atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring tough pull, looking for suggestions

Hey everyone!

I am running some Cat3 across a building, into a cooler with doors. (Like the ones you see at the supermarkets/grocery stores.) There are two coolers, an older (25 years) one which is smaller, and a larger one which was wedged right up next to the old one. I am trying to get that cable into the cooler next to an already existing hole for the alarm, the problem I am having is that because they are so close and they are so thick (the sides are layered: metal, insulation, wood, insulation, metal) I can't drill through and pull a fish tape/wire in, everything just gets lost. The alarm wire is visible from the cieling and I can just barely see the hole it goes into which is really small above the cooler.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get that small two-pair Cat3 into the cooler, please post them. Even if they don't seem practicle since this isn't a normal pull.

Thanks a bunch.

Do you have a bell-hanger/installer bit? I would think you should be able to get one that's good for wood and metal, and long enough to go through all the layers of the cooler.

I don't have a bell installer bit. I have a case of wood/metal/and concrete bits for my drill, and none of those would clear it through to get me on the other side. I can see the insulation pushed through the other side (on the cieling of the cooler) but that's it. Can't find the hole, just the outlying insulation.

Topher, do you want to borrow a bell hanger bit? I have 1/4" and 1/2" by 18". I also have the 12-inch "B" plastic tubes that fit a 1/2" hole that will protect the wire from sharp edges through up to a 12" wall. You can use one of these tubes from either side to keep the metal walls from compromising the cable. I will send you this stuff on Monday morning if you are willing to pay for shipping charges and return the bits when you are done.

I'm not too sure if the bell bit would help, I have some really long bits, and they get through the wall (I think) It's just getting the wire into that hole after it's drilled... Once I move the insulation away from the hole, I can't find it!

topher,
If you are getting your drill through, go to an auto parts store and get brake tubing or whatever size tube will fit your wire to insert into the hole, slide the wire in and either leave the pipe in place or slide it out over the wire to reuse. That is the poor man's tube Ed mentioned.

SBC used to issue these metal tubes for thick areas like drilling the floor of a mobile home so we didn't have to cut holes in the underlining.

you can pick up brass tubing in the hobby section of the hardware store or a hobby shop.

I used to use that for fishing wire through the insalation in the floors on mobile homes . like kld said .

this got me thinking about why I dont use the tubing anymore .

tubing is the cheapest but heres a couple of tools that I now carry that would probably do the job .


and/or
https://www.lsdinc.com/cgi-local/se...te=templatekk2.html&output_number=20

a excuse to buy new tools is alwasy good

no ?

Never heard of the tube things, I'll have to look them up. Not seeing what you have makes it a little hard. If there's an alarm wire already there use it for a pull wire and pull a string with you to pull the alarm back. A splice in an alarm wire isn't going to hurt anything.

Ooops, my error. I was thinking of the metal ones. The tubes Ed is talking about were originally a white plastic (Bakelite?)or ceramic and were used for entry into a house for overhead drops when they still used cloth covered drop wire. They had a rolled lip on one end to smooth the entry. They come in handy for brick, concrete, or metal building entrances. With the SNI now outside and normally buried, they are seldom seen anymore.

If you didn't use the tube you were supposed to wrap three layers of tape around the drop to keep it from wearing through. This was below the strain relief and the entrance.

This has turned into a trivia thread. Sorry.