Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

[Mark42]

In my younger years working for a builder we would pull wire through the walls without too much trouble. I remember that the wire was on big spools that sat on stands and spooled off nice without curling up like a slinky. <br /><br />Now I'm pulling wire in the basement. Have 5 100 ft spools of wire (14-2, 14-3 and 12-2) and it's a pain doing this myself. The wire comes off the spool all coiled so stapling is a pain and it won't pull through holes easy, and kinks all over the place. So I try to make it come off straight and hang it on a broom handle stuck in a bench vise, but the whole spool didn't turn, it sort of spread out and kinked on the handle.<br /><br />Any ideas to make this work better? How are those pro wire spool holders set up? This is going to take forever if I have to walk back and forth 3 times for every 5 feet of wire I pull.<br /><br />Mark.

 

[Barlow]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

use a piece of conduit or some kind of pipe<br /> ...<br /><br />one sec I'll sketch a little something for you..<br /><br />takes a few minutes for assembly but is well worth it Mark .. <br /><br />BRB

 

[Ken G]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

I haven't looked real close but the electricians who work for the builder I do work for have spools which hang from the wall studs. The rotating spool has a hub of sorts to support the shape of the wire spool.<br /><br />If I was going to rig one up I'm picturing using one or two plywood discs, a threaded rod, some fender washers, and a couple of nuts. You'll also need some pegs or wood blocks to form a hub to support the inside of the wire spool.

 

[springhead]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

hey mark, <br />basiclly do the opposite, dont pull the wire off spool,tie or staple wire end and carry the spool of wire and roll off wire from spool, comes out fairly straight. <br /><br />with small rolls like u have u can do this fairly easy, staple the wire down to a stud and carry the roll of wire in your hand rolling it out straight to where abouts the run is going to be, leave slack and cut.

 

[Barlow]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

ok .. i tried but its not coming out like planned... gimmie a few i think i know of a site where you can view it..

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

I think Barlow may be referring to one of these .<br /><br />They're pretty slick, but I'm sure you could make one fairly easily.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

Ah Ha! Yep, I can make one of those easy. I like that it hangs. <br /><br />So you know what I'm going to make tonight.<br /><br />Mark.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

That doesnt look bad, but when wiring a house(basement) you have to move all over the place which would mean removing and setting the spool back up..........<br /><br />What I do is lay the coil of romex flat on the ground,grab the loose end and pull it up into my free hand, kinda like rolling up and xtension cord, after you grab enough coils just flip the pile you have in you hand on end, and walk it out unrolling as you go, lays fairly flat, and pulls nice and easy...

 

[crab bait]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

yeah,, these 100 ft rolls that are not on a reel ,, can't be pulled off as a reel.. <br /><br />reeled romex only comes in 1000 foot quanties..<br /><br />do as HEYTOWN said.. to reiterate.. lay the roll on the floor.. <br /><br />from the OUTTER end of the roll,, NOT the inner end..<br /><br />grab many coils off the outter ring of the roll in your hands an walk.. un-rolling as you walk.. <br /><br />go 15 feet or so an walk back to the roll on the floor, un-rolling the whole time.. <br /><br />now you'll have 30 feet FLAT workable wire..<br /><br />need more .. do it again..

 

[Barlow]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

thats dang close to what i was lookin' for sangerwaker.. <br /><br />..should've seen my picasso.. i got confused diagraming it.. lol<br /><br />good luck w/it mark .. sorry for my brain fart.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

If I don't feel like setting up a reel I will lay the roll down and pull five coils off the outside of the roll, flip the roll over and pull off ten coils, flip the roll and pull off ten more etc. The opposing coils cancel out and I end up with fairly sraight cable. We also have a couple of platters with a bearing in the center that allows the roll to spin on the floor, and some vertical reels (my favorite).

 

[Mark42]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

Finished wiring except for the placement of the ceiling light cans. What worked best was to attach the free end of the wire roll to one end of the room then walk backwards manually unrolling the roll. That gave me about 25 feet of straight uncoiled wire at a time that then pulled nicely. <br /><br />Thanks for all the good suggestions.<br /><br />Mark.<br /><br />PS One 100 ft roll of 12-2 contained 86 feet of wire, and a 100 ft roll of 14-3 contained 96 feet of wire. I started measuring after I came up short on the first roll of 100 ft 12-2. All this wire was purchased at Home Depot.

 

[Barlow]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

take the mfg #'s down and contact them with your findings .. <br /><br />might get something in return and help them fix the problem too.<br /><br />Glad to hear ya got the rope run..

 

[heyttown]

Re: Wiring basement by myself. AAAAGGGHHHH!

I believe on larger spools of wire the mfg gaurantees to be withing 3 ft of the total......So again you may get something in return,But dont hold your breath.