# Clogged Conduit



## midnight-theme (Jan 3, 2015)

i've heard of coke or sulfuric acid being used to clear out concrete before. that might work better than vinegar but im not sure. definitely have someone standing right in front of the conduit when you used the compressed air though. for safety reasons.


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

Go big or go home.
Get a Vac Truck:thumbup:
On a 3/4, something will give


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

Can you separate the conduit into more manageable lengths, even if you have to cut a section or two out of it? Then try only pulling a few pair at a time. You are pulling from the bottom...right? Dump in a bottle of semi-deluted pull soap from the top, and let it soak in for a while, and smack the pipe with a hammer where ever you can get at it.(woulda been better if you hadn't spun them all up with your drill)


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

wcord said:


> Go big or go home.
> Get a Vac Truck:thumbup:
> On a 3/4, something will give


 Hey Frank it still seems plugged.... Frank? 









LOL I like it, it'll probably suck the sludge right outa there, we'll be congratulating ourselves and then the conduit will collapse from the vacuum. But if I could get the boss talked into it :whistling2::thumbsup:

Can you imagine the pipe organ from hell kinda noise that's gonna make, 200' of concrete embedded 3/4 conduit attached to 95% Vacuum at 200 m3/h flow! Lol you'll either discover the brown note and everyone in the city craps themselves or every dog in the country is going to start howling. :thumbup:


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

joebanana said:


> Can you separate the conduit into more manageable lengths, even if you have to cut a section or two out of it? Then try only pulling a few pair at a time. You are pulling from the bottom...right? Dump in a bottle of semi-deluted pull soap from the top, and let it soak in for a while, and smack the pipe with a hammer where ever you can get at it.(woulda been better if you hadn't spun them all up with your drill)


 Wish I could find access to it, whole run except for a foot at each end is embedded. 

By the time I got to it, Bell guys had been jamming steel tapes with a hook and fiberglass round tapes with a ball on the end. I figured the wires were already bunched anyways... Thin steel tape with the end cut at a 45 deg angle just sunk into what felt like thick clay and then jamming in back and forth you could feel like it was pushing though the "wire knot" but then the "clay" density just builds up until you are "stuck".

I like the "soap injection" if I can get things moving, the demark room is going to be a slip and slide.


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

midnight-theme said:


> standing right in front of the conduit when you used the compressed air though. for safety reasons.


So you want to become an apprentice huh, well I've got your first trial task...

:thumbup:

More seriously though 

I even wonder if getting some of that bio-sludge remover for septic tanks or similar would make a dent in that stuff. Then follow up with Coke afterwards to loosen up anything else.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

daks said:


> Wish I could find access to it, whole run except for a foot at each end is embedded.
> 
> By the time I got to it, Bell guys had been jamming steel tapes with a hook and fiberglass round tapes with a ball on the end. I figured the wires were already bunched anyways... Thin steel tape with the end cut at a 45 deg angle just sunk into what felt like thick clay and then jamming in back and forth you could feel like it was pushing though the "wire knot" but then the "clay" density just builds up until you are "stuck".
> 
> I like the "soap injection" if I can get things moving, the demark room is going to be a slip and slide.


If the demark did become a slip n slide that would be a good thing, it would mean the soap made it through. Put plastic over everything. You could either use a drywall saw to access the conduit, or rerun it. And since the place got flooded, the drywall probably needs to be replaced anyway, I would think. :whistling2:


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

joebanana said:


> If the demark did become a slip n slide that would be a good thing, it would mean the soap made it through. Put plastic over everything. You could either use a drywall saw to access the conduit, or rerun it. And since the place got flooded, the drywall probably needs to be replaced anyway, I would think. :whistling2:


When he says embedded I'm pretty sure he means in concrete.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

B-Nabs said:


> When he says embedded I'm pretty sure he means in concrete.


If that's the case, that would put him in the SOL category. He said they were replacing panels, how does one do that if they're embedded in concrete?


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## AK_sparky (Aug 13, 2013)

Is it possible that there is a fitting or compound or something purposely put in there to take the strain of the cable partway down the run?


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

joebanana said:


> If that's the case, that would put him in the SOL category. He said they were replacing panels, how does one do that if they're embedded in concrete?


The particular conduit he is talking about is a tel riser, and it seems to me it is embedded in concrete. I assume the panels are just in framed walls. But I'm not there. Perhaps he can chime in.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

This stuff

http://www.polywater.com/cablfree.html

sounds like it's made for the job ... might be worth a try, I am fairly picky about what I'll put in a pipe.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Another thing you may have already tried, get some tension on the bundle and twist it a little, don't be a gorilla because it could break, but this might break it free of the conduit. Do it top and bottom. The gunk might not go all that far into the tube.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

splatz said:


> This stuff
> 
> http://www.polywater.com/cablfree.html
> 
> sounds like it's made for the job ... might be worth a try, I am fairly picky about what I'll put in a pipe.


