# Some more underground photos



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

That bottom photo makes me cringe when I think of pulling wires through it. Why not heat up the pipes and make longer sweeps instead of using factory 90s?


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Didn't have any trouble pulling the wire in those 4" conduits. Each conduit had 4-750 AL. in it.


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

480sparky said:


> That bottom photo makes me cringe when I think of pulling wires through it. Why not heat up the pipes and make longer sweeps instead of using factory 90s?


Assuming the sweeps are at least code minimum radius, increasing the radius will not reduce the amount of pulling tension required.


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

480sparky said:


> That bottom photo makes me cringe when I think of pulling wires through it.


 I don't understand why it makes you cringe. I have never had any trouble pulling wire through conduit that has factory 90's in them.


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## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

The pipes stubbed out of the ground, what are they going into?


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Black4Truck said:


> The pipes stubbed out of the ground, what are they going into?


 Pad mount transformer.


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## dawgs (Dec 1, 2007)

Looks good William, you and your men do great work. Pulling large conductors is why man invented tuggers, factory 90s work fine as Bob said.


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## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

I was told that it is always better to use RMC sweeps in a slab to keep the rope from burning through the PVC :blink:

Another urban myth?


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## Shado (Jan 1, 2009)

Black4Truck said:


> I was told that it is always better to use RMC sweeps in a slab to keep the rope from burning through the PVC :blink:
> 
> Another urban myth?


I'm sure there a validity to that....but, the cost may prohibit it..not sure.


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## Shado (Jan 1, 2009)

I ahve never been involved in anything like that...but the pics sure look like it would be fun to do, for the experience.


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## Bob Badger (Apr 19, 2009)

Black4Truck said:


> I was told that it is always better to use RMC sweeps in a slab to keep the rope from burning through the PVC :blink:
> 
> Another urban myth?


No myth, you can burn through a corner with the rope, or you can make out fine with PVC, all depends on how hard the pull is.


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

dawgs said:


> Pulling large conductors is why man invented tuggers, factory 90s work fine as Bob said.


 You got that right. I wouldn't even try to pull large wire without a tugger.


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## lectricboy (Mar 11, 2009)

Black4Truck said:


> I was told that it is always better to use RMC sweeps in a slab to keep the rope from burning through the PVC :blink:
> 
> Another urban myth?


Not a myth, it's happened to me.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

william1978 said:


> I don't understand why it makes you cringe. I have never had any trouble pulling wire through conduit that has factory 90's in them.


 
I think all he means is, whoever ran the pipe made it harder than it has to be. At least one 90 could have been eliminated by digging the ditch a little different. I like to follow building lines if it's exposed,,,,,but not in a ditch. Cut that corner down and use (1) 90 with slow sweeps.


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

mcclary's electrical said:


> I think all he means is, whoever ran the pipe made it harder than it has to be. At least one 90 could have been eliminated by digging the ditch a little different. I like to follow building lines if it's exposed,,,,,but not in a ditch. Cut that corner down and use (1) 90 with slow sweeps.


 What picture are you talking about?


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

william1978 said:


> What picture are you talking about?


 
The bottom one. The one 480 was talking about.


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

We couldn't run the conduit in another location. If you look in in the bottom 2 pictures you can see 2 plumbing pipes. One was going right thru the window of the pad mount transformer and there were several others we were dodging.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

Looks good to me William.
The 90s will not burn if you use the correct rope for the pull. If it is a tough pull use a large diameter "Sampson" rope to pull the conductors. 1/4 inch nylon rope can burn the corners of the 90s. It is all about experience. I also like using a cable feeder to take stress of the pull.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

:sleep1:


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Peter D said:


> :sleep1:


 Sorry Peter no romex.:whistling2:


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

william1978 said:


> Sorry Peter no romex.:whistling2:


Looks good though. :thumbsup:

Too bad you guys in the south don't get paid diddly squat to do that kind of work though.


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## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

Looks good. I actually like doing underground except for the dirt in my shoes.

I always shoot for the straightest path and would have _tried_ to use a 90 and 45 combo to "kick" the conduits over.



> I was told that it is always better to use RMC sweeps in a slab to keep the rope from burning through the PVC :blink:
> 
> Another urban myth?


String/rope *will* quickly burn thru PVC and get stuck but there is an easier way to avoid it rather than using RMC. A bit of wire lube is all you need. Just pre lube and you will avoid all kinds of headaches.


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Peter D said:


> Looks good though. :thumbsup:
> 
> Too bad you guys in the south don't get paid diddly squat to do that kind of work though.


 Yea there are some that don't make that much, but I'm not hurting.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

william1978 said:


> Yea there are some that don't make that much, but I'm not hurting.


Hook me up with a job then. :thumbsup:


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Peter D said:


> Hook me up with a job then. :thumbsup:


 I tried, but it might be really hard right right now.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

william1978 said:


> I tried, but it might be really hard right right now.


Things still slow down your way?


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Peter D said:


> Things still slow down your way?


 Yea, really bad. I think Charlotte felt the down turn a little later than other cities. The company that I work for just took a 1.5 million hit on a job where the owner went belly up on a 53 story condo building.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

william1978 said:


> Yea, really bad. I think Charlotte felt the down turn a little later than other cities. The company that I work for just took a 1.5 million hit on a job where the owner went belly up on a 53 story condo building.



That's too bad. So why don't you head up my way so you can come work for me? :thumbup:


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Peter D said:


> That's too bad. So why don't you head up my way so you can come work for me? :thumbup:


 Lets make a deal then.:thumbsup:


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