sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring fishtape - fiberglass or metal?

I prefer a 1/8" flat steel tape for most work. I keep one in a winder that is 240 feet, but my most versatile ones are short pieces, say 12-25 feet each. I find them much easier to work with for most jobs, plus they are easy to "flip".

I have a 25' piece of 1/4" flat steel tape for use in solid-insulation walls. I found that filing the ends down to a dull point and drilling a small hole in the end works much better than trying to bend hooks in them.

I have a 50' round Fiberglass one that is 3/16" in diameter that I got from Sandman. It came in its own white PVC tube for coiling. The problem with these things is that they stay perfectly straight and you can't "flip" them. There is also the issue with the factory end fittings that always seem to come unscrewed, in fact I've already lost one of them. The only thing I've found them to be any good for is for short conduit runs when doing live electrical work, or for fishing cables behind aluminum or vinyl siding.

but my most versatile ones are short pieces, say 12-25 feet each. I find them much easier to work with for most jobs, plus they are easy to "flip".

:thumb: Tricks of the trade.

-Hal

I use a regular steel fishtape made by Ideal. I think it's 120 feet.
That and a set of glow rods and I can fish just about anything.
What do you mean by "flip"?

More so "spin", if referring to the same move I'm thinking of. You can effectively break loose a snag, or work your way past a 90, if you can "spin" and push.

If you bend about an intentional "leg" at the end of the tape, say about the last 6" bent at 20 degrees, a each flip will move the tape another few inches over to the left of right. Of course, this depends upon the direction of the flip. This is a great strategy when working in wall cavities.

When working in conduit to overcome bends or rough couplings, the "leg" should only be a minor bend, maybe 5 degrees. This strategy can only be learned through true field experience.

Interesting...so basically the leg lets you move the tape side to side?

Yep, just put a " __/ " bend about six inches from the end. The angle should only be about 15-20 degrees. Each time you twist the tape 180 degrees, the "leg" moves from the left to the right. You can literally "walk" it across a stud or joist bay.

Over time, you'll get a feel for the angle of the bend or length of the leg needed for your particular project. You then adjust it accordingly, hence the value in plain old-fashioned steel fish tapes.

If I have this bend in my tape can I still fish straight across a ceiling or down a wall?

I use a steel tape for conduit. I never use it for walls anymore. Fish Stix by Greenlee are all I use for walls, ceilings, bulkheads and prety much every other application. Rarely use my fishtape anymore.

Chris

You can bend it back with a steel tape. You bend it too many times, just snip the end off. One of the reasons I went that way at the time. To walk a Glow rod, you can either use the hook which takes a while, or tighten a zip tie on, and trim the tail for about 1"-2" length based on conditions. Its great for getting on to the next tile when going across grid.

A single loop of E-Tape on the join is how I keep the ends from untwisting on rods and such, good for the middle sections too.

The reason I asked, I have a 50' 1/8" ideal tape. I use it so rarely that it rusted up on me in storage. I'll take the advice of Tony and Hal, break it out of the case, oil and wind it on something else with a larger loop size. Which will make it easier to play out. I should have thought of that. My guess is that it behaves like a huge aggressive slinky.

As for coiling it, it has a natural lay just like any wire. Worst case I could do an over under loop to get out of a twist. Coiling the 150' Mic snake for IATSE taught me that.

Thanks a bunch. Oh what do I do to get my ugly mug for an icon?