Pulling telephone line through an insulated wall...

[dbhost]

Okay guys this one I think I am on the right track, but I wanted to see if anyone had any better ideas...

My existing 2 pair telephone station wire in the house is no good. I want to replace the telephone system which I haven't used in 8 years, with a whole house distributed VoIP setup. I have the VoIP working, just need to distribute it...

I have the distribution hub, plenty of Category 5e cable, plenty of RJ11 keystones, and the following rooms are wired so far...

Front bedroom.
Guest Room
Home Office
Kitchen.

I have not yet done the shop, although I will.. But the big problem is...

Master bedroom...

I want the phone jack on the exterior wall, along with a category 6 ethernet cable, so that I can have telephone and data cables behind LOMLs night stand. I had originally planned on just using the existing station wire and back pulling the new cable but I ran into a problem...

The rocket scientists that ran this cable stapled it to the studs, AND they enclosed the low voltage cable / connection in a standard box. So effectively the cable is trapped. I need to simply block this off, and add a new wall plate / drop.

This is where it gets interesting. The cabling needs to go through an insulated wall cavity.

I have found a tool that will do the job of fishing through called a "Magnapull", but honestly it is spendy, and I won't use it often. It looks like a steel plumb bob, and a magnetic roller on a handle. I am thinking a cheap steel plumb bob and a strong magnet should do the same thing, but just HOW strong of a magnet do I need to do this?

I will be needing to make a magnetic attachment through 5/8" drywall, and most likely the paper and at most 1/4" of insulation.

Has anyone cobbled together a magnetic pull sort of arrangement on the cheap? If so what did you use?

[frumper64]

Never tried it, but have you checked around to see if you can rent the magic tool?

[LCHIEN]

I have only one word: DECT-6.0. OK, well, its a Acronym and a number.

Aren't phone wires obsolete? Get a multivendor wireless multistation phone system with intercompatibility and solid wireless performance.

[JoeyGee]

Just my two cents... Wires are going to be a thing of the past soon enough. I wouldn't bother.

I am not saying this is you, but I used to have "tech up" everything in my house just because I could and then either never use it or just spend too much time fussing with it.

[All Thumbs]

Just my two cents... Wires are going to be a thing of the past soon enough. I wouldn't bother.

LOL, there is no substitute for copper, it isn't going anywhere for a long time.

To the OP, how about just a regular electrician's steel fish? It will pull through an insulated cavity no problem, just have to be careful not to snag too much fiberglass. Tape the splice well and pull slowly.

Sometimes I just use a straightened coat hanger.

In a pinch I've used a piece of 10-gauge solid copper wire.

[LCHIEN]

OTOH, maybe you're worried about the gov't listening... OK that's a joke not a political comment.

[vaking]

I am with Loring.
I have a house with 2 floors plus basement. On every level there is one wired jack. Second floor and basement - I have an old fashioned phone plugged into wired jacks - this is for backup. In case power goes out - wired jacks will still work as long as you use plain old phones that don't have power cords. On the first floor I have a base of a multi-phone system plugged into the jack. Cordless phones then need only electrical outlets for chargers. If you are installing VOIP - your system will likely not work without power anyway, so you don't even need to worry about backup.

[LCHIEN]

If you must have a phone when power is out, with the DECT 6.0 phones you could buy a small UPS for the base station. An APC 250W unit costs $58 at Newegg.
Runs 9.5 mins at 128W load. My phone base says it takes 3.6W at 6V from a wall wart. assume that the Wall wart requires 6W from the AC line. Extrapolating 9 minutes at 128 W it could run up to 20 times as long at 6W. So somewhere around 3 hours is possible THe other stations have batteries in the phone so they don't need any backup and they'll work as long as their batteries hold out. The handset at the base station, of course will be charged from the UPS so it will last as long as the UPS if kept on the base station when not in actual use.

[cabinetman]

I have only one word: DECT-6.0. OK, well, its a Acronym and a number.

Aren't phone wires obsolete? Get a multivendor wireless multistation phone system with intercompatibility and solid wireless performance.

Even old phone wires aren't obsolete. We have Uverse, which uses just the old incoming phone line for Internet, phone, and TV.

.

[bmyers]

Have you tried something like this?

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-in...kit-65326.html


LOML demanded and old fashion push button phone in the kitchen. No wireless, no batteries, always in the same spot, never lost. This is what I used to get the wire there.

B

[cabinetman]

LOL, there is no substitute for copper, it isn't going anywhere for a long time.

To the OP, how about just a regular electrician's steel fish? It will pull through an insulated cavity no problem, just have to be careful not to snag too much fiberglass. Tape the splice well and pull slowly.

Sometimes I just use a straightened coat hanger.

In a pinch I've used a piece of 10-gauge solid copper wire.

I've used those items and if careful work well.

.

[woodturner]

Have you tried something like this?

I have not used the HF version, but the fiberglass pull rods work GREAT - and the "glow in the dark" versions are even better. There is nothing really "special" about them, so the HF versions should be just fine and it costs less for the full kit than most brands charge for a single 6' rod. I would have bought a set there if I knew they had them, thanks for the link!

Another option if it is a "straight shot" is to work a piece of PVC conduit down through the insulation, pull the wire through the conduit, then remove the conduit (if desired).

In response to the OPs specific question, a more powerful magnet is probably better. HF sells several options - I would not use the magnetic welding ground, the magnet it too weak, but the pickup magnets like this or this should be fine.

[JSUPreston]

I've used my flex bit, electrical tape, and string to pull through wall cavities.

[cabinetman]

Have you tried something like this?

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-in...kit-65326.html


LOML demanded and old fashion push button phone in the kitchen. No wireless, no batteries, always in the same spot, never lost. This is what I used to get the wire there.

B

I like that idea. Should work real well.

.

[LinuxRandal]

The rocket scientists that ran this cable stapled it to the studs, AND they enclosed the low voltage cable / connection in a standard box. So effectively the cable is trapped. I need to simply block this off, and add a new wall plate / drop.

Rocket scientists? Sounds like they installed it to code.


Does it go up (to the attic) or down to the basement? Sounds to me like it might be worthwhile to cut a small (from half over the stud to have over the stud) section of the drywall out. (then use the same box)