Pulling the Cable

Installation Fundamentals

you can avoid wire routes which could potentially induce hum over the speaker wire. The basic rules are:

•Never run speaker wire through the same hole as an electrical cable.

•Never run speaker wire into the same J-box as electrical cable.

•Avoid running the speaker wire beside the electrical cable. Keep it at least three or four feet distant from any electrical power cable.

Side-by-side wiring is unavoidable in par- ticular spots in every house, just move the speaker wire route away as soon as possi- ble. If construction forces a side by side run for more than ten feet, install metal conduit or shielded speaker wire. Low-voltage wires such as doorbells, intercoms, tele- phone, security, or television cannot cause interference or hum on your speaker wires, so you can safely run all of them at the same time, through the same holes, side- by-side.

Before you drill any holes, mount the speaker brackets in the desired speaker locations and mount p-rings or open backed J-boxes where the in-wall volume controls and stereo equipment will be.

Safety First!

Wear gloves, safety goggles and head pro- tection when drilling. Avoid nails, they ruin

Figure 3

bits and they can create injury. Pay partic- ular care when using “hole-hogs” and other powerful electric drills; the torque of the drill when suddenly stopped by a nail can break the wrist of a strong man.

Drilling

Use a bit that is large enough for the wires you plan to run. An auger bit is the pre- ferred bit for rough-in wiring. It will actual- ly pull itself through the wood, so that the drill motor, not you, does most of the work. You will be drilling a lot of holes, so this is important.

Always drill the holes in the center of the stud. If you have to notch the stud or drill the hole closer than one inch from the edge of the stud, protect the wire with a nail plate (See Figure 3).

When drilling holes in ceiling joists, drill in the center of the joists and try to locate the hole near the end of the joist. DO NOT drill through a “gluelam” or any load bear- ing beam without the direction of your contractor.

Try to line the holes up perfectly, because it makes pulling the wire much easier. A good technique is to snap a chalk line across the face of the studs or against the bottom of the ceiling joists. Then work backward so that you can always see the holes you have already drilled. Paying careful attention to this will save you a lot of time later on!

Pull the cable in sections (from the stereo to the volume control, from the volume control to the speaker). Start with the longest sections and use left over wire to complete the short sections. If you plan to pull many rooms at the same time through a central route, walk off the distance to each destination, add a generous fudge factor for turns and other obstacles, then cut off each section so that you have a bun- dle of wires you can pull at once.