I have been running speaker wires all over the building I work in for the last week and most of next week. I’m working solo b/c my help is otherwise occupied. Each room gets 5 wires for the suuround sound, so I’ve been throwing wires as far as I can, going to the next tile and so on. It sucks.
We have moderate ceiling height and suspended ceiling grid in every room. The rooms are not overly large, max would be 18′ x 24′. The ceilings have some obstructions but are mostly clear. Would a Greenlee Fish Stick help me? The cable caster gun? Magic wire genie? I would like to try something but the cost is high and if it doesnt help it would be a waste of time and money.
Any ideas?
Replies
Start with a piece of scrap cove molding or whatever else is long and thin and relatively light. If it works for you then you can spring for the Real Thing.
I simply throw a ball (spool) of string with a sidearm motion. I watched a co-worker use a radio controlled toy ATV take the pull string across the ceiling. When the toy got tangled he just pulled it back. It looked like it had possibilities but I ran a lot more wire than he did that day.
The projection guys here used the radio controlled toy truck trick when they did the Four Star theater. It was a suspended ceiling, 30 - 40 ft. above permanent seats, and a run of about 120 ft. This was for surround sound.
-- J.S.
use some 1/2 pvc , 10 lenghts , couple them together if you need to . cut them down for tight spots ,( their cheap ) ,use duct tape and some scrap wire to make a hook on the end if you need to .
put a 90 on the end so it dosnt get hung up
put a eybolt through a tennis ball and tie a pull string to it . it will work better than the cable caster gun (59.00 I'll nerver see again )
Edited 8/17/2006 2:05 pm ET by skip555
77523.4 in reply to 77523.1
use some 1/2 pvc , 10 lenghts , couple them together if you need to . cut them down for tight spots ,( their cheap ) ,use duct tape and some scrap wire to make a hook on the end if you need to .
put a 90 on the end so it dosnt get hung up
We use the 1/2 pvc conduit but tape a pop bottle on the end of it, top facing foward. We pull a lot in wire trays, and the pop bottle will slide over /under or around wads of other wire, lan, and coaxe already in the tray. Add a a little duct seal in the bottle and it gains enough weight to spear chuck across a long distance.
The fish sticks are great for getting in f/g insulated walls to pull greenfield up/down to get to the termination boxes.
Dave
soda bottles a great idea , I havent used pvc in a long time I was suggetsing it for the OP since he was suggesting low cost I have a set off these , pricey but worth every cent .http://www.mccartenco.com/products/wcpd/index-1796.html
HD has some fishing equipment exactly for what you describe in the electric tools section.
Thats the cable caster from Greenlee. Its not cheap, so I was wondering if it was worth it. Its taking about 2 hours to do a room with the ball and throw the wire method I'm using. Seems like forever with the fiberglass dust tho...
I seldom do this type of work, but found it was worth the price for one job I did. Have used it about three times, but it has already paid for itself in convenience. I could sell it now and be ahead, but I know I will need it again right after I sell it.
I'm going to hit the big boxes this weekend and see what I come up with. I like the idea of pvc conduit but wrestling 10' pcs in the ceiling tile grid would be a pain. I'm not afraid to pay a little more for something that I can use again, but if they only worked in walls or in open ceilings I wouldn't bother. I appreciate the feedback. Any other votes on the cable caster???
You can of course cut the ten-foot sections shorter and then devise some sort of coupling. A friction-fit dowel will likely work in some cases, or you can glue on threaded ends and then use a female threaded coupling between.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
tennis ball with heavy fishing line. Cheap and if it gets lost/trapped/hung you are not out much of anything.
Must be nice to have every office wired for surround sound. Mine is barely wired for electricity......
Al,
they're not offices, they're classrooms, most have a LCD projector hooked up to a screen for the teachers computer, so to save money we bought a $200 surround sound with a vcr dvd player that we hook up to the projector. No TV 's. Saves a ton in the long run, and makes the movies alot easier on the eyes.
I have the greenlee fishstick 12 foot kit. When all of the peices are together, it can be pretty flimsy it makes it hard to push wire into place but pulling is easier. provided you have enough room to accomodate the bend in the poles when placing the wire.
Webby
I bought the fish sticks for running wires up and down the walls in my own house. They were worth every penny. I also have a fish tape for dropping down walls when the sticks may not work. Bought mine at Blowes last winter and can't remember what I paid but I think it was $30-40.
I also used them a couple of weeks ago in our office to run ethernet wires up and down some walls....AND to push and pull wires across the suspended ceiling. With the sticks I only had to pop the ceiling tiles out every 10-15 feet. Made it alot faster.
My 2 cents,
John
J.R. Lazaro Builders, Inc.
Indianapolis, In.
I've used a painter's extension pole. Works pretty well as long as you've got room to get it into the plenum space. (Try putting it in the ceiling closed, and then extending it.)
I like the tennis ball idea...
you could make a contraption that is saw some tree climbers used.
it was a slingshot open bail fishing reel and a lead sinker.
the fishing reel was attached to the bottom of the slingshot. open the bail and shoot the sinker across the ceiling. tie the wire or a light cord to the end and wind it in.
Crossbow?Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
I pulled wire in so many schools I lost count. The best thing I found for one man operation was the fiberglass sticks that are used to clean a chimney. They are much stiffer than the Greenlee and they cost about half. You buy them individually and just screw together as long as you want or need.
Good luck
In case any one wanted to know I went out and got a 12' greenlee fish stick. Did 9 rooms today and pulled over 750' of cable. The stick was a dream. puled over light fixtures, bells, BX, cat 5, and only had a few snags. I would recomend one to anyone doing wiring in a suspended ceiling. I can see that even longer ones would be great for multi room runs. One of the best investments of $37.00 I've made in a long time.