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I’m running into trouble with replacing some of the old loomed wire in black pipe in my 1926 house. If there are two or three wires in a pipe, it always pulls out easily. But with four loomed wires in one pipe, even on a short run of maybe 7 feet with only two 90 degree bends, it’s just plain impossible. The wires break before they move, no matter whether I pull all four at once or try one at a time. Pushing on the other end doesn’t help, either. The area is clean and dry, no rust in the pipe, no hidden boxes. It just sticks like it’s glued. Any tips or tricks for getting it out?
— J.S.
Replies
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b TVMDC
J.S., Cut the pipe with a hack saw or sawzall (in several places if necessary), remove your old wire, then cut the pipe again so you can install a handy box to fill-up the void in your pipe run. You can either pull your new wire all the way through (no splices) or you can splice your runs in the new box(es).
Good luck.
*Bill --I've tried that, and even in small sections, it's still stuck. On this little run, I'm going to end up just demoing all the black pipe and starting over with new EMT. Trouble is, I know I've got some real long runs, 30 - 40 feet, ahead of me. It will be a very major pain if I have to open up the walls for the downstairs switch for the stairwell lights.Is it possible that this stuck stuff was overfused and overloaded in the past, and heat has melted something in the insulation, causing it to stick? If so, maybe those other runs will be OK?-- J.S.
*b TVMDCJohn, I had a similar problem on an old house I bought but I was able to pull out all the old crap and refeed THHN. In your case, I would simply abandon the old wiring and conduit and run EMT downstairs. As for the first floor, you can probably loosen the lock nut on the box and remove the conduit with wire from the basement below. Refeeding flex might be easier than EMT but either would work. Or you could abandon the old boxes altogether by using jiffy boxes and feeding it with Romex. Lateral runs on the same circuit could run along the ceiling of the basement then up as needed.Good luck!