Fish tape is a tool used to pull cables through walls and ducts. It is made of stainless steel and comes in different lengths and styles. The tape is wound on a reel and can be used by unwinding it carefully and pulling it through the desired area. It requires two people to pull the threads through. The tool is named after the idea of fishing for threads. Electricians can choose from reels with different lengths of tape for various jobs.
Fish tape is a tool that is used to pull cables through walls, ducts and similar environments. Despite the name, this tool has absolutely nothing to do with fish. Hardware and electrical stores often sell fish tape, with a range of lengths and styles available. Most are made from stainless steel, which is used to form a flat ribbon, but other materials can also be used.
Manufacturers produce fish tape on a reel. The spools are useful for storage, ensuring the tape is easy to contain and won’t be damaged when not in use. The coil also gives the fish tape a slight curve, which can be useful when being manipulated across a wall or section of duct. To use fish tape, the spool is carefully unwound and used to feed the tape through the desired area until it comes out the other side. This may take some practice and skill, especially if the tape is being passed through a long opening.
Once the fish tape comes out, the threads can be attached to a hook on the tape and the tape pulled back gently, pulling the threads through. This usually requires two people, one to handle the threads, making sure they don’t snag or tangle, and one to manipulate the spool, pulling the threads through slowly and steadily. For particularly thick or large lines, some people prefer to attach a string to the fish tape, thread the string through, then attach the threads to the string and thread them through with string instead of tape.
The “fish” in “fish tape” comes from the idea that you are essentially fishing for threads. Learning to work with this tool can be a little challenging at first, as can working with an unfamiliar fish band that someone is not familiar with. It may be helpful to practice independently with long tubes or other practical materials to gain experience before using this tool on a job site.
For situations where cables need to be routed through a particularly long opening, two pieces of duct tape can be taped together to get the job done. Electricians can also choose from reels with different lengths of tape for various jobs. The reels are usually marked with their lengths and can be color-coded to make it easier to acquire the right reel quickly.
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