# water in underground conduit. Leaf blower saves the day.



## rockironwebb (Nov 5, 2012)

*water in underground conduit. Leaf blower saves the day. Video link of the blowout.*

Had five 4 inch pvc runs loaded with water today. 300' run from corner to corner of apartment building. I'm glad the 2 guys that were doing our under ground work are now the 2 guys that use to do our under ground work,,,,,,never did have a smooth pull with them.......I have used a 185 cfm compressor to blow out pipes in the past but today one of our guys had a backpack leaf blower on his truck (part time landscaper) We used duct tape to connect a 90 to the leaf blower and it worked great. Was able to suck the mouse through no problem. If ever in the future I run into "wet" pipes,,,I imagine it would be cheaper to rent the leaf blower than it would the 185cfm compressor.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

rockironwebb said:


> Had five 4 inch pvc runs loaded with water today. 300' run from corner to corner of apartment building. I'm glad the 2 guys that were doing our under ground work are now the 2 guys that use to do our under ground work,,,,,,never did have a smooth pull with them.......I have used a 185 cfm compressor to blow out pipes in the past but today one of our guys had a backpack leaf blower on his truck (part time landscaper) We used duct tape to connect a 90 to the leaf blower and it worked great. Was able to suck the mouse through no problem. If ever in the future I run into "wet" pipes,,,I imagine it would be cheaper to rent the leaf blower than it would the 185cfm compressor.


That's what I call getting it done...:thumbup:


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Why remove the water? Going to get full again anyway.


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## rockironwebb (Nov 5, 2012)

it is impossible to suck a mouse, or bag, through a 300 foot 4 inch pipe full of water. No mouse or bag, no string,,,no string,,,no rope,,,no rope,,,no way of pushing 5 600mil cables through 300 feet of pipe.


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## CADPoint (Jul 5, 2007)

rockironwebb said:


> it is impossible to suck a mouse, or bag, through a 300 foot 4 inch pipe full of water. No mouse or bag, no string,,,no string,,,no rope,,,no rope,,,no way of pushing 5 600mil cables through 300 feet of pipe.


I tend to agree with drawing a mouse through all that. Your working with 4" pipe the PSI to gain compression should and would have been taken longer and larger then your expressing. Frankly there should have been a good slap from the existing H2O in the works...( not mentioned ), if it worked right.

Frankly the compariable ratios of a landscaper works and a true compresor just ain't there...


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## kbsparky (Sep 20, 2007)

I had to hire a sewage pumping truck to evacuate a 4" line on one of our jobs. Took `em about 30 seconds!


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## rockironwebb (Nov 5, 2012)

i apologize not including more detail... Tried the mouse at first,,,bout 100' and dead stop, on all five 4 inch pipes, roughly in the same area,,100 feet or so and dead stop,,,same with the bag. Both bag and mouse were soaked when they came out. I was getting some water with the shop vac but not enough to clear a pipe for mouse or string,,I could hear the water settling when the shop vac was turned off. I had my doubts about the leaf blower myself,,,thinking of the weight of water and the slope of pipe and just what kind of pressure would clear out enough water so I could pull my line. But, it worked. I forgot that I have a video. The pipes are ran like so, NW corner stubbed up 8 feet (electric control room 1),,stright down 90 to the east for roughly 150 feet, 90 south another 150 feet and the 90 up into the room in this video (electric control room 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cud22qWGaCw&feature=plcp


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## mikeh32 (Feb 16, 2009)

props to you on actually having a video to back it up


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## tim123 (Feb 15, 2009)

dang thats a lot of water..


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

John Valdes said:


> Why remove the water? Going to get full again anyway.


Are you trolling? You should remove the water before a pull so the conductors dont wick water through the strands.


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

The other way I do from time to time is use the small plastique ball and stuff it in lightly then use the compressour to push all the water out but only one major drawback is make sure no one is at the end of the run due the pressure on the compressour can really kick it pretty hard.

Nerf ball is one of few cheap balls I can use to push the water and gunk out pretty decent.

Merci,
Marc


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## user8640521 (Jan 17, 2009)

rockironwebb said:


> i apologize not including more detail... Tried the mouse at first,,,bout 100' and dead stop, on all five 4 inch pipes, roughly in the same area,,100 feet or so and dead stop,,,same with the bag. Both bag and mouse were soaked when they came out. I was getting some water with the shop vac but not enough to clear a pipe for mouse or string,,I could hear the water settling when the shop vac was turned off. I had my doubts about the leaf blower myself,,,thinking of the weight of water and the slope of pipe and just what kind of pressure would clear out enough water so I could pull my line. But, it worked. I forgot that I have a video. The pipes are ran like so, NW corner stubbed up 8 feet (electric control room 1),,stright down 90 to the east for roughly 150 feet, 90 south another 150 feet and the 90 up into the room in this video (electric control room 2)
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cud22qWGaCw&feature=plcp


i'm impressed... i'd a never figured a leaf blower to have the
power to displace water like that.... something to remember....

