Pipe Cleaning
 

Does anyone know who I would call to have an underground pvc pipe blown out?

This pipe is meant for utility cables, phone, cable, etc. The 4" pipe comes up on the side of my house and goes under my driveway to my neighbors land where the utility lines come in from. One side of the pipe was not covered well so I am certain water has infiltrated and I need to get it out before I can run a cable line through. The pipe is about 150' in length.

I guess I need someone who has a large commercial air compressor and know there are people who specialize in this but have know idea who to call.

I am in Gilford so any recommendations in the area would be helpful.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dan

Dan,
One thing you could try yourself would be renting a set of "rods" and seeing if you can push them through. Rods are one continuous fiberglass rod that come on a spool about 300 ft long. Probably can be rented from a local tool rental. If they don't push through from one end try the other end. After the rod goes through conduit tape a nylon string to it and pull rods out/string in. When you pull the cable through pull a piece of nylon string with it for the next time.

Hi,
Go to an electrical supply store and buy a Foam Piston or Foam Mouse for the size pipe you have.
Put a strong string on it and put it in one end of the pipe, then put a vacuum on the other end and that will pull the Foam Mouse through the pipe and will clean it out.
If it gets stuck you can pull in back with the string.
Do this a few times and the pipe should come clean.
This will work as long as the water in it is not frozen
Good luck.

http://i44.tinypic.com/1499wms.gif Electric man, I was just browsing through the forum and noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum after joining back in Feburary 2005. We are glad that you have come aboard and joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

I see you have been on the forum just a few times after joining. Love seeing older members popping in off and on, but would like to see ya check a bit more often to see what is going on with the forum members. Looking forward to see ya a bit more often.:)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2e56yqf.gif

FYI Dan, this method is usually done with a first year apprentice. :) As your vacuum sucks the 'mouse or piston' towards you( or who is holding the vacuum to the pipe) it will force any water in the pipe forward, add the suction factor from the vacuum and the water then comes out of the pipe in a major gush. Do not hold onto the string either, the mouse will take off like a bullet if you have good vacuum. Try a spool of string on a long screw driver and let it spin freely.
Another option of this method that can work in a pinch is to tie a plastic bag to the string. A food store bag, loaf of bread bag, ect... will work, trap a little air inside of it but not to much.
The mouse will clean out debris in the pipe better due to the seal it creates, but they can be finicky and can get caught up on couplings, pebbles, ice, ect...

Some under ground conduits get water in them. The utility cable going in the pipe should be rated for wet locations. Your best bet is get the water out if you can though.

With the conduit firmly held in place by the earth surrounding it, it should not move, although, you mentioned getting a commercial size air compressor. Not knowing how much pressure would be forced in to the conduit, I don't know if it would be possible to blow a coupling apart. Yes they should be glued, but I can hear the operator saying, "Darn it's cold out here, let's blow this crap out and get out of hear. Crank the pressure all the way up." PVC pipe does get bridle in the cold.
If you know the path the conduit takes, you could cover the affected area with insulating blankets( look like big thick fluffy tarps). You would need to push an electricians snake in the pipe and locate how far in the blockage is.

Let us know how you make out. Good Luck!

If you do use a large commercial compressor be very careful of what is in the pipe.
It could come out like you shot it from a gun.
Try to blow the contents out with the vacuum first.
Good luck.
You can PM me with any other questions if you like.

Thank You!!
 

I want to thank all who responded and made excellent recommendations. I got the job done today in less than an hour and saved myself $1800.00!! I tried pcmc's idea slightly modified.

What I did was hook up a 6.5 hp shop vac to one end of the 3" I.D. pvc pipe utilizing a .99 cent reducer from lowes to fit my shop vac.

I didn't think there was any water in the pipe but there was! I sucked out about 20 gallons of water.

Once the water was removed. I took a spool of masons line and attached it to a 2 1/2" styrofoam ball I bought at Walmart for pennies. I went to the other end of the pipe and dropped it in...that thing sucked that ball with the string through like there was no tomorrow in a matter of seconds!

Thank you all for your responses and help!! That is why I love this forum!

Happy holidays everyone!

Dan

Fantastic!

Dan, now that you have a string through, don't forget to put a bucket, coffee can, or even a few wraps of duct tape over the end of the conduit to help keep additional water out.

PS. I tried to pm. you but nothing shows me on my end if anything was ever sent to you. After trying 3 separate times I figured I better leave a note here.lol.

It's a pleasure anytime I can help,
Peter

Oh that pipe is covered! I certainly don't want to clean it out again!!

I did get your pm's. Thanks!

Dan