can you use any type of shop vac for fishing line or does it need tobe greenlee type.
thankd

jo,
any shop vac will usually do......

Any kind of vacuum will work but I do buy the small rolls of Greenlee blow line string.

When you suck the string through the conduit, the string comes out of the center of the roll. You don't have to worry about spooling. You can just set the string on the floor next to the pipe and watch it fly!

By the way, I have better luck with plastic baggies than pistons (or mice).

Interestingly enough, I've had better luck with good ol' Walmart bags o' plenty... Up until I had tried to convince my new partner in crime of such insight, and lo and behold, the bag wouldn't go after three tries and on the first try with a 2" mouse, it came through slick as a whistle. Drat!

Fate always has a tendency to make be look like a fool in front of him... even with my darnedest efforts to do otherwise...

I've never tried the baggy thing.....but i've had mixed results with the greenlee pistons.

What's the secret of the baggy???

GJ

I've found the best type of bag is the really light ones you get from the produce section of the grocery store.

Yea, the light weight bags work the best. It seems that I alway have at least one Lowe's bag in the truck.

The way I do it is I rip off part of the bag and twirl it around but being careful not to twist it too tight. When ever I feel that its just the right size. (Fits loosly in the pipe but touches on all sides when its folded in half) I tie the string on at the fold which will become the leading side when its sucked through the conduit. Stuff it into the pipe, turn the vacuum on and let her rip! When it goes into the vac the vac makes a different noise.

The baggies work especilly better when sucking through field bends in EMT or PVC. The pistons usually get hung up on field bends.

Small pieces of plastic sheeting (vapor barrier) work well, too.

I agree with using as light a plastic as possible. I am going to try to expain my best method. It works great:


Take the plastic bag by the corner, cut the plastic so you have what I call " a little ghost" in your hand. Now take your twine and feed it up into the ghost and poke a hole at the top just big enough for the twine. Pull it through about 2-3 inches and then wrap back around top of the ghost anf tie a knot. I put a little piece of black tape over twine and know. Feed the ghost in the conduit by reversing it so the vacuum actually causes the ghost to seal. Careful cause that sucker "flies" through the pipe. Man that it hard to explain.

What HP should the vac be?

hmmmm,
a forum of world class electricians discussing the efficy of baggies...

Jo:
We use a Sears Craftsman shop vac, 16 gal, & I really don't know the HP. We use the Greenlee pistons (mice)and the Greenlee nylon string. (comes out the middle of the spool) I have never tried the baggie trick, but I may on the next job. We just finished eight UG PVC pulls (180' to 340' 1-1/4 and 2" Sch 80) and had no problems with the vac or pistons)

John (HotLine1)

The vac I used the time the mouse out performed the bag was a tiny little 1 gallon unit... maybe 1/8 hp at best... It was the only vac I had that day.

Of course my big 4hp unit (on a 15A 120V plug... they're changing the laws of physics on us again) does a much better job...

Ok....the greenlee 'lil fisher blows the pistons through the pipe. From reading this thread I'm getting the idea that most of you prefer to suck a baggie and fish line through.....correct????

Ya GJ,
but i've used the greenlee's too, they push out a good volume of H2O given a proper seal at the vac end. Usually quite the surprise for the apprentice's....