Two questions for anybody who lays underground cable?

[stuckmotor]

Today, went by a crew installing underground cable on my e bike. A pickup truck was slowly pulling a cable that must have been attached to the some type of electrical conductor through a tube that was already installed. There were holes at equally spaced intervals down the tube and leaning over one of them a worker appeared to be squirting dish washing liquid or some other type of lubricant on the cable. This makes sense to me and I'd like to know if it's common practice and what type of lubricant is used. Thanks to anyone who satisfies my curiosity.

 

[nbking]

We used this super slippery stuff 'slipease' I think it was called, pulling wiring through plastic conduit. Mostly nurse call and paging system cable. Worked great until you started getting some out the other side, and could not really pull the wiring anymore, had to wrap it around your arm for leverage. If you didn't use it, it just wasn't happening.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

around my area service cable pullers sometimes use aqua-gel which is a PTFE based water gel i think. Water based and biogradable.

 

[ponytug]

It is generally called "wire pulling lubricant", or cable lube. There are a few different types, depending upon the kind of wire, cable, or fiber that is being pulled. (Water based, wax, silicone...)

For fragile items like fiber, if it is lubed, it generally gets the conduit pre-lubed both ways with a "raccoon tail", and more on the fiber itself. The alternative uses compressed air to blow the fiber along the conduit, and it is much cleaner and faster, but the equipment isn't cheap.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00040204/

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Wire-pulling-lubricants-Electrical-testers-tools-Electrical/4294722451

It is messier than a dry pull, but much easier, and less damage to the wires, at least in my experience. Southwire makes a line of wires with an extra, ultra slick tough outer layer on the insulation that really helps. "Sim-pull"

All the best,

Peter

 

[stuckmotor]

It is generally called "wire pulling lubricant", or cable lube. There are a few different types, depending upon the kind of wire, cable, or fiber that is being pulled. (Water based, wax, silicone...)

For fragile items like fiber, if it is lubed, it generally gets the conduit pre-lubed both ways with a "raccoon tail", and more on the fiber itself. The alternative uses compressed air to blow the fiber along the conduit, and it is much cleaner and faster, but the equipment isn't cheap.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00040204/

https://www.lowes.com/pl/Wire-pulling-lubricants-Electrical-testers-tools-Electrical/4294722451

It is messier than a dry pull, but much easier, and less damage to the wires, at least in my experience. Southwire makes a line of wires with an extra, ultra slick tough outer layer on the insulation that really helps. "Sim-pull"

All the best,

Peter

Today, went by a crew installing underground cable on my e bike. A pickup truck was slowly pulling a cable that must have been attached to the some type of electrical conductor through a tube that was already installed. There were holes at equally spaced intervals down the tube and leaning over one of them a worker appeared to be squirting dish washing liquid or some other type of lubricant on the cable. This makes sense to me and I'd like to know if it's common practice and what type of lubricant is used. Thanks to anyone who satisfies my curiosity.

I thought I'd get quick answers just not that quick.
Thanks to all who replied. You told me exactly what I wanted to know and my curiosity is satisfied.
Stuck

 

[workinonit]

We call it hog snot.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Gorilla Snot here.

Used it many times on large (long) pulls through buildings and undergrounds.

Messy to be sure, but it got the job done. Only thing worse than getting a "pull" stuck in a pipe, was someone horsing the pull hard enough to break off the pull rope from the end of the cable nose. Pulling that hard also raised the likely hood of damaging the cable sheathing during the pull. Which meant you pulled it all back out and started over again.

 

[newbury]

Or even worse, breaking the pull rope and when attempting to pull the cable back out in reverse, getting that stuck and break.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

around my area service cable pullers sometimes use aqua-gel which is a PTFE based water gel i think. Water based and biogradable.

You can say a lot of things about teflon, but biodegradable ain't one.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I've used something like below several times by the 5 gal bucket on long runs of big wire. I try to size my conduit where I don't need lube most of the time. On a short run that needs something I have used dish soap many times. It works fine.