Starr Electric “pulls a fast one” with NoLube™ SIMpull THHN

EDI and its customers always pay close attention when Southwire releases a new product. The company has a reputation for innovation, and, as Starr Electric Company recently discovered, NoLube™ SIMpull THHN® is yet another winning solution. NoLube THHN applies Southwire’s patent-pending SIM Technology® to eliminate the need for lubrication, making the process of pulling wire faster, cleaner, and easier. After seeing the product in action, Kevin Tice, service department manager for Starr, agreed. “The guys really liked it,” he said. “The lubrication on the wire is built into the jacket, and it stayed with the wire pull for the entire length and didn’t come off. The wire was just as slick at the end of the run as it was at the beginning.” The job Tice referred to was the installation of a feeder for an upfit of a restaurant in Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Craig Rush, EDI account manager, said that the use of NoLube THHN meant that Starr’s installers “didn’t have to have someone sit there and put lubricant on the wire as it went through the pipe.” The product was a convenience that helped greatly on the arena job. “It saved them a man,” Rush said, “and saved them from the mess that’s usually involved in a job like that.” Rush confirmed that Tice was very impressed with NoLube THHN. “We both believe that this product shows the way wire pulling is going to be in the future,” he said. Starr’s experience is typical of the reactions NoLube THHN has received in the past year, during which millions of feet of the product have been bought and installed with overwhelmingly positive results, according to Southwire. The company cites independent tests that the product “can reduce installa tion time by 30 percent, boost productivity, and reduce material costs.” Tice agrees that NoLube THHN enables cost savings because “less labor is expended, since you can get the wire in with less effort.” Safety is another benefit of the product. Southwire says it can also eliminate the risk of slipping and falling on spilled lubricant. NoLube THHN is available in conductor sizes from 1/0 AWG to 750kcmil and in nine colors. Compatible ground sizes are also available. “It’s a good product,” Tice said. “We’ll be looking to find applications that will let us use it again.”