I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC
conduit that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the
basement. The contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with
no bends. I have three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each
end. And I would also like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line.
(Measures about 1 inch.) And I would like to pull at least two 16 gage
insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo

"jimbo" wrote in message
. ..
I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC conduit
that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the basement. The
contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with no bends. I have
three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each end. And I would also
like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line. (Measures about 1 inch.) And
I would like to pull at least two 16 gage insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo


A Google search should get you the electrical handbooks and codes (e.g.
NEC ) for the maximum fill for each conduit size. As a rough rule NEVER
fill a conduit more than 70% to 75%.

gb

"gb" wrote in message
...
"jimbo" wrote in message
. ..
I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC conduit
that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the basement. The
contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with no bends. I have
three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each end. And I would also
like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line. (Measures about 1 inch.)
And
I would like to pull at least two 16 gage insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo


A Google search should get you the electrical handbooks and codes (e.g.
NEC ) for the maximum fill for each conduit size. As a rough rule NEVER
fill a conduit more than 70% to 75%.


The NEC is mostly for wires for the AC lines. It will not apply for the
antenna wires.

The ladder line is not going to work too well in the conduit with the other
wire. There is a minimum distance that it should be placed from other
conductors.

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
ink.net...

"gb" wrote in message
...
"jimbo" wrote in message
. ..
I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC
conduit
that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the basement. The
contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with no bends. I have
three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each end. And I would also
like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line. (Measures about 1 inch.)
And
I would like to pull at least two 16 gage insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo


A Google search should get you the electrical handbooks and codes (e.g.
NEC ) for the maximum fill for each conduit size. As a rough rule NEVER
fill a conduit more than 70% to 75%.


The NEC is mostly for wires for the AC lines. It will not apply for the
antenna wires.

The ladder line is not going to work too well in the conduit with the
other
wire. There is a minimum distance that it should be placed from other
conductors.

Ralph -

I am not referring to the AC portion of the NEC, RATHER I am trying to
highlight the maximum fill (diameter of each cable and maximum pull).
ever try to "pull conductors" through conduit when this rule is NOT followed
??

I have, it's pain .. in the xxxx.
Easy read and math calculations are minimal with tables supplied --- number
of conductors and O.D. versus the I.D. on conduit.

"gb" wrote in message
...
"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
ink.net...

"gb" wrote in message
...
"jimbo" wrote in message
. ..
I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC
conduit
that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the basement.
The
contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with no bends. I
have
three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each end. And I would
also
like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line. (Measures about 1 inch.)
And
I would like to pull at least two 16 gage insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo


A Google search should get you the electrical handbooks and codes (e.g.
NEC ) for the maximum fill for each conduit size. As a rough rule
NEVER
fill a conduit more than 70% to 75%.


The NEC is mostly for wires for the AC lines. It will not apply for the
antenna wires.

The ladder line is not going to work too well in the conduit with the
other
wire. There is a minimum distance that it should be placed from other
conductors.

Ralph -

I am not referring to the AC portion of the NEC, RATHER I am trying to
highlight the maximum fill (diameter of each cable and maximum pull).
ever try to "pull conductors" through conduit when this rule is NOT
followed
??

I have, it's pain .. in the xxxx.
Easy read and math calculations are minimal with tables supplied ---
number
of conductors and O.D. versus the I.D. on conduit.


Yes, I have. I work at a large industral plant. Some of the wire I have
pulled has been in 1 inch conduit that was probably 90% full of # 12 wire
already. Still needed to get another pair of wires through that. I have
cut a couple of wires in the conduit and used them to pull in wire to
replace them and two new wires. No room in the conduit to push a snake
through and pull the new wire in. Use lots of the wire pulling grease.
Most of the wires are control wires and only have about an amp or less on
them. We are not worried about overheating the wires in the conduit, but
need to add new control circuits to a 40 year old plant. As you said it is
a pain.

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
ink.net...
Ever try to "pull conductors" through conduit when this rule is NOT
followed ??