Yeah, that's the stuff. We call it whale snot.


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## joebanana (Dec 21, 2010)

B-Nabs said:


> The particular conduit he is talking about is a tel riser, and it seems to me it is embedded in concrete. I assume the panels are just in framed walls. But I'm not there. Perhaps he can chime in.


Yeah, I was just assuming it was a stick/iron frame building. You're right, "embedded" usually means concrete, but, could also mean buried in drywall. The OP wasn't too clear on that. I'm wondering how water got in the pipe, but I guess it depends on how long it was running.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Sulfuric acid, dump a quart in and stand back, it will clear a conduit.


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

If you can blow some air through it, I would be tempted to hook a water hose to the top side and a drain line to the bottom side to flush the conduit out. Of course that assumes that you can accept some additional water damage where conduit leaks.


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## millelec (Nov 20, 2010)

splatz said:


> Another thing you may have already tried, get some tension on the bundle and twist it a little, don't be a gorilla because it could break, but this might break it free of the conduit. Do it top and bottom. The gunk might not go all that far into the tube.


I've done this. Used a come-along with strap wrapped around wire. Don't go crazy, put some penetrating fluid in conduit, and then apply tension until wire is taut. Leave it overnight under tension, then try tugging next day.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I have had that problem and all I can say is one word.
Diesel Fuel.
You need to pour in whatever you think the pipe can hold and then put it in a bind overnight either with a comealong or a tugger.

It works.
Only drawback is the smell.


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

B-Nabs said:


> The particular conduit he is talking about is a tel riser, and it seems to me it is embedded in concrete. I assume the panels are just in framed walls. But I'm not there. Perhaps he can chime in.


100% Correct. 

:thumbsup:


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

jrannis said:


> I have had that problem and all I can say is one word.
> Diesel Fuel.
> You need to pour in whatever you think the pipe can hold and then put it in a bind overnight either with a comealong or a tugger.
> 
> ...


 Never thought of that one. But yeah, too bad the smell (resi apt building) and all the environmentalists that seem to get upset about things like diesel, anti-freeze, acid, c4 and thermite being spread about. :whistling2: :laughing:


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

Mech Diver said:


> Sulfuric acid, dump a quart in and stand back, it will clear a conduit.




Lol and keep a window or two open.


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## hardworkingstiff (Jan 22, 2007)

daks said:


> Never thought of that one. But yeah, too bad the smell (resi apt building) and all the environmentalists that seem to get upset about things like diesel, anti-freeze, acid, c4 and thermite being spread about. :whistling2: :laughing:


I would have a hard time with the diesel also, I bet the Fire Marshal might have an issue also.

I've had great luck with vinegar. 

Plan Y, tell them they have to go wireless. :whistling2: :laughing:


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

daks said:


> Lol and keep a window or two open.


First thoughts that come to my mind are ...

1) Insurance job ... why are you *ucking with an old conduit ?
2) Are all the floors above you (6th floor) without telephone? .. thinking if they weren't they are now 
3) Insurance job ... run a new conduit ! ... Run it outside the building and down if you have to.


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## daks (Jan 16, 2013)

emtnut said:


> First thoughts that come to my mind are ...
> 
> 1) Insurance job ... why are you *ucking with an old conduit ?
> 2) Are all the floors above you (6th floor) without telephone? .. thinking if they weren't they are now
> 3) Insurance job ... run a new conduit ! ... Run it outside the building and down if you have to.


 Plan B is drilling down 3 floors to the same level as the demark. But that can't happen until 2 months from now when remediation (flood, asbestos) is complete on the floors we'd be working on. 

So far it look like only one tenant was on the landlines on that run, and yep they are out of luck.

Other 9 bell runs (10 total) are all showing wire degradation according to bell, so Bell wants to re-run those also. 

There is a lot of older high-rise "rejuvenation" in the area. Bell has similar issues all the time. 

Figuring out a way to "reclaim" bell runs without running new conduit into hallways or out walls may be a little bit lucrative. 

Once Bell tells us which other runs have no customers on them I might make a few "test pig" scenarios... 

So I figure I'd jerry rig a cap that will screw over the conduit fitting that has and air line hose attachment on it.

Twist and add weights or bungee cords to put constant tension on the wire
Try pouring in things like, Cablefree, "A bio-digester" or Vinegar into different conduits. 

Pressurize the conduit with an air compressor. 

Let sit. 

Other idea I'm mulling about, is a pressurized steam system.... 

In this building I don't have to worry, I have a playground to test.

Goal is to come up with method to do it in a building that wants to avoid damage,has tenants in it, safe and won't get environmentalists all over me.


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