Heard a guy at the supply house talking about his fish tape trick

I was picking up some RG6 in Tacoma last week and overheard an installer telling the counter guy about his method for pulling through old, packed conduit. He said he tapes a small plastic bag over the end of his fish tape and sucks the air out with a shop vac. It creates a seal and pulls the line through tight spaces like a charm. I tried it yesterday on a tough pull in a 1970s apartment building and it saved me at least an hour of fighting. Has anyone else used a trick like this for really stubborn conduit runs?

4 comments

4 Comments

knight.felix2mo ago

Didn't a forum post once suggest using a water balloon for the same seal trick?

the_taylor2mo ago

My old apartment had a window seal that leaked every winter. I tried the water balloon trick but it just froze and cracked. Honestly, wrapping a towel around a rolled-up magazine and jamming it in the gap worked way better for me.

william_garcia2mo ago

Yeah my buddy tried that balloon thing, same freeze issue as @the_taylor lol.

phoenixw112mo agoMost Upvoted

Water balloons are a bad idea for cold drafts, they always freeze and burst. @the_taylor had the right idea with the towel and magazine, that's a solid fix. A cheap tube of removable window sealant from the hardware store works even better for those gaps. It peels right off in the spring without damaging the frame.