My first day on the job with a large electrical contractor, I watched an "electrician" with 40 years of experience, shove a metal fish tape, into underground conduit, over 100 feet, with about 15 wires. Most of those wires were high voltage for massive machines at a huge steel mill. They tied on the new wires and he began to pull the fish tape. About half way back, the tape cut into the 3 phase wiring and there was a nice explosion and smoke poured out of the conduit. I asked to be put on a different job site.
You young man have a very special talent. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of TH-cam videos since YT started. I have seen many excellent presentations but I will say without a doubt that this is by far in the top 1% of one of the most informative and superbly done videos that I have had the pleasure of watching. Your delivery throught and presence is a rarity
Back in the 50's our permissible occupations were dictated by our gender. "Female electrician" was an oxymoron. Now that I'm a 71 year old grandmother, I've discovered how much I love the fine art and science of electrical power. My brain is "hardwired" to understand it, though of course I'll never be able to access formal training. The physical demands are obviously too great. But, to get to the point, I've been rejoicing in the fact that you are speaking to me about concepts I can grasp, because you are so good at teaching them. Thank you for helping me with so many tips, tricks, and safety rules as I rewire the house my grandfather wired in 1930 by himself, in the family tradition of DIY, regardless of my gender and age. Next lifetime I'm coming back as a full time electrician😂!
Neat trick - A few years ago we were trying to pull large wire through a 5" underground conduit that came up in a concrete transformer pad. they were able to get a steel cable through the conduit, but weren't able to get the wire through, and had to pull it all back out. Apparently some of the concrete was spilled into the conduit when the pad was poured. To dig it up and fix the pipe, we would have to tear the xformer pad up. Someone decided to tie a knot in a heavy chain and pull in through with a crane truck and it worked the concrete pulled out and we were able to get the conductors in. Also remind the wire lube man to be very careful when pulling with a mechanical puller. If you get your hand caught between conductors when the stretched rope pulls in spurts you may lose your arm. Also stay clear of the rope at the other end as you could be injured if it breaks.
Hi Dustin, I just wanted to say that you inspired me to become an electrician, I fallow your youtube channel and watched your video on female electricians, it really gave me the confidence to go and apply for an apprenticeship, I have been working full time since March and the classes begin in two weeks! I just wanted to say thank you for all the great content you make for us! and all the lessons you share!
I pulled a 2700 foot run of 750 MCM through a cable tray from a MCC to a warehouse in a plastic manufacturing plant. There were 22 corners we had to pull around. I set all the pulleys up and pulled a big rope through them and amazingly every pulley was perfect. We used a big tugger to make the pull and the foreman on the job was so impressed with how well it went, he bought everyone on the job lunch the next day. The next weekend there was a bad storm that blew through and a big piece of sheet metal roofing came off and hit the 750 and it blew in two. There were probably 75 to 100 different wires and cables of every size and shape in that tray and the sheet metal only hit the new one we just pulled. After they were so set on making that run in one pull and keeping it without a splice, we had to go out on a weekend in the middle of the night and splice it. You never know what is going to happen...
@@joshprater8533 LOL... you ever hear what assuming does? We paid for 2750 feet of wire so if the pull was only 270', we got ripped off... I tried to get them to set another utility pole at the corner of the warehouse that we made the pull to but the plant manager didn't want to do it that way. He said it would just make another electric bill to have to pay... Logic escapes some people..... He paid us probably 20 times or more what a pole would have cost.
Your videos are amazing man. Just got my first "professional" commercial electrician job and feel like I've forgot all of my training from 3 years ago. You have helped me feel more confident and some more tips and tricks.
Back wrapping a head is also useful on large conductor pulls. By back wrapping I mean after the head is formed and secure then wrap it with duct tape, one layer, not super tight, with sticky side up, then follow it with a tighter layer covering that with sticky side down. allows for some slip with the conductors head as they move through bends and makes it a hell of a lot easier to remove when the pull is complete.
Another tip is don't overlap the stripped out strands back over the installation. Strip out enough to fold over only on the bare wire, and use your Channel lock pliers to squish the fold smaller. I personally use 3-4 strands from each side of each wire, making sure all the ends lay flat and parallel with the wire bundle. I personally try and stagger the full diameter end of the wire just a bit to make the transition a bit easier to pass through bends. Then with bigger or longer pulls use an extra strand or two as a wrap through the folded section and then tightly around the head to make it small as possible. This helps on tougher pulls with heads coming apart. One more trick I've learned over a couple decades, is a diaper method. Before wrapping with tape, take a rag and wrap it over the blunt end of the head and sharp edges of the wire to make it smooth as possible. When doing this you don't have to back wrap the tape, just cut it off through the rag.
I’m starting my first year apprenticeship within the next few months or so and these videos have always been helpful when I’m doing my tasks, thank you for helping me prepare and hit the ground running 👍
Nice dude, just be sure to ask questions and take notes. Also, a vest with lots of pockets. having whatever your mechanic may need ready, before he asks goes a long way.
I learned 8 years ago that on pipe over 4inch and long pulls tape a bag of lube to the head and if it gets hung up in the pull it'll bust for you and lube to keep it moving. If not then you had a perfect pull (rare)
They use to sell small lub bags for that exact purpose a thousand years ago it seems...I will have to talk up the supply house to see if they still have...been a few instances that that would have been kick ass.
I always use your channel for new hires to help them realize what exactly what we are doing and it’s very informative for them. Oh yes Sir, I know if they are really wanting to learn the trade. Thanks for your channel!!
As someone who is a new hire this video helped me tremendously. I have a few years of audio/visual event production and just got my first job dong instillation. The gig is to assist the project lead and run CAT6 speaker cables in conduit. I almost turned the job down because I was unaware of what to do, and what the job entailed. This video helped me realize I'm prepared, and knowledgeable enough to take the gig.
Just started my first electrician job first day is Monday, found your channel and I love how detailed and no-nonsense your videos are, never done this line of work before at all but your content is a huge help in preparing myself for what I'm getting into. Cheers from VA
We pull big wire with a capstan tugger. I’m a big fan of and southwire crimp on pulling heads, but we also occasionally use a spring finger style wire snagger, and yes, I’ve seen a guy stick his finger in a snagger without thinking.
Yep! Get a plastic baggie and make it into a ballon of some sort (we call it a mouse), tie the jet line to it and use the shop vac on the other end! works every time! As long as the hole you're putting the shop vac on is sealed tight around the hose of the vacuum. If not, you can take cardboard and put the hose end through it, then tape around it, for a secure, air tight seal....
when using duct tape on the head I have found that if you wrap the first layer with the adhesive out then flip the the tape over the normal way, especially when pulling large wire that you just don't want to cut the entire head off, makes for easy remove of the tape
I love mule tape. LOVE it. Jet line is good, but I've see a lot of PVC pipes and bushings cut by jet line. And it's hard on your hands and susceptible to breaking. Mule tape is a miracle. Also, in your last section, I thought you were going to talk about a trick I often use if I'm pulling wire into a raceway that already has wire in it. Depending on the wire size, you can add an extra wire to your group and tie on to a wire that's already in the pipe. When you pull it through, your extra wire replaces the wire you used to pull with.
THANK-YOU! Wiring my shop, because everyone is busy, and thus quoting “my day off” prices. Boxes over bends…you just saved me from adding to my EMT “art” pile😑. Fantastic videos!
The Horrible Fright Tools sells a decent nylon fish tape for cheap. They also sell inexpensive sets of rigid fiberglass pull rods that screw couple together. I have used those a lot. They are great for relatively short straight runs through such places as wall cavities. Fish tapes like to curl and get stuck.
