Posts Tagged ‘buried power lines’
Found Them
Before we left for Iceland, I was lamenting my inability to locate the buried AC power wires running from the shop to the barn. I gave it a couple of new somewhat half-hearted tries since we’ve been home, digging as time allowed without success.
As a reminder, this is the photo I’ve been using for reference from 2013 when the wires were accidentally cut by a skid steer making a driveable roadway behind the barn.
I must admit, I assumed I was searching for a single bundle of the three large wires but reality proved different.
Trenching my way deeper and deeper along the slope of the small hill finally revealed the yellow line on the cable for the ground wire.
Despite my confusion about how far to one side or the other I needed to be searching, the find finally came at the most likely spot.
With the wires uncovered, I’m a little surprised about the angled direction they are routed at this spot. Now I have plenty of methodical hand digging to do to reach the location of the patch that was made when they were cut. That is the most likely spot that would cause the loss of continuity in one of the power lines.
I’ll be calling the electricians tomorrow to schedule their services and find out how soon I need to finish the rest of the digging. At least I know where to work and won’t be wasting any time on fruitless searching.
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Thrice Foiled
I’m not afraid to admit when my methods fall short of success. I’m feeling a little sheepish that three different attempts have failed to locate the buried power line between the barn and the shop. My low-cost DIY method is lacking the technology of underground cable locators.
I have an eleven-year-old photo of the power cables coming out of the ground when they were accidentally cut. I know where the cables come out of the barn. What I am unsure of is how deep they are buried. I would be a lot more zealous about digging deeper if I was more confident I was in the right location.
My assumption that the cables –there are three– aren’t buried too deep is based on where they were cut in 2013. However, I didn’t witness the repair and reburying that occurred afterward.
First, I started a trench across the direction of the cables. The soil is heavy clay which makes the going difficult. Cyndie came to help and we discovered the ground on the slope above where I was digging was more forgiving dirt. We switched to probing the hill, meeting with several false alarms in the form of rocks.
After spending too much time getting nowhere, I gave in and decided to dig down at the spot where the cables come out of the barn so I could then trench along the cables to the location of the failed repair. I had hoped to avoid trenching across the lane behind the barn until we find out when an electrician can do a professional repair.
Doesn’t matter now because yesterday my digging beside the barn also proved futile. I got as deep as my arm could reach, which is the depth I know it should be from digging on the inside, but didn’t find the cables.
At this point, I’m thinking I should have spent money to rent a cable locator long ago because that’s probably what I’m going to end up doing if I can’t find those dang wires after one last try later this morning.
I can’t spend much time on it because we have two days left before our Iceland adventure vacation and there is grass to be mowed and compost piles to be moved among other miscellaneous things deserving my attention.
On the bright side, the weather for such projects has been glorious of late!
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Relative Something 