i'm a big fan of using a vacuum and sucking in a line BEFORE
backfill, concrete, etc.... a lot of effort goes into keeping dirt,
sand, etc out of a pipe... and vacuuming as soon as the pipe
is ran, before any moisture can get in the pipe solves that
problem.

i just finished a slab up last night that'll get poured monday,
a couple hundred 3/4" pvc in the slab, and everything is vacuumed
clean, string sucked in, GRC couplings on top of nipples, pipe
plugs in the couplings, 10' of string coiled up and stuffed into
each end, and a dab of tape over the pipe plugs to keep slurry
off the plugs so they come out easily.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

dibs Greenlee markets a string sucker with the _amazing_ likeness of a leaf blower @ 5X's the cost next year.....

~CS~


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## rockironwebb (Nov 5, 2012)

I am gonna push to get the string fished immediately after the pipe is laid on the next job. Makes money sense,,,spent 3/4 of a day to get the 5 pulled,,,
I've seen the Greenlee "vac",,,,never used one. Always thought it seemed like an expensive shop vac,,,,,the adapters and attachments looked like they could be useful. Picked up all of our wire for these 300' runs yesterday,,,,gonna pull today,,,big money Saturday!,,gotta love winter time OT. Boss just bought a new tugger which i'm eager to see if it was worth the money.


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

rockironwebb;857366[B said:


> ]it is impossible to suck a mouse, or bag, through a 300 foot 4 inch pipe full of water.[/B] No mouse or bag, no string,,,no string,,,no rope,,,no rope,,,no way of pushing 5 600mil cables through 300 feet of pipe.


...that's was a mistake, strings should have been pulled as soon as run was complete to reassure conduit run completely assembled, before anything gets poured/built over conduit run.


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

rockironwebb said:


> I am gonna push to get the string fished immediately after the pipe is laid on the next job. Makes money sense,,,spent 3/4 of a day to get the 5 pulled,,,
> I've seen the* Greenlee "vac",*,,,never used one. Always thought it seemed like an expensive shop vac,,,,,the adapters and attachments looked like they could be useful. Picked up all of our wire for these 300' runs yesterday,,,,gonna pull today,,,big money Saturday!,,gotta love winter time OT. Boss just bought a new tugger which i'm eager to see if it was worth the money.


...I can accomplish the same thing with a $15 shop vac, string, and a plastic bag.


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## rockironwebb (Nov 5, 2012)

well, like I said,,,,,I'm glad that our underground guys are now our former underground guys. I've been "upgraded" to deal with the big stuff on our jobs. The 2 guys that were laying pipe never ever touched any wire, or string, or rope,,so I guess they never learned the importance of getting it done right the first time. I won't have another underground job til spring but I'll do my best to make sure it gets done right.live in learn.


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## socalelect (Nov 14, 2011)

I've always used a towable compressor and never had a problem shooting a rope 500 or more feet in conduit full of water I've even blown rats out of conduit with the water and a wad of rope that the rats pulled in and made a home with


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## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

rockironwebb said:


> it is impossible to suck a mouse, or bag, through a 300 foot 4 inch pipe full of water. No mouse or bag, no string,,,no string,,,no rope,,,no rope,,,no way of pushing 5 600mil cables through 300 feet of pipe.


I see your point, but I also have seen many a water filled conduit used without removing the water first. Each situation has its own unique circumstances. 



TOOL_5150 said:


> Are you trolling? You should remove the water before a pull so the conductors dont wick water through the strands.


Wicking sure gets alot of attention here last few days. 
In my 32 years in this trade, I cannot count one time when wicking ever entered my mind or was a concern on any job.
The only time I ever heard the term wicking was when my superintendent mentioned the rolls of wire on my truck should be covered to prevent wicking. ( The rolls were on pulling racks)
I dismissed his suggestion as quick as he walked away. Never gave it a second thought until it was mentioned here.
Frankly I have never had an issue with wicking. Now, it is possible some gear I pulled wire into got flooded after I left? 



socalelect said:


> I've always used a towable compressor and never had a problem shooting a rope 500 or more feet in conduit full of water I've even blown rats out of conduit with the water and a wad of rope that the rats pulled in and made a home with


Exactly. When we shoot a string we expect water in every buried conduit. We just make sure no one is near the end. No need to soak someone with god knows what.


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## rockironwebb (Nov 5, 2012)

Started pulling today. all went well and the new tugger (porta pull 10K) worked great,,,,,,,,,until some brick idiot ran over our rope with a skid steer (track loader),,,,,,,,,rope wasn't severed, but we did not want to risk a break. The brick guy thought it was no big deal and said "oh my bad,,I'll run and get you a new rope if you want",,so I asked if he had $500 on him. Oh well we'll finish up monday.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhkyuO8vZ04&feature=plcp


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