In the UK I have great success using dry lube - talcum powder! Much less messy. Works like millions of ball bearings. And you can blow it through duct. Duct Needs to be new and bone dry of course. We can thread multi core cable through roof timber here. Talc Works great in drilled wood holes.
Recently did a 70’ pull of 3 #6 & a 10 ground through 3/4 pvc with 4 90s. Up in an attic, out the back to the house, down under the ground then up into a sub panel in a shed. Wasn’t my idea & what a shit show it was. Used vacuum line bcuz couldn’t get a fish tape through. When the line was clearly going to snap we used it to pull the fish tape through. The conductors came off the fish tape twice at the 4th 90 & on the 3rd try it snapped the metal fish tape completely. Brutal especially in the Florida heat. Never again
Where we you when I started in 2003? Was an electronic tech for 20 yrs. Then had to learn residential wiring. Then became a foreman in 3 months. Love what you do. Close to retiring. Working on 480 charging systems now... Occasionally doing side work as an electrician.
Well I have done amateur wiring for 30 years and never heard about not using a fish tape to actually pull your conductor. Makes perfect sense. Thank you!
Love the "I don't use fishtape to pull" rule. Worked for a (mainly) residential solar company and the boss always told us to use the fishtapes when we'd do pulls but then would act like you can do that without them binding up. Granted pulls usually were super short but fuuck a fishtape
Can you do a video on tips and tricks on pulling old wire out and new wire into a home? Haven't seen a lot of good videos on TH-cam about this, and I feel it would be helpful to hear from and electrician on the different situations you've come across and how you handled it. Love your videos.
Pulling wires out of a home can have several challenges. Romex is normally stapled onto boards 'X' amount of feet apart, and a couple inches from each box. Sometimes during "the rough in" stage of house buildings wires get run through the studs at various heights and directions as needed to get from A to B the quickest and easiest. Even around corners of the wall. Sometimes it's not worth the hassle to remove if your not willing to damage the surface. Cutting out the box and trimming the wires out of the way is the simple solution, Adding wires back in, you need to create hole path ways for them to run. This proves challenging to me on closed walls and ceilings. There are lots of cross bracing and extra blocking built into houses to make the structure sturdy.
@@KinGIIRomE What's the easier way? Much easier to pull with the ground and pull a new ground along with the wires you're adding then trying to get a fish into a conduit filled with wires.
Yesterday, my neighbor and I had a hell of a time running around 120 feet of a pool light wire. It became personal, eventually several hours late we were successful. Lots of sweat. We were getting stuck at the end, eventually we stripped of the last 5 feet of sheathing to expose the hot, neutral and ground line just to make the end of the line smaller so it would be easier to get through the final 90 degree turn. If you ever build a pool, ask for the kind of light where you just change the bulb!
The most intense project I ever designed the conduits for in 3D was 5 miles of 3.5” EMT in a 15,000 sq foot electrical room. I had a master electrician sitting next to me for 3 months working out the routing. We both learned a lot on that project!
Just an added pro tip for getting your Jet Line or Mule Tape down a run of conduit either a short or long run. you can actually get this done a lot faster than using a fish tape. If you grab a piece of plastic, like part of a plastic bag, or whatever you can find to make a small balloon, you can tie that onto your Jet Line or Mule Tape and just push it into the hole. On the other side you just put your shop vac over the conduit and turn it on. The shop vac will suck the ballon with your line tied to it through in seconds. When I was a low voltage installer we used this method on every job, works like a charm for small and large conduits and saves a ton of frustration and time.
While they have gotten pricey, conduit pistons are made for the job and blow through like greased lightning. But plastic bags are always the emergency backup.
I have never been on a commercial job where solid was even allowed(except in a pinch). 1/2" EMT is perfectly ok. I only bend up to 30 degree bends 99% percent of the time. No 45's or 60's. Keep your fitting set screws on the top or side, never on the bottom. Short pulls with a fish tape are fine. Pull string for longer pulls. Pull rope and tugger for large conductor long pulls. Wire lube as needed. With super short runs, I will push the wire in by hand with a loop on it, like Dustin showed in the video. If it gets stuck, I will run a fish tape in from the other side, twist it, and pull the wire out the rest of the way. Any damage to the head end will normally be cut off and thrown away anyway. Great Video. Thanks, Russ from Oregon
The HEAD Tapered and not larger then conductors. To ensure maximum flexibility all strands used to make the loop need to be a straight as possible. Any of the exposed strands in the conductors that are removed (cut off) must done so they don’t have sharp points or due to bending when cut increase the size of the grouping. I use a tube cutter to deeply score the insulation next scorch the outer wrapping so they break off clean and easy and for the second wrap of strands move the cutter a couple of inches toward the end then score those strands. You end up with a tapered length with no razor sharp ends. I make sure to stagger each of the conductor. It is quicker, cleaner and safer way to make the conductors into the pulling head. I wrap the entire length of the head with gaffer tape. Then a layer of cloth that is soaked in pulling compound. If it is a long pull I would attach a compound soaked rag a few feet from the head. Sometimes if the pull was happing when the raceway was finished I would pre-lube with a solid type line like SlipStick before any bends or have an oversized condulet so pulling lube can be added. I never just tape a conductor to the group. It is not worth the chance of it slipping and end up short. I started working in the trade in 1979, master license in 1999, until 2018 when a work related injury put me on disability.
This video (along with nearly every Electrician U video) is not only very informative but also quite entertaining! Many thanks for putting these up on TH-cam!
Found this channel thanks to TH-cam's algorithm actually working. I'm just starting my career as an Apprentice Electrician and have a feeling I'll be coming back here frequently.
Just a tip. If you use number labels, take your electrical tape and use it backwards. I.E. non sticky side on the wire over the labels and then turn the tape over and go sticky side. Just make sure you leave a tab to remove your tape when you're done with the pull.
I'm semi-retired now. Our company policy on conduit we never used 4 - 90 degree bends in any run. Underground there are a lot of small twists and up and downs in the ditch that will as you know factor in on the 360 rule. Long pulls man oh man. Parallel 4 inches 6 inches runs for 3 ph service was my favorite pull huge spools of 500 mcm copper wire. I was having fun and getting paid Those ditches looked straight and looked like they would be easy to pull. You get to the workday to pull that 300-foot # 6 or # 8 wire and your running for the pulling motor. I'm new to your channel. I like how intense and involved you are to do the job by code. In my working days, it seems I was always alone in pulling wire by myself ( the small stuff ). I always had a work ethic that I can work with anyone that is safety conscience first. How we get from A to B is a matter of method and the drawings. Man, I am so happy to see someone young and so enthusiastic getting into the real work of being an Electrician. I am a New Subscriber My nickname is Big C. This might be my only comment however I will be watching. Keep on working and be safe. It sucks getting old and retiring from work you love to do.
You know I got to give it to you and I don't give a lot of people respect for knowing what they claim they know you actually somebody who knows what they're talking about you get a lot of respect in my book keep doing what you're doing thank you very much for any knowledge you have given me
I remember pulling 600 mcm through 7.. 90 bends didn't know they did that until we traced the work that was done. It was a nightmare the wire puller was screaming like it was constipated.
@@Nick-bh1fy Believe it when i tell you it made it don't ask me how but at that moment i didn't care i was too angry i hate following other peoples careless work.
It really sucks when you have to pull wire through pipe you DID NOT run...Or at least ONE of the guys working that day, ran. Not knowing the run and having to trace it back to see how many bends BLOWS....We have all been there!