I have, it's pain .. in the xxxx.
Easy read and math calculations are minimal with tables supplied ---
number
of conductors and O.D. versus the I.D. on conduit.


Yes, I have. I work at a large industral plant. Some of the wire I have
pulled has been in 1 inch conduit that was probably 90% full of # 12 wire
already. Still needed to get another pair of wires through that. I have
cut a couple of wires in the conduit and used them to pull in wire to
replace them and two new wires. No room in the conduit to push a snake
through and pull the new wire in. Use lots of the wire pulling grease.
Most of the wires are control wires and only have about an amp or less on
them. We are not worried about overheating the wires in the conduit, but
need to add new control circuits to a 40 year old plant. As you said it
is
a pain.

Ha ha ha .. well we did follow up work behind the same guy !! :-)

Sadly, the grease did not help in one of my situations with 3/4" conduit ..
had to finally tear out of wall and then replace with 2 conduits for the
wire runs.

gb

jimbo wrote:
I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC
conduit that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the
basement. The contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with no
bends. I have three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each end. And
I would also like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line. (Measures
about 1 inch.) And I would like to pull at least two 16 gage insulated
control wires.

I specified a similar PVC conduit when our home was built. I simply
"dropped" the cables down the conduit from the attic, and let gravity do
all the work. If you drop them all down together at the same time you
should have no problems. The LMR240 and control wires will be fine, but
ladder line in the same conduit with all those other wires probably
won't work very well.

73, John NU3E

I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC
conduit that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the
basement. The contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with
no bends. I have three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each
end. And I would also like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line.
(Measures about 1 inch.) And I would like to pull at least two 16 gage
insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.



I think you can get those three coax lines down the straight conduit
if you stagger the PL-259 connectors, however, once you have a couple
cables in the conduit, you may find there isn't enough room for a PL-259
to squeeze by, so you may need to remove the connectors, pull the cables
and then reinstall them. Three LMR240s and two control cables are going
to fill that conduit more than you realize!

As far as the Ladder line goes, DON'T ! It will be nearly useless
packed in with all that coax and wire as it needs several inches of
SPACE around it to function properly, with no nearby metal objects. That
coax braid in close proximity will drastically reduce its effectiveness.


Ed K7AAT

Jimbo,

It's going to be crowded in that conduit, so don't rely upon gravity to get
that stuff down the pipe. Three suggestions:

1. Buy a 25 foot electrician's steel snake (Home Depot, Lowe's, ...), use
this to pull the wires through; or drop a length of poly line/guy string as
a pull line. If gravity does not get the pull string through the conduit,
tie a lightweight object to the line and suck/pull with a leaf blower or
vacuum cleaner.

2. Stagger the pl-259's and open cable ends as much as possible so that this
looks like a pointed, rather than a blunt, object going through the conduit.

3. When you're pulling the wires into the conduit, do your best at the feed
point to keep the wires "straight" and not twisting into the conduit. This
takes less space and permits you to do item #4 .

3. ADD A PULL STRING IN THE CONDUIT WITH THE WIRES! So when you're all done,
three months from now, and you realize you just want to add one more little
4 conductor cable (or whatever!), you can do it without completely
dismantling the cables. {been there, done that}

--
-larry
K8UT
"jimbo" wrote in message
. ..
I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC conduit
that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the basement. The
contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with no bends. I have
three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each end. And I would also
like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line. (Measures about 1 inch.) And
I would like to pull at least two 16 gage insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo

On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 08:29:29 -0700, jimbo wrote:

I am getting close to pulling some cable through a 1 1/4 inch PVC
conduit that runs about 20 feet from the third floor attic to the
basement. The contractor claims the conduit is a "straight shot" with
no bends. I have three LMR240 cables with PL259 connectors on each
end. And I would also like to pull a 450 ohm length of ladder line.
(Measures about 1 inch.) And I would like to pull at least two 16 gage
insulated control wires.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Forget the ladder line! It will be a disaster.





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