Major elerical problem !?? HELP

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

Following on from last my topic last week, I had a 2nd opinion on the problem with no power in the poolhouse.

So today another electrician came out tested everything, sent power down cables and the problem.....

.....the cable in the ground going from the boundary (where the incoming supply and meter is) is at fault!!

So they need to get their estimator out to price the job. The distance form the incoming supply/meter is over 120ft!!

Am I in for a rear shock?

The young electrician told me that they can sometimes chemical bond the cable as well but he could not say for sure.

Bricking it....only moved in a few months ago!!

IceBoy

[R1 Indy]

Depends in you can find where the break is.... If you know where the damage is, it can be repaired with a proper resin joint.

However cables don't just fail like this on there own, "something" must have caused it....

If you can find that "something" you may be able to find the break.


I guess the cable is direct buried? rather than in a duct?

If it was in a duct, it would be very simple to pull a new cable through.

[IceBoy]

I think it is just buried under my lawn?

Not sure anything caused it?

My head hurts.
Iceboy

[IceBoy]

Oh the gardens were water logged when we had the bad weather a few weeks back.
Iceboy

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for the cable in the ground on my land,me or the electricity company??

Edited by IceBoy on Friday 12th February 11:07

[Smiler.]

IceBoy said:

Oh the gardens were water logged when we had the bad weather a few weeks back.
Iceboy

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for the cable in the ground on my land,me or the electricity company??

Edited by IceBoy on Friday 12th February 11:07

Where is the meter?

Is there one for the whole site?

Is is single or three-phase?

A damaged cable in waterlogged ground will fail sooner of later but could take a long time & only after repeated similar events.

[crankedup]

Likely be easily repaired with a submarine joint.

[Smiler.]

crankedup said:

Likely be easily repaired with a submarine joint.

Not if water has seeped along the cable for any length.

[Megaflow]

IceBoy said:

Oh the gardens were water logged when we had the bad weather a few weeks back.
Iceboy

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for the cable in the ground on my land,me or the electricity company??

Edited by IceBoy on Friday 12th February 11:07

The distribution company will be responsible for the service head in the meter cabinet. Your energy supplier will be responsible from the service head to the meter.

From the meter on it is your responsibility.

[IceBoy]

Here is a plan of the property.

I'm going nuts!

IceBoy


Just click the thumb nail....not sure why it doesn't show in the forum??

[Mattt]

Looks like it's your responsibility then unfortunately.

[megaphone]

As said in the original thread (why start a new one?) It could well be a joint has failed somewhere, SWA cables are designed to be buried for years underground, but if someone jointed two cables somewhere then this could be the weak point.

Not sure if a new cable could be 'moled' across, would be the easiest and cheapest way.

[megaphone]

Another thought. The cable is up to the job? Did your electrician(s) comment on the cable size and power requirements? Possibly the cable has been overloaded?

[IceBoy]

The electricians did not comment on the size of the cable.
IceBoy

[megaphone]

IceBoy said:

The electricians did not comment on the size of the cable.
IceBoy

Possibly something to ask them.

[frg530]

Had the fuse/s or MCB tripped in the meter cabinet supplying the pool house? This would have happened under short circuit cable fault. I ask as I've watched a qualified electrician insulation resistance test a cable before between L and N with the load still connected on the other end and he was adamant it was a cable fault!

[Busa mav]

If the cable is in soft ground such as lawn, then its easy to pull a new trench.

2 years ago we had a 50m trench dug using a small machine with the narrowest bucket, the trench was dug , duct and cable layed and all back filled in a day.

The guy was expert at putting the turf back and then used the tracks of the digger to level it all out again.

[Smiler.]

Busa mav said:

If the cable is in soft ground such as lawn, then its easy to pull a new trench.

2 years ago we had a 50m trench dug using a small machine with the narrowest bucket, the trench was dug , duct and cable layed and all back filled in a day.

The guy was expert at putting the turf back and then used the tracks of the digger to level it all out again.

I had all the hopes that this was the case when I did a much shorter similar thing a couple of years ago. Sadly, beneath the lawn was the contents of a skip.

Being a tight-wad, me & the mrs sieved about one tonne of crap out of the soil in order to provide a decent backfill. Laid a path across the top which saved trying to repair the lawn.

[SLacKer]

Is there a route from the fuse board (incoming supply) to the pool house which would be less trouble to lay a new cable in. Say a flower bed or along the boundary of the property. Even if it was longer it could mean no digging up of driveways etc.

The issue is not the cost of the cable so much as digging up the driveway and making good etc.

[Clearly I know nothing of the actual layout of your land so please ignore if this is not possible]

[Megaflow]

IceBoy said:

Here is a plan of the property.

I'm going nuts!

IceBoy


Just click the thumb nail....not sure why it doesn't show in the forum??

Wiring is the home owners responsibility after the meter, so this is your problem. You wouldn't expect the energy company to fix a wire in your house, why is one in your garden any different?

[Yabu]

IceBoy said:

Hi All,

Following on from last my topic last week, I had a 2nd opinion on the problem with no power in the poolhouse.

So today another electrician came out tested everything, sent power down cables and the problem.....

.....the cable in the ground going from the boundary (where the incoming supply and meter is) is at fault!!

So they need to get their estimator out to price the job. The distance form the incoming supply/meter is over 120ft!!

Am I in for a rear shock?

The young electrician told me that they can sometimes chemical bond the cable as well but he could not say for sure.

Bricking it....only moved in a few months ago!!

IceBoy

"Tested it all and sent power down"
if he did the first properly then he either knew he shouldn't have done the second or it should be working.

N.B
As a pool house it will quite possibly have a tt earthing system, this may cause issues with people who don't understand what it means for testing purposes but shouldn't affect the power supply unless a seperate rcd feeding the installation has tripped.

Can you see the cable where it comes out of the ground at each end and follow it to the electrical unit/outlet/accessory/consumer unit/panel it goes to? There may be an rcd knocking about somewhere.


Testing, insulation resistance test using an appropriate tester (and not just a cheap multimeter or "test leads")would have shown any short circuits or degraded insulation that may be causing an issue.

Testing, continuity test, (again appropriate tester required capable of measuring on low ohm scale )couple of ways of doing this but effectively he should have proved that the cable had continuity from one end to the other for all conductors and that the readings are acceptable.

If the above test ok then there's nothing to stop the power from working within the cable, if these test failed then putting power down the cable isn't the best idea.

The next question becomes is the power reaching the cable at the house end, including the neutral, if no then the problem is before the cable enters the ground, if yes it becomes a question of where is it lost in the pool house.

Can you post pics up of the house end and pool house of the cable and what it goes to?