It's alot easier when taping conductors with duct tape to go sticky side up first then go normal over the top of it. I'm beyond shocked you don't do that. It's so when you cut it off with your knife, you don't have tape stuck hardcore to your wires and it comes off super easy
I used to be a contractor for Comcast. I was on the construction side and involved in doing plant extensions, usually underground. The company I worked for believed that less is more and had me work by myself 99% of the time. One of my main jobs was to go into newly built neighborhoods and running cable or fiber from the taps to the residences. The builder would have the conduit installed by the time I arrived, but builders don't usually care about the work they do when it doesn't involve them. I had one builder who had allowed concrete to be dumped down the conduits. Usually the conduits were full of dirt or were crushed. Pulling cable through conduit by yourself is a pain. Had I had your video back then, I probably wouldn't have had to learn the lessons the hard way. I liked telco work, but that company was awful.
By coincidence, today was shut down day to upgrade a commercial service. 3 phase, parallel runs of 600mcm. About 125 feet. Went as well as could be expected. Trust me, D-man is giving great tips in this video about big pulls. Needless to say, gonna hit the sack early tonight.
25:34 Definitely the most valuable lesson I got out of the video. It drives me nuts when I work with people who think after they've starting installing and they wonder why their work is so much harder.
I actually didn't learn anything new in this video. That being said, I have the utmost respect for you as a fellow electrician and it made me feel really good that I have been doing things covered in this video the same as you have all these years. Keep these great videos coming.
So many people believe stainless wont "rust", its stainless not rust-less it will corrode like any other metal, ferrous and nonferrous. Great vid helped a lot on a small project. Glad I readjust to 3/4 & not 1/2.
currently, im taking an electrician class and your videos really clear a lot of things up that I would have questions for. Especially since it's more of a class, so it would look totally different when we do the physical activities instead of all the math.
Cool tips man. At the 20:40 mark you mentioned that You do not tag conductors before the pull bcz the labels come off. A Pro too I can offer is to "Back Wrap" the tape over the labels. It'll keep them in place and when you remove the tape it won't rip off the tags. Keep the videos coming. Matt from Michigan
Just subscribed finally. I'm separating light circuits in my office by putting motion detecting switches in. Currently (haha) there are seven 8 foot dual tube fixtures all on two switches (left and right) and it wastes electricity when I don't need all the lights on when I'm in one part of the office. So breaking these circuits apart, none of the fixtures are bonded nor are there any grounds running in the conduit. Some boxes are bonded but no ground running to them. I'm now going to run ground wires through and make these circuits right. Learned this from you and Sparky Channel.
Ok video. No talk about using tuggers. You could do a whole video on tugger safety and techniques. Tuggers are a great tools to save your crews backs on hard pulls.
As far as lube goes different brands work better than others. Ideal Yellow 77 works amazing but if you ever need to pull those wires out or add another have fun because it just cakes up into a hard sticky mess.
At 11:30 I noticed you are pulling it with some kind of string, what is it? We usually use fiberglass fish tape, it's very strong, doesn't damage cables, and does not rust, plus if you are pulling this string with metal fish tape, the fiberglass will save you some time since you can already pull the cables with it. I am an apprentice in Japan, and this is the first time I saw a metal fish tape, but in the website of the sponsor they do have the fiberglass version, I would recommend that. It's light, durable, and dependable. By the way, I love this channel guys, thanks for the tips!
It's pull line or jet line poly string has a tensile strength around 200 pounds. It's pretty strong. Generally people don't like the fiberglass tapes when they break they can't be fixed and leave fiberglass splinters all over the place. Generally only used working live when you can't shut down. The metal snakes at least you can make new heads and they don't cost as much having to cut them etc.
Had a few 100' nylon ropes made up with a small pulling grip on one end ( for smaller conduits ) and a larger grip on other end. Never heard or used mule tape but looks like a great item. Great ideal more boxes & less bends. Had a lazy boss that loved to install 360 degrees in larger conduit. Worst is when he placed a 60 degree kick right before a 90 degree bend. Longest fish was 200' but several times lazy knuckle head ran over 250' of conduit with bends. Myself and other nite sparky would take off that Saturday he pulled wires in.
Mule tape has an added benefit being used, it has footage markers along it. Making precutting conductors more precise. It comes on various size spools, and is relatively thin, making storage easy.
If you stagger large conductors and remove several strands it will make a much more tapered head for pulling. it does waste more wire but for a long and intricate pull it is worth it!
The journeyman on the job today wrapped a rag around the conductors to make a better head on the end cuz it was getting caught on a coupling with a gap. Shit worked well. Always good to learn things from the old heads
I typically like to use solid ground always. One because it adds a little rigidity to the boat, but once I get to a box or my pull location, I like wrapping solid ground around the ground screw rather than stranded. You can always add a pigtail (I guess).
This is and accepted method in the light commercial and residential sector. Once you get into heavy commercial, industrial and beyond, most owners, engineers, inspectors, etc. have their own preferred methods. From my experience over the last couple decades stranded wire using fork or ring crimp ends with ground screws or bolts, are the most common method. This makes taking grounds loose much easier, and offers a more secure bond with less chance of the screw rotation pushing the wire out from under it. But every one has his own way of getting it done.
Sold a hospital project 45,000 ft of 350MCM THHN in 2008. The contractor first pull had a number of conductors well short of the length they should have been directly from the factory. I watched the contractor make the longest pull only to see them destroying it pulling it out. They worked their asses off making that pull and worked even harder pulling it out of the pipe. To make matters worse, the factory replacement order was short TOO. After witnessing that contractor pulling that size conductor in and out of the conduit, I have a much better appreciation for anyone that pulls large runs with larger sizes of conductor. Not easy work even with a tugger!!
This is the last channel I expected to see giving advice on whether or not to use lube with your partner. Seriously, though, I may be helping someone rewire an entire house in a couple months. Any of these tips are appreciated.
Oh my God, I'm having flash backs of running a new main to an old ass house..... not including the trench digging that was required before the official "pull" ... I've never sweat so much...... it was AWESOME
Learned something new today. I’m a DIY’er always looking to learn from others. I’m getting ready to install flexible 3/4 inch conduit to add an exterior lighting and run 12-2 romex through it, something basic to add lighting to an area where I don’t have any lights. I have an existing external wall mounted light fixture which I’m planning on grabbing the power from to add a new led light fixture about 30 feet from this location. The tips I learned here today gives me a little more confidence as I have never installed conduit before. It makes more sense why you’d want to pre-plan it before installing it. Thanks @ElectricianU for sharing your knowledge. This is one of the best channels I have come across. Keep making this great content. Been a subscriber ever since I first saw the video on how to wire up a receptacle and three-way switches.
1200 ft. pull, 4 #6 and a #8 all THWN, by hand, 33 degree temp in the rain, god knows how many degree bends, damn near a circle from the stadium light to the panel, in 3/4" roll pipe, that we had vacuumed 14 gallons of water out of.... when I saw the head come out the pipe, I felt like I had won a war
Thanks heaps mate! Running 2x 95mm2 cable in 80mm conduit tomorrow and your tips have really made me go from not wanting to do the job to me actually keen as.
Glad to know I’m not the one going up a size. It was expensive for the 1 1/4” but worth it. Pulling 4 4 awgs. At least I hope. Wouldn’t be watching if I had already done. This time I will be using lube, first time trying that. Didn’t know about the bends but I only have 3 90’s and a little bend I made using a little heat.
Excellent instructor, love the profesdional nature and how he describes the job...good visualization...thanks for helping me save time and effort. Duke from N.E. Pennsylvania.
Careful with tough underground pulls with pvc 90s, could cut through the pvc 90 from the pull string burning through if going to fast. Haven't had it happen but I have heard stories, some cases we do rigid 90. Another tip for long pvc runs is using a vacuum to suck a kit string w/ plastic tied at the end, then pulling the muletape in. Faster sometimes than doing fish tape by hand. Superslick thhn wire is pretty nice, learn the half hitch and always have lube like yellow 77. Bonus is a competent young buck to do the pulling.
