OT: Vacuum to pull thread through conduit...?

[NorthIdahoWWer]

Wouldn't that suck? heh heh

[J T]

Sun, Feb 27, 2005, 3:49pm (EST-1) [e-mail] claims: Pull either another phone wire or network cable (whichever is cheaper) along with the fiber optic wire, using either the old phone or network cable. Reconnect the new phone/network cable and then take your time figuring out the fiber optic connection. Bob's your uncle.

I'd probably just tie a piece of string to the original, use the original to pull the new thru, then I'd be using the string to pull the original back.

And, Bob's not my uncle. Don is.

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

[Kenneth]

Howdy,

To all kind enough to respond, and to those others who held me and my conduit in their prayers I offer the following:

It seemed that I had very little to lose by trying the balloon approach...

First, I got my shopvac in place and sealed its hose around the conduit's junction box. That box is glued in place so that process took about a mile of duct tape.

I then went the 400' or so to my barn (the other building from which I wish to pull the fiber cable.)

To my pleasant surprise, the vacuum was strong.

I turned off the shopvac, jumped into the car, and headed for our small town to get some balloons.

The only place likely to have them was the drugstore because it has a "party section."

As I drove, I kept thinking "drugstore... torpedo shaped... flexible... strong enough to take the abrasion... I then remembered the suggestion that it be lubricated if possible..."

I pulled into the drugstore parking lot, ran to the pharmacist and asked:

"Do you have any urethane condoms?"

"Yes", she said! "They are right over there."

I drove to my barn with a familiar anticipation perhaps reminiscent of the last time I had purchased condoms years ago.

I inflated my purchase slightly, tied it to the thread, ran to my home and started the shopvac.

I ran back to the barn, placed the condom near the opening of the conduit and then with one gulp it was gone.

The thread came off the spool so fast that it whistled...

Thanks to all of you, the pull thread is in place!

All the best,

[J. Clarke]

You could, of course, try the _original_ method--the device that gets blown by air pressure is, as others have pointed out, called a "mouse", but the reason for it is that before compressors were readily available, a _real_ mouse was used, pulling a string as he went after a piece of smelly cheese at the other end. Suggest using a piece of "glide" dental floss as your first messenger if you do that, it's light and it's low-friction so the mouse should be able to haul it--once it's through then pull successively heavier monofilament until you've got something that will handle the fiber. Neat thing about mice is that they can get through holes you wouldn't believe. Annoying thing is that if the hole isn't quite big enough they'll adjust the size to the detriment of your cables.

[Doug Miller]

See here for another unusual use of the same:

was me, some years back...

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Earl Creel]

(SNIP)

[Kenneth]

Hey Doug,

Had it gone another way, the resulting fire would also have taken care of the bees I suppose...

All the best,

[Scott Lurndal]

Use the network cable to pull both a new network cable and the fiber at the same time (or a new network cable and a pull string)>

scott