[SEL] OT! Electrical troubleshoting

Richard Strobel Richard_Strobel7 at msn.com
Thu Oct 28 05:50:25 PDT 2010


Curt, how about calling the phone company underground wiring ID guy.  He could hook just to the black wire.

Also check where any large trucks, traffic has driven over the wire.  Rodents maybe.

Dig the wire up halfway and use the ohm meter again....sure you know the drill from there.

Last but not least...just use the two good wires.  My Montana Power supplied yard light (overhead wires) has only two wires to it.

Good luck,
RickinMt.


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: curt at rustyiron.com<mailto:curt at rustyiron.com> 
  To: The SEL email discussion list<mailto:sel at lists.stationary-engine.com> 
  Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 6:18 AM
  Subject: [SEL] OT! Electrical troubleshoting


  Hey guys and gals,
  Since the SEL is a vast pool of knowledge to draw from, I need help with
  troubleshooting an underground wire at the new place. From the house is a
  12 ga wire that goes underground a couple of hundred feet to feed a couple
  of pole lights. This is that gray outdoor wire.
  The lights quit working and after some troubleshooting was surprised to
  learn the wire itself is bad. That's highly unusual as wire rarely goes
  bad. After disconnecting at each end and using jumpers and a ohm meter, I
  have determined the black wire is the one bad. The white (neutral) and
  ground wires are both good.
  Yesterday I had a fellow come over with a signal generator and tracer. We
  hooked the signal to the black wire and the other to a grounding rod.
  Strangely the signal went all the way to the pole light. This wire will
  conduct the trace signal, but not a bit of current will pass. Perhaps the
  wet dirt is creating a bridge for the break in the wire allowing the
  signal to continue on past the break. We've had several inches of rain the
  last days.
  So, how do I identify where the break is w/o digging up the whole yard?
  Is there a way to completely "burn" this wire at the bad place, so the
  tracer signal can no longer pass across the bad place?

  Looking forward to your creative ideas.
  Curt Holland


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