Bought a $300 fish tape puller and it snapped on my third job

I dropped the cash on that fancy motorized fish tape puller thinking it would save me hours. Worked great the first two times pulling coax through a 60-foot conduit run. Third job in an old apartment building downtown, the line just jammed up and the whole thing broke inside the pipe. Anyone else have better luck with the manual reel and a vacuum method?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_reed6d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, are you sure it snapped or just jammed up on something sharp inside that old pipe? I've seen cheap fish tapes break before, but $300 should get you something that lasts more than three jobs. Sounds like either you got a lemon or that conduit has a hidden burr or crush. Vacuum might not have the guts for coax on a longer pull, but it would've let you know the path was bad before you put your money on the line. Definitely worth checking the pipe first next time before you send the tape in.

beth_park6d ago

Oh man, that stinks. But hear me out - maybe the problem isn't the tool but the conduit itself having a sharp bend or crushed spot you didn't see. A vacuum pulls the whole line through clean, so it'd force you to check the path before you even start.

robinp896d agoMost Upvoted

Nah, I gotta push back on that vacuum idea a bit. Vacuums are great for pulling a string or a light cable through a clean straight run, but they dont have the muscle for heavier stuff like coax in a 60 foot pipe with a few bends. A $300 motorized fish tape should definitely handle three jobs without snapping though. Makes me wonder if you got a bad unit or if that old conduit had some rust or debris inside that caused the line to bind up and break.