
	Friday Fax A Weekly Summary of Polywater^® News of Incredible Importance

Issue #410

Lubricant Selection Guide

To some of our less sophisticated competitors--as well as a few crotchety purchasing agents--the holy grail of cable pulling is the one "do-it-all" lubricant. They claim that their lube works best in all circumstances on all cables. Not! That's like a cook claiming he's developed the perfect food. Imagine a single dish that's sweet, salty, spicy, rich, light, fluffy, filling, low-cal, crunchy, creamy, chewy, low-fat, vitamin rich, low-carb, multi-grain, colorful, organically grown, inexpensive, ready-to-eat, peanut free, MSG free, hormone free, cholesterol free, loaded with minerals and fiber, and great smelling. It must also require no refrigeration and appeal to everyone. That's a tall order (although pizza comes close). Food choice is always a balancing act between taste, texture, and nutritional considerations. Likewise, with lubricants it's aesthetic, application, and performance considerations. No one lube can perform best in hot, cold, long, short, straight, curvy, horizontal, vertical, stiff, flexible, wide, narrow, wet, dry, humid, and arid conditions--and on every conceivable combination of cable and duct material. This why APC produces dozens of Polywater formulations. For help in choosing the right lubricant, direct customers to our exclusive Lubricant Selection Guide.

Liquids are Runny

Apply the above knowledge in a sales call by using common sense (and perhaps a bit of coaching from the factory) to recommend an appropriate lubricant for a given situation. It's important to understand that when APC introduces powerful new lubricants such as Polywater FTTx and Polywater SP and touts them to a great extent, it does not intend to imply that they are suitable for all installations. They are not. They are liquid. Liquids run and drip. Vertical pulls and horizontal pulls with multiple duct couplers can allow excess lubricant to leak out and cause wet, slippery spots. While the lubes are non-staining, such messes are often undesirable nevertheless. EMT, IMC, rigid steel, and other ducts with non-watertight couplers will allow liquid to leak out if excessive amounts are applied. Always consider the application environment when recommending a lubricant.

The Friday Fax Editor's Joke of the Week

The Joke

WV Professional Engineering Exam (Endorsed by the KY Moonshine Engineers Assoc.) 1) Calculate the smallest limb diameter on a persimmon tree that will support a 10-lb. possum. 2) Which of the following cars will rust out the quickest when placed on blocks in your front yard? a. 66 Ford Fairlane b. 69 Chevy Chevelle c. 64 Pontiac GTO 3) Your uncle builds a still operating at a capacity of 20 gallons of shine per hour. How many car radiators are necessary to condense the product? 4) A pulpwood cutter has a chain saw operating at 2700 rpm. The density of the pine trees in a plot to be harvested is 470 per acre. The plot is 2.3 acres in size. The average tree diameter is 14 inches. How many Pabst Blue Ribbons will be consumed in cutting the trees? 5) If every old refrigerator in the state vented its charge of R-12 simultaneously, what would be the decrease in the ozone layer? 6) A front porch is constructed of 2x8 pine on 24-inch centers with a field rock foundation. The span is 8 feet and the porch length is 16 feet. The porch floor is 1-inch rough-sawn pine. When the porch collapses, how many hound dogs will be killed? 7) A man owns a house and 3.7 acres of land in a hollow with an average slope of 15%. The man has 5 children. Can each of the children place a mobile home on the man's land? 8) A 2-ton pulpwood truck is overloaded and proceeding down a steep grade on a secondary road at 45 mph. The brakes fail. Given the average traffic loading of secondary roads, how many people will swerve to avoid the truck before it crashes at the bottom of the mountain? For extra credit: How many of the vehicles that swerved will have mufflers and uncracked windshields? 9) A Coal Mine operates an NFPA Class 1, Division 2 Hazardous Area. The mine employs 120 miners per shift. A gas warning is issued at the beginning of 3rd shift. How many cartons of unfiltered Camels will be smoked during the shift? 10) How many generations will it take before cattle develop two legs shorter than the others because of grazing along a mountainside?

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American Polywater Corporation -- The world's leading manufacturer of cable pulling lubricants, cable cleaners, and MRO & construction chemicals.
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