I've had electricians tell me they do a piece of styrox insulation on a thin string and use a vacuum on one end and leaf blower on the other end. To persuade the string to come through all the bends the guys before them put there.
77 over time dries into a yellow paste that sets like concrete. Good luck getting those conductors out. (I've done a ton of service work where sometimes u have to reuse a piece or run of 4" rigid do to space constraints.) Try to use Dynablue or something clear and water soluble like polywater. Also u must consider if each conductor is the same color but the wire has identifying stripes/ tracers or letters/numbers certain lubes will wipe those numbers right off. Check the sticker on the reel before u set up. This happens more often than u think. Happy pulling guys
OMG that is so true. I've had to dig up and repair several underground runs for this reason. Also if you use one schd size- use it the whole way, or bevel your ends to stop every joint from having a raised edge.
Love the overall bulk of information, great refresher, however, most was relative to commercial/industrial work. In Residential work for example, your pulling with the fish tape, no ifs ands or buts about it. Granted most of the country uses romex, but in Chicago and NY, your using Emt or rigid...no exceptions less it's a MC whip for lighting.
We had to pull into a panel on this one job but through the top according to this jobs spec. So it was a very difficult angle as they were trying to figure out how to do it. I eventually mentioned to try and use two pulleys. One above the panel to the ceiling and one just above the drop into the tugger. They thought it was a great idea. Good thinking apprentice we may keep you around they said but we only got one pulley. The guy that mounted it decided to just put it in the middle of the ceiling between the panel and the tugger without anyone hand feeding up through the panel. I remember me and another guy just standing back as the tugger managed to pull the panel and its bolts clear off the wall and damaging everything. It was pretty disappointing that disaster happened like it did. The guy that did it was absolutely confused and did not seem to care of the disaster he caused. The shop owner was pissed and we all got laid off for that one even those of us not involved with that part of the job. That was not pulling like a pro. It was more like job sabotage. Do not do that. Tell that to the youth of today and they wouldn't believe you.
Once there was a 1/2" emt with 2 90s and a slight offset. There was 2 12s in the tube already and I was trying to push a green wire through for ground. Coworker said he would bet me $100 that I couldn't push it through with a snake or lube. Literally 30 seconds later I said "Hey____ look." Guy would have lost money.
I like your point of not using the metal fish tape to pull with. This makes good sense on long heavy pulls. This is why I use the nylon or fiberglass fish tapes a lot. I will use mule tape when pulling really heavy stuff. Another tip to bring up is leaving a pull string in for future pulls in a conduit.
I might have wandered a bit, but if I expect there to be future growth, I upsize the conduit and add a pull string when pulling the wires. Anyway great refresher. Thanks a bunch.
I used to do intersections where we regularly had 20+ multi conductor cables and we would stagger the ends to keep the head small. We used lube when it was difficult.
The time you might save on bends by adding boxes and joints, could cause you problems if the joints aren't just right. AND, the more joints, the more probability of problems in the future(depending on who is making up the joints and if the"care" that day or not.) So, we would use bends and boxes and only make a joint when needed. Pull to a box... have a"slack/ feed handler" And pull to the next box.. Someone knowing how to be a slack/ feeder helps tremendously and saves time later making joints and possibly connecting the wrong two matching colors and blowing the circuit
Howdy. A piece of Blue Collar Electricial Wisdom: Always pull a thin nylon rope or at least a regular houshold string into the conduit alongside the cable. Makes adding cables later a lot easier. And when adding cables. Always add a new string alongside the new cable. If a household string is used, use that to pull in a nylon rope first. The pull the cable with a new string alongside.
i just did a 95 foot pull with 9 90s so i used Lb boxes at every 90 and restarted my 360 at each 90 degree LB and pulled it all through to each Lb and did it in 2 hours on my own without helpers 3 - 6gauge and 4 - 12 gauge taped together and marked at each end with 25 percent extra wire for stripping needs and vacuumed a string through first tied to a rope tied to the conductors with no need for fishtape 1 1/2 inch pvc 80 conduit/ get her done
Your a good electrician, and an even better educator... any apprentice would be lucky to work with you. You got my sub. Keep that passion, it fits you well.
We used to use a lubricant called " slippery lube " it's yellow in color, but worked great! we would wipe off any excess off the wire on the other end of the conduit!
My electrical instructor mentioned, he would take a plastic bag and tie it to the nylon line and stuff it in the end of the conduit, then on the other end attach a shop vac and use that to pull the nylon string to the other end. IF you have avaliable electricity, this seems like a pretty cool idea!
My first day on the job with a large electrical contractor, I watched an "electrician" with 40 years of experience, shove a metal fish tape, into underground conduit, over 100 feet, with about 15 wires. Most of those wires were high voltage for massive machines at a huge steel mill. They tied on the new wires and he began to pull the fish tape. About half way back, the tape cut into the 3 phase wiring and there was a nice explosion and smoke poured out of the conduit. I asked to be put on a different job site.
I doubt he had 40 years in the field if he thought that was a good idea in the first place.
I just remembered the meme about lying on your resume and landing the job!!
You young man have a very special talent. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of TH-cam videos since YT started. I have seen many excellent presentations but I will say without a doubt that this is by far in the top 1% of one of the most informative and superbly done videos that I have had the pleasure of watching. Your delivery throught and presence is a rarity
yes, I agree. He is a wonderful teacher....and has an incredible knack for relating to real world (job) problems.
Back in the 50's our permissible occupations were dictated by our gender. "Female electrician" was an oxymoron. Now that I'm a 71 year old grandmother, I've discovered how much I love the fine art and science of electrical power. My brain is "hardwired" to understand it, though of course I'll never be able to access formal training. The physical demands are obviously too great. But, to get to the point, I've been rejoicing in the fact that you are speaking to me about concepts I can grasp, because you are so good at teaching them. Thank you for helping me with so many tips, tricks, and safety rules as I rewire the house my grandfather wired in 1930 by himself, in the family tradition of DIY, regardless of my gender and age. Next lifetime I'm coming back as a full time electrician😂!
Well said
Neat trick - A few years ago we were trying to pull large wire through a 5" underground conduit that came up in a concrete transformer pad.
they were able to get a steel cable through the conduit, but weren't able to get the wire through, and had to pull it all back out. Apparently some of the concrete was spilled into the conduit when the pad was poured. To dig it up and fix the pipe, we would have to tear the xformer pad up. Someone decided to tie a knot in a heavy chain and pull in through with a crane truck and it worked the concrete pulled out and we were able to get the conductors in.
Also remind the wire lube man to be very careful when pulling with a mechanical puller. If you get your hand caught between conductors when the stretched rope pulls in spurts you may lose your arm. Also stay clear of the rope at the other end as you could be injured if it breaks.
Hi Dustin,
I just wanted to say that you inspired me to become an electrician, I fallow your youtube channel and watched your video on female electricians, it really gave me the confidence to go and apply for an apprenticeship, I have been working full time since March and the classes begin in two weeks!
I just wanted to say thank you for all the great content you make for us! and all the lessons you share!
Hey, just wanted to see how work is going
I pulled a 2700 foot run of 750 MCM through a cable tray from a MCC to a warehouse in a plastic manufacturing plant. There were 22 corners we had to pull around. I set all the pulleys up and pulled a big rope through them and amazingly every pulley was perfect. We used a big tugger to make the pull and the foreman on the job was so impressed with how well it went, he bought everyone on the job lunch the next day. The next weekend there was a bad storm that blew through and a big piece of sheet metal roofing came off and hit the 750 and it blew in two. There were probably 75 to 100 different wires and cables of every size and shape in that tray and the sheet metal only hit the new one we just pulled. After they were so set on making that run in one pull and keeping it without a splice, we had to go out on a weekend in the middle of the night and splice it. You never know what is going to happen...
