Running wire in walls (1 Viewer)

[Derick S]

Just purchased Polk RM6200 system. Now I'm challenged with snaking speaker wire to the 4 sat locations. I can go under house and find my entry points and then up the walls. My thought is to start at speaker location and drill hole. Next use some long wire (? like clothes hanger gauge - I guess I'll hunt around Home Depot)and pull/push/snake to the bottom hole under house. Once I do that I'll attach speaker wire and pull. Any advise or better way?

 

[Kevin T]

sounds like a plan to me. alternately, you can buy a cable snake from home depot or lowes. it's basically 20ft of thin coiled steel in a plastic or metal shell that you can wind / unwind as you need to. i think they run about $20-25. i used one when i wired my surrounds. had to go into the attic though. i found it was pretty simple and looks very nice, especially since i had never done it before.

kevin t

 

[Jason Wolters]

Either buy or rent a Fish Tape. (same as he said above) Ask at Home Depot if you don't know what one is. It will make running the wire (especially in the wall) much easier.
If you are going to run under the house make sure you drill your holes from the inside of the house. You don't want to get a suprise and drill into your couch.
As far as wire is concerned I use standard 16 guage speaker wire. This will work fine. Drill your holes at the speaker locations and then just fish the wires through the holes. It ain't brain surgery, although you may be asking for it before you are done.

 

[Ted Lee]

how do you protect the speaker wire running under the house? i'd be worried about wear-and-tear, weathering, corrosion, bugs, animals, etc.

i guess you could run conduit or something? just wondering...

 

[Christian Dolan]

Cable manufacturers make speaker wire specifically for install. Typically, it’s 16 gauge, 2-conductor that’s wrapped by a soft, rubberized outer insulation that protects the wire as it’s being pulled through the wall, around corners, etc. The two conductors are insulated individually as well, in the familiar red/black plastic sheathing. As far as protection goes, you can staple it up along the floor joists in your basment (careful not to crush the wire with the staple gun, or pierce it with the staple itself).

-Christian

 

[Chris Muellen]

Try not to run the speaker wire parallel to any power cables that might be under your home for long runs; this causes interference. If you do have to cross power wire with speaker wire, cross the two perpendicularly.

Monster makes cables that are easy to run (they are wrapped in said rubber insulation) and come in a variety of gauges. I would go with 12 or 14 gauge for runs longer than 50 feet.

 

[Derick S]

Thanks to all for the helpful posts. I'll go to Home Depot or Lowes and get the fish tape. I think I've got a video of my home when the stud walls were visible and electrical up. I hope I dont have a 2x4 section between the vertical studs. Now to find the video...

 

[Ted Lee]

I hope I dont have a 2x4 section between the vertical studs.

if you do, i know they make an insanely long drill-bit. i saw a picture of one of one of my a/v rags that was doing an article on home ht installation.