in it.

i will not leave blow string in a pipe. if it was important enough to dig a ditch
to put it there, a mule tape is required. i don't care if it's a 3/4" pipe.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
i filled up a couple wheelbarrows with 1/2" mule tape, used once,
the last time i did a good size underground installation.

was money well spent. if you think the tape is expensive, try getting thru
a 3" pipe 600' after it has some silt and water in it.

i will not leave blow string in a pipe. if it was important enough to dig a ditch
to put it there, a mule tape is required. i don't care if it's a 3/4" pipe.

As I was leaning on the string (200 lb test), I was hoping I was not so strong as to break it as that would have been a disaster to my tight schedule. Mule tape would have been a better choice. I've seen that stuff pulled with a fork lift and not break. It's ungodly expensive though. (New, not that used stuff :))
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
String Theory

What a relief that this thread was really about string! I like being able to understand what I"m reading.:blink:

Hmmm. My title selection intrigued you enough to take a look even though you thought it might be about a very hard to understand physics theory. WINNER! :thumbsup:
 

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
Think that's bad? How about 2/3 of a roll-off dumpster full of nothing but CAT-5

I was once in an office building that was not that large that had old cable trays full of all sorts of old data and phone cables. Some areas looked to be several inches deep. I suggested they just clean out the old cables and start fresh (they were opening a new business there). They did and there was a simi-trailer flat bed load of old cables. On the up side things did look a lot neater and more organized with only the needed cables in the ceiling.
 
I was once in an office building that was not that large that had old cable trays full of all sorts of old data and phone cables. Some areas looked to be several inches deep. I suggested they just clean out the old cables and start fresh (they were opening a new business there). They did.....

Wow. That's probably the 4th or 5th time in US history old data cables were removed. I was beginning to think there was a law against it :lol:
 
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