That's a heartbreaker
2700' is over half a mile. I'll assume 270'.
@@joshprater8533 LOL... you ever hear what assuming does? We paid for 2750 feet of wire so if the pull was only 270', we got ripped off... I tried to get them to set another utility pole at the corner of the warehouse that we made the pull to but the plant manager didn't want to do it that way. He said it would just make another electric bill to have to pay... Logic escapes some people..... He paid us probably 20 times or more what a pole would have cost.
Thats why polaris taps are the real boss
@@frank_texas7400 what is a Polaris tap?
Your videos are amazing man. Just got my first "professional" commercial electrician job and feel like I've forgot all of my training from 3 years ago. You have helped me feel more confident and some more tips and tricks.
Back wrapping a head is also useful on large conductor pulls. By back wrapping I mean after the head is formed and secure then wrap it with duct tape, one layer, not super tight, with sticky side up, then follow it with a tighter layer covering that with sticky side down. allows for some slip with the conductors head as they move through bends and makes it a hell of a lot easier to remove when the pull is complete.
Another tip is don't overlap the stripped out strands back over the installation. Strip out enough to fold over only on the bare wire, and use your Channel lock pliers to squish the fold smaller. I personally use 3-4 strands from each side of each wire, making sure all the ends lay flat and parallel with the wire bundle. I personally try and stagger the full diameter end of the wire just a bit to make the transition a bit easier to pass through bends. Then with bigger or longer pulls use an extra strand or two as a wrap through the folded section and then tightly around the head to make it small as possible. This helps on tougher pulls with heads coming apart. One more trick I've learned over a couple decades, is a diaper method. Before wrapping with tape, take a rag and wrap it over the blunt end of the head and sharp edges of the wire to make it smooth as possible. When doing this you don't have to back wrap the tape, just cut it off through the rag.
I’m starting my first year apprenticeship within the next few months or so and these videos have always been helpful when I’m doing my tasks, thank you for helping me prepare and hit the ground running 👍
Nice dude, just be sure to ask questions and take notes. Also, a vest with lots of pockets. having whatever your mechanic may need ready, before he asks goes a long way.
Matt...welcome to the world of voltage and amperage!
As an electrician for the past 30+ years it's good to hear a TH-cam channel with Great information... Keep it up, youngsters.
I learned 8 years ago that on pipe over 4inch and long pulls tape a bag of lube to the head and if it gets hung up in the pull it'll bust for you and lube to keep it moving. If not then you had a perfect pull (rare)
That is brilliant!
Interesting
They use to sell small lub bags for that exact purpose a thousand years ago it seems...I will have to talk up the supply house to see if they still have...been a few instances that that would have been kick ass.
This is a great idea
Love it.
I always use your channel for new hires to help them realize what exactly what we are doing and it’s very informative for them. Oh yes Sir, I know if they are really wanting to learn the trade. Thanks for your channel!!
Well said Rob. This guy rocks...
As someone who is a new hire this video helped me tremendously. I have a few years of audio/visual event production and just got my first job dong instillation. The gig is to assist the project lead and run CAT6 speaker cables in conduit. I almost turned the job down because I was unaware of what to do, and what the job entailed. This video helped me realize I'm prepared, and knowledgeable enough to take the gig.
Just started my first electrician job first day is Monday, found your channel and I love how detailed and no-nonsense your videos are, never done this line of work before at all but your content is a huge help in preparing myself for what I'm getting into. Cheers from VA
Good luck with the job!
We pull big wire with a capstan tugger. I’m a big fan of and southwire crimp on pulling heads, but we also occasionally use a spring finger style wire snagger, and yes, I’ve seen a guy stick his finger in a snagger without thinking.
I was hoping for some discussion of tuggers.
I never use fish tape - I use a shop vac and suck a string through the conduit. Works every time!
This is one of the only tricks that sucks but is still the best to beat sadistic conduits.
Yep! Get a plastic baggie and make it into a ballon of some sort (we call it a mouse), tie the jet line to it and use the shop vac on the other end! works every time! As long as the hole you're putting the shop vac on is sealed tight around the hose of the vacuum. If not, you can take cardboard and put the hose end through it, then tape around it, for a secure, air tight seal....
Except for when it doesn't... ISP applications you're better off, but OSP 😬
Water, dirt, debris, etc. - Time to get the Compressor and/or pump out.
when using duct tape on the head I have found that if you wrap the first layer with the adhesive out then flip the the tape over the normal way, especially when pulling large wire that you just don't want to cut the entire head off, makes for easy remove of the tape
I love mule tape. LOVE it. Jet line is good, but I've see a lot of PVC pipes and bushings cut by jet line. And it's hard on your hands and susceptible to breaking. Mule tape is a miracle. Also, in your last section, I thought you were going to talk about a trick I often use if I'm pulling wire into a raceway that already has wire in it. Depending on the wire size, you can add an extra wire to your group and tie on to a wire that's already in the pipe. When you pull it through, your extra wire replaces the wire you used to pull with.
THANK-YOU!
Wiring my shop, because everyone is busy, and thus quoting “my day off” prices. Boxes over bends…you just saved me from adding to my EMT “art” pile😑. Fantastic videos!
You’re the man between the mentors at work and watching your videos I feel like I find a nice balance in the middle that helps me a lot.
The Horrible Fright Tools sells a decent nylon fish tape for cheap. They also sell inexpensive sets of rigid fiberglass pull rods that screw couple together. I have used those a lot. They are great for relatively short straight runs through such places as wall cavities. Fish tapes like to curl and get stuck.
Fiberglass glow rods are a huge life saver when adding or updating in finished walls or ceiling work...amen
I love what you said about imagining the pull in your head. Great advice. Thanks for the vid.
In the UK I have great success using dry lube - talcum powder! Much less messy. Works like millions of ball bearings. And you can blow it through duct. Duct Needs to be new and bone dry of course.
We can thread multi core cable through roof timber here. Talc Works great in drilled wood holes.
Recently did a 70’ pull of 3 #6 & a 10 ground through 3/4 pvc with 4 90s. Up in an attic, out the back to the house, down under the ground then up into a sub panel in a shed. Wasn’t my idea & what a shit show it was. Used vacuum line bcuz couldn’t get a fish tape through. When the line was clearly going to snap we used it to pull the fish tape through. The conductors came off the fish tape twice at the 4th 90 & on the 3rd try it snapped the metal fish tape completely. Brutal especially in the Florida heat. Never again
When you damn near reach the conduit fill it doesn't help your case.
Where we you when I started in 2003? Was an electronic tech for 20 yrs. Then had to learn residential wiring. Then became a foreman in 3 months. Love what you do. Close to retiring. Working on 480 charging systems now... Occasionally doing side work as an electrician.
Well I have done amateur wiring for 30 years and never heard about not using a fish tape to actually pull your conductor. Makes perfect sense. Thank you!
Love the "I don't use fishtape to pull" rule. Worked for a (mainly) residential solar company and the boss always told us to use the fishtapes when we'd do pulls but then would act like you can do that without them binding up. Granted pulls usually were super short but fuuck a fishtape
What's the name of the company?
@@KinGIIRomE , Nah... don't tell.... let me guess. LOL
Can you do a video on tips and tricks on pulling old wire out and new wire into a home? Haven't seen a lot of good videos on TH-cam about this, and I feel it would be helpful to hear from and electrician on the different situations you've come across and how you handled it. Love your videos.
