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The Pull-Planner Software and Polywater NN Lubricant work together for complete success in another very difficult cable pull. Chris Struthers, president of StruthersTech, a Canadian engineering firm, recently contacted Polywater for assistance with a challenging 2400-meter-long, multi-cable pull (power and fiber) in a leaky 3" conduit submerged inside a flooded tunnel. The pull details are too voluminous to list here, but suffice it to say this was a highly technical pull. Using the Pull-Planner to run invaluable calculations and determine feasibility, Polywater regional manager Christine Otam worked closely with StruthersTech to devise a workable pulling strategy. NN was recommended as the optimal lubricant for water-filled duct, and a specific pull technique that leveraged the 11% downhill slope was agreed upon: coating the dry cable with NN as it entered the duct, combined with the unique concept of flooding the conduit with water to reduce cable weight and pulling tension. John Wood of West Wood Enterprises, the local sales agent, assisted with the technical discussions as well as with coordination of the sale through the distrbutor, EECOL Electric in Langley, BC. After the pull, StruthersTech wrote: "Hi, Christine, you may have heard via the other guys, but the cable pull was a big success! I know how important field-verification of calculations can be, so for your internal company use and knowledge I've attached the actual results from our pull. Long story short, we were able to pull almost 2500ft in the dry (lube only) before hitting the maximum tension setting of 1100 lbs. (We increased the allowable tension when we realized the factory pulling eye was bound into the ground wire, giving us 4 x #6 AWG conductors to pull on) The guys then started running water down the conduit--they didn’t even fully flood it--just a heavy garden hose amount, and the remaining pull to 7600ft was for mostly 500 lbs tension or less. The attached picture was the end of the pipe--the last 40’ section was steel and we equipped it with a pressure flange in case we needed to flood the pipe to full water head pressure. As it turned out it was not needed and both cables made it through easily in the end. I believe they used up around 110 gallons of lube--maybe overkill, but the price of failure would have been 1000x the price of the extra lube, so it was a no-brainer. Once again, thanks a lot for your assistance with the calculations. We had high confidence that it would work, and having the additional assurance from your side was a big help in selling the procedure to our client." This collaboration highlights the value of Polywater lubricants as a technical sale--and as cheap insurance. The difficulty of this pull was understood beforehand, but only after several technical discussions with the engineer were important lubrication and installation methods identified in hopes of making the pull feasible. These methods (technique and lube selection) proved to be the key to a successful installation, which in turn saved reputations and significant funds. Local agents need not know the technical solutions; they only need to know that Polywater can help. Embrace technical sales of Polywater products to solve real field problems and earn long-term customers. |
