Found: Exposed power cables to outside meter!


  #1  
Old 11-19-18, 11:11 AM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 10
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Found: Exposed power cables to outside meter!

I'm completing a fence/gate install and while digging out my final post hole, I saw that the conduit that brings the main power supply into the home had rotted out leaving the insulated power cables on the inside exposed.
​​​​​​
I'm wondering what I am in for regarding repairs.

Name:  rotted.jpg
Views: 173
Size:  79.4 KB
 

Last edited by PJmax; 11-19-18 at 07:16 PM. Reason: added pic from link
  #2  
Old 11-19-18, 01:50 PM
L
Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,573
Received 201 Upvotes on 172 Posts
The proper way to fix would be to have power company cut the power at transformer, dig and replace bad section of the conduit.
That conduit is often just sleeving, but may run all the way to the transformer as well.

They make split conduit for repair works, but no so easy to find steel ones.
 
  #3  
Old 11-20-18, 10:07 AM
Z
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 6,095
Received 422 Upvotes on 375 Posts
While replacing the conduit is the best and longest-term fix. It's likely that the steel conduit only goes down a foot or two, and probably doesn't run the whole way. It's really only protecting the wire when it comes up above ground.

As a temporary fix, I would consider just adding some protection to the wires. I would consider maybe getting a 3" PVC conduit, cutting it in half on a tablesaw and zip-tying it over the existing conduit. Maybe not a perfect fix, but protects the wires from inadvertent tools or anything above-ground.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: