Ask Me Help Desk

Ask Me Help Desk (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forum.php)
-   Electrical & Lighting (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105)
-   -   Broken power line under ground (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=750204)

  • May 22, 2013, 06:37 PM
    johnjam101
    Broken power line under ground
    Can I repair 3 #2 Aluminum wires going from the main breaker box (200 amp) feeding a 100 amp sub panel 50 feet away in a garage shop. We accidentally broke all 3 lines while digging up a tree. Can it be patched and re buried?
    It was not as deep as it should be.
  • May 22, 2013, 07:45 PM
    stanfortyman
    You would need to cut back well into good wire. Do not splice it right where it broke. The cable is most likely stressed and contaminated within a couple of feet of the break.

    You'll obviously need six direct bury splices and heat shrinks, and enough wire to make up the difference.
  • May 23, 2013, 05:57 AM
    Stratmando
    If the Problem is close to one end, Maybe pull new wires on the short end and have 1 set of connectors.
  • May 23, 2013, 08:05 AM
    donf
    If this is a direct feed from your main panelboard to a downstream panelboard, you MUST have a four wire feed!

    Also, within the downstream panelboard, Ground and Neutral must be isolated from each other.
  • May 23, 2013, 01:23 PM
    stanfortyman
    Quote:

    If this is a direct feed from your main panelboard to a downstream panelboard, you MUST have a four wire feed!
    An older feed to a detached structure could very well be 3-wire and be perfectly legal. In those cases the grounds and neutral are bonded just as they are in a main panel.
  • May 23, 2013, 02:38 PM
    donf
    I agree, but if the cable is severed as described above, and replaced. Wouldn't need to be replaced with a new 4 wire cable?
  • May 23, 2013, 03:24 PM
    stanfortyman
    IMO no. It is just a repair.

  • All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:04 PM.