wiring technique please

v1rtu0s1ty

Senior Member
My wires are all in reel of 1000 ft. So guys, since you guys are more experienced for doing whole house audio wiring, where do I start inserting the wire assuming I have drilled all the holes? Should I start at the whole where the sensors are?

Any inputs would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Neil
 
The way you fish wires is a very individual process. Myself, I pull my wire from the headend to the sensor/jack locations so I don't have to move the cable bundle around. However, I know a good electrician buddy that does the opposite, and he gets along pretty well. So, if you have wire that is on a reel, not a box, I would get some scrap 1/2 to 3/4" conduit and thread it through the reels and set them on some tire jacks. They also have wire reel setups you can buy that do the same thing. Tape you wire together at the end when you are pulling it through and it should go ok.

Hope that helps,
--Jamie
 
Like Jamie - I usually start at the headend.

One "experience learned" note for you - record the length of each pull... this way if you need to pull some more later and it's relatively near where you've already run - it gives you a reasonably close estimate of the length needed. It's more helpful than I originally thought it would be.
 
Alot of the cable I see now has distance markings (usually every foot) on the jacket which makes it very easy to see how long a run was, how much cable is left, etc.
 
I would get some scrap 1/2 to 3/4" conduit and thread it through the reels and set them on some tire jacks.

Some training videos I have did this, but they drilled holes in the studs and used pipe to mount the reels between the studs at the headend and then taped each pull together as suggested by royalj7. Seemed a lot easier than moving the reels around.
 
Another tip...

I've found that a measuring wheel can be very helpful for cabling. I purchased one so I could measure distances out to the gates on customer's property as it was difficult to guess these distances with many exceeding 1000ft.

To my suprise, I've found that I use it inside as well!

An example: You only have 2 boxes of CAT5 and want to pull 4 runs to the same location. You can simply roll the measuring wheel along the cable path (including up and down the walls or studs) and quickly get an accurate measurment. With this measurement, pull the appropriate lengths from the boxes, cut and then run all 4 runs at once.

You can do the same if you know room dimensions, have blue prints, or even with a tape measure if the runs are short. I've found with the measuring wheel I have very little waste on the cut cables where before I would always cut them long to be on the safe side and end up with 10-15' too much on longer runs.

Measuring wheel run $10-150... the one I have was around $30 and has been a good investment.

Cheers,
Paul
 
royalj7 said:
The way you fish wires is a very individual process. Myself, I pull my wire from the headend to the sensor/jack locations so I don't have to move the cable bundle around. However, I know a good electrician buddy that does the opposite, and he gets along pretty well. So, if you have wire that is on a reel, not a box, I would get some scrap 1/2 to 3/4" conduit and thread it through the reels and set them on some tire jacks. They also have wire reel setups you can buy that do the same thing. Tape you wire together at the end when you are pulling it through and it should go ok.

Hope that helps,
--Jamie
I'm so sorry, I both have the reel and the box.
 
Steve said:
Alot of the cable I see now has distance markings (usually every foot) on the jacket which makes it very easy to see how long a run was, how much cable is left, etc.
My CAT5E, 18/4 and 16/4 wires arrived today. They all have number markings. ;)
 
royalj7 said:
The way you fish wires is a very individual process. Myself, I pull my wire from the headend to the sensor/jack locations so I don't have to move the cable bundle around. However, I know a good electrician buddy that does the opposite, and he gets along pretty well. So, if you have wire that is on a reel, not a box, I would get some scrap 1/2 to 3/4" conduit and thread it through the reels and set them on some tire jacks. They also have wire reel setups you can buy that do the same thing. Tape you wire together at the end when you are pulling it through and it should go ok.

Hope that helps,
--Jamie
I have only done a few houses, but I found pipe clamps work perfect for reels. If you don't have any, they cost around 5 bucks at harbor freight (plus the pipe). 1/2" ones work fine.

Depending on how many reels you want to support, make the length of the pipe long enough to hold the reels plus another foot or so. When you are ready to start, just tighten the clamp on a stud wall and slide the reels on and start pulling...

Brian
 
brotsten said:
royalj7 said:
The way you fish wires is a very individual process. Myself, I pull my wire from the headend to the sensor/jack locations so I don't have to move the cable bundle around. However, I know a good electrician buddy that does the opposite, and he gets along pretty well. So, if you have wire that is on a reel, not a box, I would get some scrap 1/2 to 3/4" conduit and thread it through the reels and set them on some tire jacks. They also have wire reel setups you can buy that do the same thing. Tape you wire together at the end when you are pulling it through and it should go ok.

Hope that helps,
--Jamie
I have only done a few houses, but I found pipe clamps work perfect for reels. If you don't have any, they cost around 5 bucks at harbor freight (plus the pipe). 1/2" ones work fine.

Depending on how many reels you want to support, make the length of the pipe long enough to hold the reels plus another foot or so. When you are ready to start, just tighten the clamp on a stud wall and slide the reels on and start pulling...

Brian
Can you please show a picture of pipe clamps?
 
We just used a piece of rebar, placed it in the spool, placed the spool in-between a section of 2x4 stud in the wall, then used nails to "hold" the rebar in place. Worked great.
 
BraveSirRobbin said:
We just used a piece of rebar, placed it in the spool, placed the spool in-between a section of 2x4 stud in the wall, then used nails to "hold" the rebar in place. Worked great.
AH, that I understand really clearly. :lol:

You nailed it again BSR. Thank you vert much! I'd use your approach as I have extra steel pipe and pvc pipes.
 
We just used a piece of rebar, placed it in the spool, placed the spool in-between a section of 2x4 stud in the wall, then used nails to "hold" the rebar in place. Worked great.

That's what I was trying to say above, but BSR explained it much better. I am somewhat challenged in the area of writing. Maybe by the time I have 2700+ post I'll be better. :lol:
 
v1rtu0s1ty said:
I'd use your approach as I have extra steel pipe and pvc pipes.
PVC will not be strong enough. If you use conduit you may want to quickly screw down conduit clamps to the 2x4's instead of nailing it as it is a much larger diameter.
 
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