Pulling wires out of a home can have several challenges. Romex is normally stapled onto boards 'X' amount of feet apart, and a couple inches from each box. Sometimes during "the rough in" stage of house buildings wires get run through the studs at various heights and directions as needed to get from A to B the quickest and easiest. Even around corners of the wall. Sometimes it's not worth the hassle to remove if your not willing to damage the surface. Cutting out the box and trimming the wires out of the way is the simple solution, Adding wires back in, you need to create hole path ways for them to run. This proves challenging to me on closed walls and ceilings. There are lots of cross bracing and extra blocking built into houses to make the structure sturdy.
I use the ground wire as a pull string when adding wires to a conduit that already has wires in it
You like doing it the hard way.
Thats what I do too, its like having a fish tape already in there, ready to go!
I do this as well, far easier
@@KinGIIRomE What's the easier way? Much easier to pull with the ground and pull a new ground along with the wires you're adding then trying to get a fish into a conduit filled with wires.
What if the ground is twisted around other wires
Yesterday, my neighbor and I had a hell of a time running around 120 feet of a pool light wire. It became personal, eventually several hours late we were successful. Lots of sweat. We were getting stuck at the end, eventually we stripped of the last 5 feet of sheathing to expose the hot, neutral and ground line just to make the end of the line smaller so it would be easier to get through the final 90 degree turn. If you ever build a pool, ask for the kind of light where you just change the bulb!
The most intense project I ever designed the conduits for in 3D was 5 miles of 3.5” EMT in a 15,000 sq foot electrical room. I had a master electrician sitting next to me for 3 months working out the routing. We both learned a lot on that project!
Damn
@@tuckamojo7660 What? You get the amount of conduit it is in such a small space?
That would be impressive to see installed.
Just an added pro tip for getting your Jet Line or Mule Tape down a run of conduit either a short or long run. you can actually get this done a lot faster than using a fish tape. If you grab a piece of plastic, like part of a plastic bag, or whatever you can find to make a small balloon, you can tie that onto your Jet Line or Mule Tape and just push it into the hole. On the other side you just put your shop vac over the conduit and turn it on. The shop vac will suck the ballon with your line tied to it through in seconds. When I was a low voltage installer we used this method on every job, works like a charm for small and large conduits and saves a ton of frustration and time.
While they have gotten pricey, conduit pistons are made for the job and blow through like greased lightning. But plastic bags are always the emergency backup.
I have never been on a commercial job where solid was even allowed(except in a pinch). 1/2" EMT is perfectly ok. I only bend up to 30 degree bends 99% percent of the time. No 45's or 60's. Keep your fitting set screws on the top or side, never on the bottom. Short pulls with a fish tape are fine. Pull string for longer pulls. Pull rope and tugger for large conductor long pulls. Wire lube as needed. With super short runs, I will push the wire in by hand with a loop on it, like Dustin showed in the video. If it gets stuck, I will run a fish tape in from the other side, twist it, and pull the wire out the rest of the way. Any damage to the head end will normally be cut off and thrown away anyway. Great Video. Thanks, Russ from Oregon
The HEAD
Tapered and not larger then conductors. To ensure maximum flexibility all strands used to make the loop need to be a straight as possible. Any of the exposed strands in the conductors that are removed (cut off) must done so they don’t have sharp points or due to bending when cut increase the size of the grouping.
I use a tube cutter to deeply score the insulation next scorch the outer wrapping so they break off clean and easy and for the second wrap of strands move the cutter a couple of inches toward the end then score those strands. You end up with a tapered length with no razor sharp ends.
I make sure to stagger each of the conductor.
It is quicker, cleaner and safer way to make the conductors into the pulling head.
I wrap the entire length of the head with gaffer tape. Then a layer of cloth that is soaked in pulling compound. If it is a long pull I would attach a compound soaked rag a few feet from the head. Sometimes if the pull was happing when the raceway was finished I would pre-lube with a solid type line like SlipStick before any bends or have an oversized condulet so pulling lube can be added.
I never just tape a conductor to the group. It is not worth the chance of it slipping and end up short.
I started working in the trade in 1979, master license in 1999, until 2018 when a work related injury put me on disability.
This video (along with nearly every Electrician U video) is not only very informative but also quite entertaining! Many thanks for putting these up on TH-cam!
Found this channel thanks to TH-cam's algorithm actually working. I'm just starting my career as an Apprentice Electrician and have a feeling I'll be coming back here frequently.
I have always labeled the wires. Wrap up the labels, good to go. Great channel bro!
Just a tip. If you use number labels, take your electrical tape and use it backwards. I.E. non sticky side on the wire over the labels and then turn the tape over and go sticky side. Just make sure you leave a tab to remove your tape when you're done with the pull.
I'm semi-retired now. Our company policy on conduit we never used 4 - 90 degree bends in any run. Underground there are a lot of small twists and up and downs in the ditch that will as you know factor in on the 360 rule. Long pulls man oh man. Parallel 4 inches 6 inches runs for 3 ph service was my favorite pull huge spools of 500 mcm copper wire. I was having fun and getting paid Those ditches looked straight and looked like they would be easy to pull. You get to the workday to pull that 300-foot # 6 or # 8 wire and your running for the pulling motor. I'm new to your channel. I like how intense and involved you are to do the job by code. In my working days, it seems I was always alone in pulling wire by myself ( the small stuff ). I always had a work ethic that I can work with anyone that is safety conscience first. How we get from A to B is a matter of method and the drawings. Man, I am so happy to see someone young and so enthusiastic getting into the real work of being an Electrician. I am a New Subscriber My nickname is Big C. This might be my only comment however I will be watching. Keep on working and be safe. It sucks getting old and retiring from work you love to do.
Pulling it like a pro, as you say, keep up the good work, you thought me a lot.😎😎😎😎👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
You know I got to give it to you and I don't give a lot of people respect for knowing what they claim they know you actually somebody who knows what they're talking about you get a lot of respect in my book keep doing what you're doing thank you very much for any knowledge you have given me
I remember pulling 600 mcm through 7.. 90 bends didn't know they did that until we traced the work that was done. It was a nightmare the wire puller was screaming like it was constipated.
Did u have to take the pipe apart in certain locations to pull? That seems like it would be impossible to pull otherwise
@@Nick-bh1fy I agree, and damage to the wire 100%
@@Nick-bh1fy Believe it when i tell you it made it don't ask me how but at that moment i didn't care i was too angry i hate following other peoples careless work.
@@chadchotia4114 Um yeah...??... i could imagine but it was on to the next. Nyc buildings i don't know how they stand.
It really sucks when you have to pull wire through pipe you DID NOT run...Or at least ONE of the guys working that day, ran. Not knowing the run and having to trace it back to see how many bends BLOWS....We have all been there!
It's alot easier when taping conductors with duct tape to go sticky side up first then go normal over the top of it. I'm beyond shocked you don't do that. It's so when you cut it off with your knife, you don't have tape stuck hardcore to your wires and it comes off super easy
Backwrap represent!
@@andycopeland7051 haha are you from fl? Maybe it's a Florida thing
@@erich1380 no but I am from a free state tho. God bless all of you in Florida
@@andycopeland7051 haha yeah man definitely isn't ran by deep state shills
That's what we did in when i started doing electrical in iowa
Ugly's reference guide is a valuable thing to keep on hand.
I used to be a contractor for Comcast. I was on the construction side and involved in doing plant extensions, usually underground. The company I worked for believed that less is more and had me work by myself 99% of the time. One of my main jobs was to go into newly built neighborhoods and running cable or fiber from the taps to the residences. The builder would have the conduit installed by the time I arrived, but builders don't usually care about the work they do when it doesn't involve them. I had one builder who had allowed concrete to be dumped down the conduits. Usually the conduits were full of dirt or were crushed. Pulling cable through conduit by yourself is a pain. Had I had your video back then, I probably wouldn't have had to learn the lessons the hard way. I liked telco work, but that company was awful.
