Electrical Help needed

[MikeDingas]

My shop is a prefab steel framed building and prewired. this summer I finally dug a trench and ran a permanent wire to it. I now suddenly find a short in the wire cable so I need to replace it. Problem is the wire is in electrical PVC and was difficult to snake through when above ground. I know I won't be able to pull out the old and fish in new.

So, I'm considering runing an above ground circuit along the base of my privacy fence which connects to the shop. I'm wonder if there is a grade of wiring like romex or bx flex cable that is acceptable for this. I know I can use conduit but am looking for other options. I live in Georgia, USA by the way.

Mike

[Steviegwood]

electrical wire

Mike, you may want to check your local codes first. But there is wire made for outside use or direct burial cable. It is usually identified as UF wire or direct burial. Hope this helps. Steve

[MikeDingas]

My local Lowes sells 100' of that for $66 but it has a flexible PVC sheath that could be damage if not used inside some other conduit or emf pipe. I believe that is what I now have buried in the ground.

Thanks for replying.

Mike

[SharonW0111]

Mike then why don't you put that wire Steve is talking about into PVC pipe? It sure won't deterate and if you were to run over it or something like me ( I would run over it with my riding mower) it won't tear up your mower.
That is what I would do.
Sharon

[earlinjax]

Seems like a conduit or pvc pipe would be the best. If you pull it, be sure to use wire pulling grease. It will go a lot better.

EarlinJax

[MikeDingas]

Pulling grease? Hmmm... When I 'pulled' the circuit that is now bad it was a very frustrating experience. Very hard to do. Finally had to disassemble the lengths of PVC and pull the wire a section at a time. If I run this along the fence, I'll have 3 90 degree turns to make. Grease sounds good!

Mike

[will8989]

I am totally clueless about electricity!! When hubby builds my shop next year, we are considering a generator. He works for company that owns Onan and we can get a really good price on one. Besides, when our electricity goes out we can use it for the house!!!

Betty

[CJoZ]

Have you tried to isolate the short in the existing wire? Most shorts tend to be at either end unless something has actually damaged the wire. Might be an easy fix rather than running an entirely new wire.

[sawdustus]

Mike,
Sounds like you may have nicked the insulation as you pulled it through the conduit. Probably as you turned a corner. Sometimes you just get a bad piece. Happened to me when I was putting in a three way circuit for my daughter. Tried every combination of wiring to get it to work and finally just ran another piece. Removed the old new piece and found that the red one actually had broken during manufacture. It happens.
Definitly use pulling grease, but be prepared to get some help. You should make a loop in one end of the wire, run a snake through the conduit and then attach the snake to the wire. Rewind the snake and at the same time have someone else feed the wire into the conduit while greasing it up. Very messy but it works. It is almost impossible to do it alone. Also, use conduit sized for a much larger wire than you are pulling. Easier to pull around the corners and not much more expensive.

Absolutely check with your local building department for code requirements. They are usually very helpful. Most let you do the work yourself but will want to inspect it before you use it. You may need a permit. We do here in New Jersey but if you have a problem later on, inspections that have been passed make your insurance company much easier to deal with.

Good Luck with the next run.

[ChuckD]

Ditto to all the above (being lazy again) but on the 90 degree turns it would save you a lot of trouble if you put in a more gradual corner with two 45's where you were planning the 90's. Keep us posted and good luck

[MikeDingas]

Well, I pulled the old wire out and know what happened. I have about 6 inches of top soil and then Georgia red clay. Hard as a brick! I trenched the run by hand and didn't bury the PVC as deep as I would have liked. Shortly thereafter, the cable company ran a new cable. When they buried it, the machine they use sliced through the PVC and just nicked all three wires. Once we started to get some rain, it penetrated the PVC and eventually caused an arc that welded the wires together.

I had to dig up and cut out two 90 degree elbows to pull the wire out. Think I'll look for 45 degree pieces and use grease when I finally get around to fixing it.

Thanks for everyone's input. What a great bunch of scrollers!!

Mike

[Rick-H]

Buried Wire

Guess that is why here before any, ANY, digging is done you need to call in for a locate on all services. Of course I guess if you the property owner put something in that may not show up. Then too to bury a wire like that we would have had a permit and the work inspected before it was buried.
Just some ot the codes we have here to try to minimize accidents like that. The cable guys could have been electricuted when they hit the wire. Not sure who would have been liable on that. A crew here hit a gas line a month ago, that was put in by the property owners. Not sure how that came out but I bet it cost them a bunch of money in fines and property loss. They had to shut gas off to close to 2,000 customers to control the fire it started. Looked neat on the news with 30 foot high fireball on the side of an apartment house.

We all need to think what we do underground, Someone else may dig it up. Even to plant a tree or put in a fence for a dog run, or a clothes line pole. Even when we put those things in we need to have a locate, all services, gas, electric, phone, and cable are underground here, and no telling where they go across your property.

[Woodbutcher68]

When I had my garage built in December 1992, the electrical contractor had his dad run the wire from the house to the garage. The next spring I was digging a hole and at about 6" deep, the radio in the garage shut off. I looked in the hole and saw the two wires I had just cut through. I called the contractor and explained that the local code called for the wires to be TWO FEET deep and told him what had happened. The guy was there within the hour and corrected the problem. Glad I only have 120 volts going to the garage and a wood handled shovel or I might not be telling this story.

[MikeDingas]

In response to Rick, I know it was not the best solution but I did it anyway. When the cable guys showed up I was there and showed them where the power line was buried and mentioned the shallowness of the pipe. I was assured their blade only went 4" into the ground. The line tapped off an outside GFI outlet so I doubt an electrocution would have happened. Anyway, what's done is done.

Mike