Overheard a senior installer say 'stop fighting the cable' and it clicked

I was on a job last week in a 1970s house with conduit that hadn't been touched in 30 years. Spent 20 minutes wrestling a coax through a 90 degree bend, getting nowhere. Then I heard one of the old-timers on the next job say to his helper 'stop fighting the cable, work with the curve not against it'. That simple thing made me rethink how I approach tight pulls. I stopped yanking and started feeding it slow, matching the bend instead of forcing it straight. Finished that run in under 5 minutes after that. It sounds dumb but it changed how I handle any tricky path now, especially in attics where you can't see the route. Anyone else have a moment where one sentence from a coworker completely changed your technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_perry1312d ago

My old manager told me "cable doesn't care about your feelings" and it was about cables snagging and not just pulling harder. Same vibe as the fighting thing. Now I just feel the cable's rhythm and go with it.

the_piper12d ago

My dad said the same thing about tangled fishing line and it changed everything for me too