Pitfalls To Avoid Surrounding The Use Of Cable Pulling Grips

Cable installation teams that find themselves tasked with running long lengths of cable within tight parameters, like those in properties, will inevitably find themselves reaching out for a cable pulling grip.

 

This, however, is where the insight ends for most. Instead, an amalgam of issues emerges down the road that, if not addressed promptly, tend to be costly in nature.

 

To better set a cable installation team up for success, we’ve compiled three of the more pertinent issues they commonly find themselves facing around cable pulling grips and the recommended ways of dealing with them:

 

1) Improper Grip

A weak cable pulling grip will make the cable pop off, thus interrupting the pull. Worse still, it can lead to on-site accidents resulting from the sudden loss of pull pressure. As a refresher, slack grips are meant to straighten out slacked cables for final placement and not for running them around, whereas set-screw grips provide positive locking on each cable and can pull almost any type of cable. The lesson here is that using the right kind of grip makes all the difference in cable pulling operations.

 

2) Disregarding Pull Length

Your choice of cable pulling grip should depend on the cable's length and weight, an obvious factor to consider but you’d be surprised how often it is left by the wayside. As an example, heavy steel cable won't find much mileage for those using a single-weave cable grip that is more suited to work alongside light cable material; a brass or steel straight group should be your first port of call for higher tension grips – helping establish a secure grip thanks to their grip teeth. A cautionary note, while they work well with heavy cables, improper practice can increase the likelihood of damaging weaker wires.

 

3) The Wrong Type of Eye

Swivel eyes work well to untwist the cable when you're pulling them across different runs; however, it can create line deviations, especially when going around corners and bends. Using flexible grip eyes helps counteract this action. Mitigating situations like these, much like most things in life, come down to knowledge; there are different types of eyes, and most errors come from selecting the wrong one during operations.

 

We’re Your Grip To Success

AMAC Equipment is a supplier of top-tier pulling grips, as well as a whole host of essential cable installation equipment. We provide on-site demonstrations and training programs for equipment we supply. Contact us to learn more all about what we can do for you!