By coincidence, today was shut down day to upgrade a commercial service. 3 phase, parallel runs of 600mcm. About 125 feet. Went as well as could be expected. Trust me, D-man is giving great tips in this video about big pulls. Needless to say, gonna hit the sack early tonight.
25:34 Definitely the most valuable lesson I got out of the video. It drives me nuts when I work with people who think after they've starting installing and they wonder why their work is so much harder.
Learned a lot. That’s why the guy was upset because I pulled with his fish tape!
Hahahaha, ya...been there...🤣🤣🤣, live and learn.
90 percent of the pulls I do is with a fish tape.
Pulling with a fish tape is fine as long as your not using the reel to pull just grab the wire and pull then roll it up later with no tension
@@zanekubicek2186 and don't let the tape pull across a sharp edge. Or itll turn into a slinky
I actually didn't learn anything new in this video. That being said, I have the utmost respect for you as a fellow electrician and it made me feel really good that I have been doing things covered in this video the same as you have all these years. Keep these great videos coming.
So many people believe stainless wont "rust", its stainless not rust-less it will corrode like any other metal, ferrous and nonferrous. Great vid helped a lot on a small project. Glad I readjust to 3/4 & not 1/2.
currently, im taking an electrician class and your videos really clear a lot of things up that I would have questions for. Especially since it's more of a class, so it would look totally different when we do the physical activities instead of all the math.
Cool tips man. At the 20:40 mark you mentioned that You do not tag conductors before the pull bcz the labels come off. A Pro too I can offer is to "Back Wrap" the tape over the labels. It'll keep them in place and when you remove the tape it won't rip off the tags. Keep the videos coming.
Matt from Michigan
Just subscribed finally. I'm separating light circuits in my office by putting motion detecting switches in. Currently (haha) there are seven 8 foot dual tube fixtures all on two switches (left and right) and it wastes electricity when I don't need all the lights on when I'm in one part of the office. So breaking these circuits apart, none of the fixtures are bonded nor are there any grounds running in the conduit. Some boxes are bonded but no ground running to them. I'm now going to run ground wires through and make these circuits right. Learned this from you and Sparky Channel.
Sparky has some great conduit bending videos
If the existing fixtures are F96T12 lamps, you may be better off just changing the fixture to LED.
Ok video. No talk about using tuggers. You could do a whole video on tugger safety and techniques. Tuggers are a great tools to save your crews backs on hard pulls.
agreed specialized work, we have dedicated feeder crews for larger stuff
As far as lube goes different brands work better than others. Ideal Yellow 77 works amazing but if you ever need to pull those wires out or add another have fun because it just cakes up into a hard sticky mess.
Noted!
and youre going home yellow. lol
Mineralax is another brand, but Yellow 77 smells better. If you ever have to pull another wire in use the Ground wire and relube to reactivate...
God I hate Yellow 77...
@@andyfletcher3561 I hate it to and will only use it as a last resort.
Super helpful. Can't thank you enough for taking the time to make and post this video.
At 11:30 I noticed you are pulling it with some kind of string, what is it? We usually use fiberglass fish tape, it's very strong, doesn't damage cables, and does not rust, plus if you are pulling this string with metal fish tape, the fiberglass will save you some time since you can already pull the cables with it. I am an apprentice in Japan, and this is the first time I saw a metal fish tape, but in the website of the sponsor they do have the fiberglass version, I would recommend that. It's light, durable, and dependable. By the way, I love this channel guys, thanks for the tips!
It's pull line or jet line poly string has a tensile strength around 200 pounds. It's pretty strong. Generally people don't like the fiberglass tapes when they break they can't be fixed and leave fiberglass splinters all over the place. Generally only used working live when you can't shut down. The metal snakes at least you can make new heads and they don't cost as much having to cut them etc.
Had a few 100' nylon ropes made up with a small pulling grip on one end ( for smaller conduits ) and a larger grip on other end. Never heard or used mule tape but looks like a great item. Great ideal more boxes & less bends. Had a lazy boss that loved to install 360 degrees in larger conduit. Worst is when he placed a 60 degree kick right before a 90 degree bend. Longest fish was 200' but several times lazy knuckle head ran over 250' of conduit with bends. Myself and other nite sparky would take off that Saturday he pulled wires in.
Mule tape has an added benefit being used, it has footage markers along it. Making precutting conductors more precise. It comes on various size spools, and is relatively thin, making storage easy.
If you stagger large conductors and remove several strands it will make a much more tapered head for pulling. it does waste more wire but for a long and intricate pull it is worth it!
Yeah, their heads were huge. I'd have been yelling at them for those....
The journeyman on the job today wrapped a rag around the conductors to make a better head on the end cuz it was getting caught on a coupling with a gap. Shit worked well. Always good to learn things from the old heads
I typically like to use solid ground always. One because it adds a little rigidity to the boat, but once I get to a box or my pull location, I like wrapping solid ground around the ground screw rather than stranded. You can always add a pigtail (I guess).
This is and accepted method in the light commercial and residential sector. Once you get into heavy commercial, industrial and beyond, most owners, engineers, inspectors, etc. have their own preferred methods. From my experience over the last couple decades stranded wire using fork or ring crimp ends with ground screws or bolts, are the most common method. This makes taking grounds loose much easier, and offers a more secure bond with less chance of the screw rotation pushing the wire out from under it. But every one has his own way of getting it done.
Finally, at 9:28 u Finally talk about what should have been mentioned in minute 1. Pulling the head and how to make one up.
I'm not an electrician but I just find this stuff so damn cool to watch and I learn some stuff bout pulling line, fish tape, etc...
Love your channel! Manufacturing plant journeyman here. I direct my apprentices to your channel a lot
Sold a hospital project 45,000 ft of 350MCM THHN in 2008. The contractor first pull had a number of conductors well short of the length they should have been directly from the factory. I watched the contractor make the longest pull only to see them destroying it pulling it out. They worked their asses off making that pull and worked even harder pulling it out of the pipe. To make matters worse, the factory replacement order was short TOO.
After witnessing that contractor pulling that size conductor in and out of the conduit, I have a much better appreciation for anyone that pulls large runs with larger sizes of conductor.
Not easy work even with a tugger!!
This is the last channel I expected to see giving advice on whether or not to use lube with your partner.
Seriously, though, I may be helping someone rewire an entire house in a couple months. Any of these tips are appreciated.
Oh my God, I'm having flash backs of running a new main to an old ass house..... not including the trench digging that was required before the official "pull" ... I've never sweat so much...... it was AWESOME
Good advice works just as well for the beginner as it does for a pro, but a Pro will appreciate it more.
Thanks for the great upload.
Learned something new today. I’m a DIY’er always looking to learn from others. I’m getting ready to install flexible 3/4 inch conduit to add an exterior lighting and run 12-2 romex through it, something basic to add lighting to an area where I don’t have any lights. I have an existing external wall mounted light fixture which I’m planning on grabbing the power from to add a new led light fixture about 30 feet from this location. The tips I learned here today gives me a little more confidence as I have never installed conduit before. It makes more sense why you’d want to pre-plan it before installing it. Thanks @ElectricianU for sharing your knowledge. This is one of the best channels I have come across. Keep making this great content. Been a subscriber ever since I first saw the video on how to wire up a receptacle and three-way switches.
