Draw wire through 130m duct

Set of 10 drain rods £15 for a weekend. can't be far off 1m each so two sets, £30??

Doh! Order of magnitude out - must be too late in the day! Forget that! /hides in shame/

Compressed air is probably the way to go, but you will need a vast air reserve -

I calculate volume as 0.2 cubic metres or 7 cubic feet. You need a compressor that can dump several times that quickly.

Begs the question why a draw rope wasn't inserted as it was laid.

AWEM

No! Only bad suggestions:

Ferret Flood tunnel and use a wire atatched to the tail of a fish. Radio controlled car with wireless camera so you can stop if you get to a puddle! Firework rocket with fine wire Big magnet on surface to pull a metal weight along (you need one of the Acme brand magnets that doesn't obey the inverse square law). Collect tent poles from the abandoned junk after a rainy pop festival and use them to push through.

Andy

Actually a toy car isn't such a bad idea. Any jumble sale should get you a few old Rc cars - and some have caterpillar tracks. The RC bit isn't needed. You could probably waterproof one well enough to handle water once, and if it fails drag it back out. (making sure your draw wire is strong enough!)

Andy

In article , Ricardo writes

Hungry Ferret at one end .. bunny rabbit at 't other!..

Small fan to push smell of bunny down the pipe!.

Seriously it has been used!..

The air and bag idea is quite a good one..

Going back a good few years, I've seen paddies using a tennis ball with a length of string attached, blown through with the output from a road breaker type of compressor.

|!On 27 Mar 2007 07:41:03 -0700, Ricardo wrote: |! |!> I need to get a draw wire through a 130m of buried duct its 140mm |!> internal dia, it does have slight smoothe bends nothing serious, So |!> far compressed air and a carrier bag has been pondered as too has a |!> radio controlled car the latter of the two I am reluctant to try due |!> to possible rain water sitting in the bottom. |! |!Going back a good few years, I've seen paddies using a tennis ball with a |!length of string attached, blown through with the output from a road |!breaker type of compressor.

When you get it in leave it there, you always need it again

On 27 Mar 2007 07:41:03 -0700, "Ricardo" mused:

Yep.

Somebody asked almost the same question here about a year ago, and spawned a long discussion which may be useful:

In message , Ricardo writes

Are there no mid points on the run for access? That's a long run.

I tend to use a dedicated utility sized snake that comes on a metal reel when I'm doing cabling between manholes in the street.

In message , Andy McKenzie writes

No it's an absolutely terrible idea that may require digging up several areas of the ground and opening the pipe to discover where the radio controlled car has blocked it. RC signals don't pass through damp earth too well anyway.

Underground cable ducting does flood, it also fills with grit and other s*it.

Big huge nylon feed-wire is a good choice. The compressed air system and "rabbit" is commonly used by some utilities. But they tend to use their jack-hammer compressor.

In message , Lurch writes

That's the one... It's amazing how well it goes through ducts.

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:58:03 GMT, Clive Mitchell mused:

I've got an offcut of one, about 20-25m long, that I have for long runs on trays, above ceilings etc. It's flaming lethal, you have to unwind it gently then run when it starts to let go and try and lay itself out flat! You wouldn't think it was that dangerous after using one that comes on the reel as it just rolls on and off easy as anything.

Sounds like a job for a ferret to me :-)

In message , The Natural Philosopher writes

It would never fit down the duct though;-)

Instead of compressed air - how about a vacuum cleaner and a carrier bag (attached to fishing line)

I know this work really well for smaller ducts, and I have done it several times, but on your run and bore, you might need a "super Hoover" to make it work!

Or if the run is down hill, then you could attach a tennis ball to a line, then squirt water down. to push it through

BT/NTL etc have a fiberglass rod on a reel, but I doubt that it would be

Tie/tape a line to a rat's tail, it will probably end up the other end, eventually!!

A large-ish firework rocket with the stick removed may well work, but I guess you would need the first meter or so of line to be metal, or it would probably burn/melt!..preferably one that doesn't end with a large BANG - one of the screamers would be best I guess

Sparks...

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:17:52 +0100, "Sparks" mused:

You didn't read any of the other replies then.

You're comment about the rolls that BT use not being 130m because they are closer, what does that mean, I can't work it out.