A master electrician told me my wire pulls were sloppy back in 2018

I was wiring a new build outside of Nashville. Old timer watched me for 5 minutes. He said I was bunching too many wires together instead of keeping them separated. I thought it saved time. He showed me how pulling them one at a time with a little lube actually went faster. Less tangling, less fighting the bundle. I was wasting 20 minutes per run before. Now I go single file and it saves me an hour on most jobs. Anyone else get a tip like that from someone who just watched you work?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan_ward5d ago

That part about the old timer watching you for just a few minutes... man, that hits close to home. I had a guy do that to me once while I was trimming out a house, and he just stood there for like five minutes, then told me I was bending my conduit too sharp. He said it would pull wire like crap later, and sure enough, I had to redo two whole sweeps because the wire was binding up. I never thought about the angle before, just bent it tight to save space. Now I take the time to make gentle sweeps and it makes pulling so much easier. Funny how a little observation from someone who's been doing it forever can change your whole approach.

keith1645d ago

Learned that one the hard way too. Swapped to a shoe bender with a good radius guide, made a world of difference. Also started leaving a little extra room in the panel, gives you slack to work with. Saves your back, saves your wire.

evan_grant705d ago

Man, I used to think you could just cram wire through anything if you pulled hard enough. That story totally changed my mind, gentle sweeps are way smarter.