wall fishing wires

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codeunderstanding

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I was searching the old posts about ideas for fishing wire in walls and came across jack chain that some guys use. what would be the benefit be with using jack chain as I have never used it for fishing and how would you use it?
 
In a hollow wall the flexiblity of jack chain is a plus because gravity will guide the chain straight down the cavity. It is also easier to snag and pull out of a small hole in the wall using a short piece of wire with a hook on it.

Chris
 
I used jack chain a lot to fish wires. I would drill 2 holes in a top plate, (1 hole was to look thru). Drop the chain down the wall & you can swing the chain so that your helper can snag it with piece of wire that has a hook on it. It seems to work better than a fish tape or romex which sometimes bends so it doesn't always come out the hole you cut.
 
If the chain is steel, you can also use a small magnet to 'grab' it. I use one that has a small handle, and about 8" of flexible aluminum (it looks like plumers' solder) with a strong magnet on the end. Auto supply store carry them.
 
Have anybody had luck drilling from the top plate in the attic to the bottom plate in the basement and getting the chain to get threw the hole in the bottom plate for the basement without cutting some sheet rock? That would take some skill I think.
 
codeunderstanding said:
Have anybody had luck drilling from the top plate in the attic to the bottom plate in the basement and getting the chain to get threw the hole in the bottom plate for the basement without cutting some sheet rock? That would take some skill I think.
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If the chain is small enough, and you drill a big enough hole (1"+), you can do this easily.

As long as there's no insulation, you just start shaking the chain in the attic, and eventually it will fall through the hole into the basement.
 
fishing wires

fishing wires

If I have an insulated wall, I have a couple of short pieces of fish tape (snakes) that I use. I tape a piece of string to the snake and push into the wall. It's much easier to grab the string with a piece of #12 fish wire than it is to get the snake out of the hole. Sometimes I use the 2nd snake to push into the wall to hook the string. Been doing it for years, works great. If the wall isn't insulated, I just use a piece of string with a weight, bounce it around until it falls out. If it doesn't fall out, either the snake or a fish wire should get it.:smile:
 
codeunderstanding said:
Have anybody had luck drilling from the top plate in the attic to the bottom plate in the basement and getting the chain to get threw the hole in the bottom plate for the basement without cutting some sheet rock? That would take some skill I think.
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Chain works great for this. Again, drill 2 holes in the top plate. Have your helper in the basement shining a flashlight up to give you a target to aim for.
 
jack chain

jack chain

codeunderstanding said:
I was searching the old posts about ideas for fishing wire in walls and came across jack chain that some guys use. what would be the benefit be with using jack chain as I have never used it for fishing and how would you use it?
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Or sash chain will find its way down a wall and be strong enough to remove itself if it gets snagged on something like a sheetrock screw or nail it will find its way past almost anything but a cat in the wall. Then dversabits come into play. It takes a while to use them without appologizing for popping a hole in the hallway wall ceiling joint.
 
quogueelectric said:
Or sash chain. . . .
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SashChainforFishing.jpg


I agree with sash chain.

It's much stronger than jack chain. It flops down an uninsulated cavity without additional weight. With experience one can tell when the chain hangs partway down (fire block, etc.) because one doesn't feel the weight increasing.

The other trick is a using a coat hanger. Get a simple standard wire coat hanger, the old black kind that is a little thicker, and cut it next to the hook. Straighten out the wire and bend a tight 3/8" hook on the cut end. Use the original hanger hook as a handle. Have the 3/8" hook and the hanger hook curving the same direction so, when the little hook is up inside the wall, you can remember which way it's turned.

The long wire of the hanger can be curved to suit the situation of hooking the chain.

I keep a couple lengths of 10 foot light weight (the right hand three in the photo above) so I can lay my hands on one readily, and I keep a 35 foot heavy weight length on the truck for two story fishing.
 
al hildenbrand said:
The other trick is a using a coat hanger. Get a simple standard wire coat hanger, the old black kind that is a little thicker, and cut it next to the hook. Straighten out the wire and bend a tight 3/8" hook on the cut end. Use the original hanger hook as a handle. Have the 3/8" hook and the hanger hook curving the same direction so, when the little hook is up inside the wall, you can remember which way it's turned.

The long wire of the hanger can be curved to suit the situation of hooking the chain.
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The same can also be done with any solid #12 scrap.

Not sure it was here or another forum - theres a guy who uses old sash WIEGHTS. The big old 7 lbs cast iron jobs - drops them down from attics in balloon framing.

I also use a steel plumb bob - or if I think I'm going to loose it, a stack of 3/8 washers on a nylon string. Drop it down the wall to find blocks. Or all the way down - catching a nylon sting on a hook is pretty easy onc its there. If not you can lift it up a bit, and use any magnet to grab it. The level below does the trick to reach in outlet holes, and also makes a good stud finder - by locating the screws.

Z508-1027_product.jpg
 
Sometimes I take a piece of cat 5 strip about 6" then twist the ends ,..just the ends,.. then splay out the pairs a bit put it in the hole stuff as much as will easily go in ,, use standard fish tape from the bottom and presto bango ,.. I figured,. I seem to catch every piece of that low voltage cable when I don't want to ,let's see if I can catch it when I do want to.. Works great
 
As for magnets I have a fancy tooth brush Sonicare the magnet on that thing is small but can lift my hammer no problem . I have used a magnet on a string and then standard fish to find it .
 
I have fish stixs and they work great. I also have a flat snake that works great, it doesn't curl up like a regular snake.
 
codeunderstanding said:
Have anybody had luck drilling from the top plate in the attic to the bottom plate in the basement and getting the chain to get threw the hole in the bottom plate for the basement without cutting some sheet rock? That would take some skill I think.
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I have done this from an attic with a block of 2x4 half way down the way. I drilled the top plate then used my flexible bit 5' long (diversibit) to drill thru the 2x4 block. Went down the basement and drilled my hole there. Went up to the attic and guided my chain thru the block. Got down the basement and the chain was hanging out the hole.

That was a bit of skill by I must admit a lot of luck.
 
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Wall fishing

Wall fishing

codeunderstanding said:
Have anybody had luck drilling from the top plate in the attic to the bottom plate in the basement and getting the chain to get threw the hole in the bottom plate for the basement without cutting some sheet rock? That would take some skill I think.
Click to expand...

Here in the New England area you can fish from the attic down a three story house either by way of going alongside the stack pipe, or some of these real old houses are what we call balloon framing (the 2x4's outsdie walls go from the sill up to the attic without, no insulation, no blocking, one big flue) Years ago we would use a cloth string with a few 1/4x20 nuts tied to its end and there it is three stories down waiting for the cables.
 
Been using jack(or sash chain)for fishin' for 20 years now. My uncle tought me that trick when I was just a kid. We also use the stack in the attic quite a bit. Won't work on newer homes though...they seem to insulate too well around stuff like that now with expanding foam.
 
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