Well, hooray, I got something done today that's been coming for a while. Even though the outhouse isn't quite done yet (needs more paint, stairs, and a doorknob), I finally finished running a data line out to it from the house. This isn't something I've done a whole lot of, pulling wire through conduit, so I was surprised to learn there are new tricks o' the trade.

So, to begin with, you have some 1 1/2" PVC conduit buried under ground, in our case, about 100 feet of it or so. The way it used to be, you poke a slim strip of flexible steel called a fishing tape through the conduit. This sounds easy, or maybe it doesn't, but, either way, it isn't. It's like trying to jam a fishing pole through a crazy straw (for the purposes of this simile, please remember to increase the length of both the fishing pole and the crazy straw to 100 feet or so). In case this literary jem proves too weighty to be easily digestible, suffice it to say, it's hard.

But, thanks to Friendly Neighbor Martin (those of you in the Bay Area may not know what is this "Friendly Neighbor" of which I speak. Fear not, speak to me after class), I was better equipped for the battle. What were my weapons, you ask? Well, first, this, which is just a bucket of strong nylon line. In fact, 6500 feet of 210-lb test line. Should be enough. I briefly considered tying one end to the doorknob (not the outhouse doorknow, of course, since we've already established it doesn't exist) and running 1.23 miles down the road with the bucket in my hand and a really stupid look on my face. But after experiencing the tedium of jamming just a foot or so of the stuff back in the little hole in the lid of the bucket, I decided it wasn't worth it.

Next, you tie one of these to the end of the cord and stuff it in one end of the conduit. Fade to the other end of the conduit, in the attic of the house. Affix one end of this to the end of the conduit with this. Turn on the shop vac and wait for your little plastic line to merrily zip through the conduit to its greedy maw. And, more or less, plus or minus, give or take, that's pretty much kinda what happened.

Next, using this again, affix the end of the polyline to the end of the cable you want pulled through the conduit, and tape it up to within one slim baby's eyelash of permanent. Oh, yeah, turn off the shop vac. Run back down to the outhouse and start pulling. A neutral but mildly interested party is required on the uphill side to feed cable into the conduit as you pull it through from the other end (for your pleasure, the lovely and talented Susie Altman will be playing this role this evening). And stuff the line back in the bucket as you go. Which is really boring. Really.

And, again, more or less, give or take, plus or minus, that's what happened. Yes, I could include the part where I pulled the line hard enough when it got hung up that it came free from the cable and I had to repeat most of the process again. But that would just make me look stupid and probably bore you. And I'm just thinking of Aunt Marilyn, our most dedicated reader.
- posted by Colin @ 7:13 PM