Trying to wire an upper level need curved tubing.

What not use plastic tubing you find in the piping section of the big box stores?  It is very flexible.

Don

Don

interesting idea outside the box! Maybe with a few pipe hangars to keep it in an curve shape with the wires running thru.

I think if you can find tubing that comes in a roll you can get your curves to look good. Ace hardware has rolls of tubing not sure if they have smaller diameters.

franktrain

The flexible tubing idea but with less obtrusive wire-ties, not 1:1 pipe hangers.

Dave

You might wish to consider shrink wrap tubing that comes in a multitude of colors (clear, black, grey brown etc and many more) and in various diameters and lengths and available in many electronic stores.  Needless to say, there is no need to shrink the tubing.

Not sure if this would help you, but there is flexible tubing or pipe for electric motors and comes in sizes starting from three/fourths of inch. The tubing is grey in color, and you can buy conduit clips to secure it.

Another place to find flexible tubing and less expensive is in the auto parts stores, usually black and comes in many sizes, has a slot in it so you put it over the wires.

Lee Fritz

 Seal the ends. then heat the tubing. The expanded hot air will keep the tubing round. 

Alan, how many conductors and what wire size were you considering to put into your 3/8"Plastruct "raceway"?

Think about using flexible plastic conduit.  Its very flexible and not too expensive.

It comes in 1/2" and 3/4" diameters.  Here's one location but you should be able to find it in a decent size town. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...AGg&gclsrc=aw.ds

It run about 40¢ a foot.

Jan

Why not run the wire with no covering.  Use wire with black insulation and it would look like heavy duty power cable.

I reviewed the Plastruct offerings last night. 

(1.)  You can get the pieces in double sizes, twice the length, might be helpful.

(2.)  Some of the square/rectangular pieces may work in the open spaces.

(3.)  I was seeing three different types of plastic tube, Butyrate, ABS, and Styrene. You may want to ask Plastruct which of the three is best for this application.

(4.)  I've bent a lot of Sch 40 PVC electric conduit, with a hot box heater.  This bender, about 6 ft long, has a larger electric heating element and is designed to allow rotation of the conduit for even heating.  There is a conduit plug set, as has been mention, to close both end of the pipe.  This maintains round and allows for tight bends. Gloves and protective clothing are required, the stuff gets very hot. Soft plastic conduit out of the heater is like spaghetti.  Cooling changes dimension, and shape, which is taken into consideration. There can be considerable waste, depending on application.

(5.) Quick bend of Sch 40 PVC conduit 3/4" and may be 1" can be done with a small propane torch, but usually also is accompanied by burn marks on the conduit. Hand held, hair dryer type, heaters can also be used, again caution about  burn marks on the plastic.  Keep in mind that the material and thickness is way different from what I have experience, commercial PVC conduit application.   

There is a type of acrylic tubing that might work......

1/2" flex tubing is a very functional and easy application--auto supply stores have it in black. I used it [3/4" blue as shown] to run wiring from Power Center around the door casing to cross the hinged drop section space. Done to extend and tie-in the railpower bus all around the layout. Also carries several switch control pairs for Tortoise motors on Village side of the round-the-room layout. Easy to use a small pilot wire and "snake" conductors through the flex.

[Initially I ran protected Bus, Tortoise, and the Drop Section "kill switch" wires under the carpet and foam underlayment but finally opted for the over the door run].

What about automotive vacuum, fuel or brake line?  It's very flexible, usually black (if you can get it without lettering on it), and is fairly small diameter.

I can't find the thread from the winter where someone did this. Wanted it to look like conduit or piping seen under prototypical bridges or elevated highways.

If you could stand the ribbed look of the split wire loom, that would be the easiest and not look bad. You can get it 1/4" gray.

Ok, I found it. ..."Trying to wire an upper level..."

Steve"PaPa" Eastman pointed to the source McMaster-Carr

I like the smooth 3/8" Chemical Resistant Tube Sleeving. It will be a little more of a pain to work with, but if you need the smooth look.

I still think the flexible wire loom will look ok. It's made for fishing wires and protecting them.