1200 ft. pull, 4 #6 and a #8 all THWN, by hand, 33 degree temp in the rain, god knows how many degree bends, damn near a circle from the stadium light to the panel, in 3/4" roll pipe, that we had vacuumed 14 gallons of water out of.... when I saw the head come out the pipe, I felt like I had won a war
Thanks heaps mate!
Running 2x 95mm2 cable in 80mm conduit tomorrow and your tips have really made me go from not wanting to do the job to me actually keen as.
Glad to know I’m not the one going up a size. It was expensive for the 1 1/4” but worth it. Pulling 4 4 awgs. At least I hope. Wouldn’t be watching if I had already done. This time I will be using lube, first time trying that. Didn’t know about the bends but I only have 3 90’s and a little bend I made using a little heat.
Excellent instructor, love the profesdional nature and how he describes the job...good visualization...thanks for helping me save time and effort. Duke from N.E. Pennsylvania.
Crazy I just pulled some 650 mcm a few months back that fit your description 85 percent 😆 even your part about extra lube in 4 inch
Careful with tough underground pulls with pvc 90s, could cut through the pvc 90 from the pull string burning through if going to fast. Haven't had it happen but I have heard stories, some cases we do rigid 90.
Another tip for long pvc runs is using a vacuum to suck a kit string w/ plastic tied at the end, then pulling the muletape in. Faster sometimes than doing fish tape by hand.
Superslick thhn wire is pretty nice, learn the half hitch and always have lube like yellow 77. Bonus is a competent young buck to do the pulling.
I've had electricians tell me they do a piece of styrox insulation on a thin string and use a vacuum on one end and leaf blower on the other end. To persuade the string to come through all the bends the guys before them put there.
It is a concern with pvc...right on with the rigid...best choice on average imo.
You have to bond those rigid elbows if they are in the middle of a PVC run. Not worth it
77 over time dries into a yellow paste that sets like concrete. Good luck getting those conductors out. (I've done a ton of service work where sometimes u have to reuse a piece or run of 4" rigid do to space constraints.) Try to use Dynablue or something clear and water soluble like polywater. Also u must consider if each conductor is the same color but the wire has identifying stripes/ tracers or letters/numbers certain lubes will wipe those numbers right off. Check the sticker on the reel before u set up. This happens more often than u think. Happy pulling guys
@@michaeldove339 the new klein foam lube is slicker than greased owl pussy. I dont know if it dries into cement though
Pro tip for PCV always face your bell ends so you push the wire off of the pipe edge and not into it.
OMG that is so true. I've had to dig up and repair several underground runs for this reason. Also if you use one schd size- use it the whole way, or bevel your ends to stop every joint from having a raised edge.
Love the overall bulk of information, great refresher, however, most was relative to commercial/industrial work. In Residential work for example, your pulling with the fish tape, no ifs ands or buts about it. Granted most of the country uses romex, but in Chicago and NY, your using Emt or rigid...no exceptions less it's a MC whip for lighting.
I always thought those wiring methods were a bit overkill in those cities, but what the AHJ says goes lol
Hey guy am in Jamaica and your Channel has been a good help for me
We had to pull into a panel on this one job but through the top according to this jobs spec. So it was a very difficult angle as they were trying to figure out how to do it. I eventually mentioned to try and use two pulleys. One above the panel to the ceiling and one just above the drop into the tugger. They thought it was a great idea. Good thinking apprentice we may keep you around they said but we only got one pulley. The guy that mounted it decided to just put it in the middle of the ceiling between the panel and the tugger without anyone hand feeding up through the panel. I remember me and another guy just standing back as the tugger managed to pull the panel and its bolts clear off the wall and damaging everything. It was pretty disappointing that disaster happened like it did. The guy that did it was absolutely confused and did not seem to care of the disaster he caused. The shop owner was pissed and we all got laid off for that one even those of us not involved with that part of the job. That was not pulling like a pro. It was more like job sabotage. Do not do that. Tell that to the youth of today and they wouldn't believe you.
Pull wire pretty regularly and still learned a few things
Once there was a 1/2" emt with 2 90s and a slight offset. There was 2 12s in the tube already and I was trying to push a green wire through for ground. Coworker said he would bet me $100 that I couldn't push it through with a snake or lube.
Literally 30 seconds later I said "Hey____ look." Guy would have lost money.
I like your point of not using the metal fish tape to pull with. This makes good sense on long heavy pulls. This is why I use the nylon or fiberglass fish tapes a lot. I will use mule tape when pulling really heavy stuff.
Another tip to bring up is leaving a pull string in for future pulls in a conduit.
You don't need the fish tape for a conduit run
@tonyllamas5555 yes you do
I might have wandered a bit, but if I expect there to be future growth, I upsize the conduit and add a pull string when pulling the wires.
Anyway great refresher. Thanks a bunch.
The problem with pull string is it can get braided in with the wires worse than another wire. Good on you for upsizing the conduit, though.
I used to do intersections where we regularly had 20+ multi conductor cables and we would stagger the ends to keep the head small. We used lube when it was difficult.
Thanks omg I miss doing electrical conduit there was a bunch of good reminders hope to be back at it soon
The time you might save on bends by adding boxes and joints, could cause you problems if the joints aren't just right. AND, the more joints, the more probability of problems in the future(depending on who is making up the joints and if the"care" that day or not.)
So, we would use bends and boxes and only make a joint when needed.
Pull to a box... have a"slack/ feed handler" And pull to the next box..
Someone knowing how to be a slack/ feeder helps tremendously and saves time later making joints and possibly connecting the wrong two matching colors and blowing the circuit
Working in high voltage substation design I've found your channel very helpful with the low voltage stuff!
Been there done that... 98% I'm pulling wire by myself. Always tough.... Love all your stuff.
Howdy.
A piece of Blue Collar Electricial Wisdom:
Always pull a thin nylon rope or at least a regular houshold string into the conduit alongside the cable. Makes adding cables later a lot easier.
And when adding cables. Always add a new string alongside the new cable.
If a household string is used, use that to pull in a nylon rope first. The pull the cable with a new string alongside.
I never pulled anything bigger than 18-9 though anything longer than 30'. This video was very insightful. Solutions to problems I may never have. 👍😎
First time watching your videos. Good details. Thank you. I’ll hit the subscribe button to help out 👍🏼
i just did a 95 foot pull with 9 90s so i used Lb boxes at every 90 and restarted my 360 at each 90 degree LB and pulled it all through to each Lb and did it in 2 hours on my own without helpers 3 - 6gauge and 4 - 12 gauge taped together and marked at each end with 25 percent extra wire for stripping needs and vacuumed a string through first tied to a rope tied to the conductors with no need for fishtape 1 1/2 inch pvc 80 conduit/ get her done
Your a good electrician, and an even better educator... any apprentice would be lucky to work with you. You got my sub. Keep that passion, it fits you well.
Thanks for the sub!
We used to use a lubricant called " slippery lube " it's yellow in color, but worked great! we would wipe off any excess off the wire on the other end of the conduit!
Your always kicking ass, great work.
What a great channel to help nubs get good
Yes 1/2 sucks. 3/4 is great advice. Keeping real and experience. Thank you.
My electrical instructor mentioned, he would take a plastic bag and tie it to the nylon line and stuff it in the end of the conduit, then on the other end attach a shop vac and use that to pull the nylon string to the other end. IF you have avaliable electricity, this seems like a pretty cool idea!
I sub for you but your contact brings light to my engineering heart and happiness to my hear
The best tip I ever got from the masters was the easiest less exertion way to get things done find an apprentice or someone else to do it 😆
*Competent apprentice
There I fixed it for you :)
I hate entitled attitude like that. If ur able-bodied and have the strength just at least fucking help idc how much you know how to do
For larger conductors, another consideration is "jam ratio".
It's not just for breakfast.
Look it up.