On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:11:33 GMT, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

I hit an underground 12-3 wire with my shovel digging a hole. Gouged it
right up to the wire on one conductor.

I think cutting the wire in two and putting in an underground splice may
cause more trouble than it fixes.

Just wrapping the spot with electrical tape will probably let water in and
it will fail here in the future.

Is there a another repair option?

Is this the gray "UF Romex" (Underground Feeder), with the outer
sheath molded over the inner wires? Or the white indoor "NM Romex"
which should never be used direct buried? If it's the white stuff
with the paper spacers inside the outer sheath, that stuff is never
supposed to be used underground and will not last, skip the next
paragraph...

If it's UF Romex, I would get a can of the "Liquid Electrical Tape"
cement and some Premium grade 3M Scotch 33+ electrical tape (do NOT
use the 49-cent bargain tape), and do an in-situ patch. Take off the
outer sheath carefully and repair the inner conductors; tape the gash
in the insulation, coat with liquid tape, let dry, retape, recoat.
Then do the same thing with the outer sheath - 2 to 4 alternating
layers, each layer going a bit further out on the sheath, until it
looks like a little football on the cable. Realize that no matter how
nice the repair this patch job is going to go bad eventually, so...

The real permanent repair is to dig a trench for the whole run at
least 18" down (36" under a public street) and drop in PVC Conduit
using sweep ells (NOT pipe elbows) to come up to your posts and boxes,
then pull in THHN / THWN wire for your load(s). When in doubt, use
larger conduit. It's only feeding a light post now, sure - then you
want to add an electric gate motor, and put in a 50A RV plug in the
yard for hookups when the relatives visit (or for running your welder
while fixing the gate)... 1" conduit isn't much more $ than 1/2".

Not more than 360-degrees of total bends between boxes, or pulling
the wire will be a royal pain. And if there is any chance of finding
an underground utility line in your path, PLEASE call them out to
locate and mark their lines before you start. Striking a utility line
can be deadly, or just expensive to fix - you break it, you bought it.

You can do it yourself, but please get an DIY-style instructional
book and follow the basic safety rules on bonding, grounding,
mandatory rules like "White is always Neutral, Green is always Safety
Ground, and neither color is used for an ungrounded conductor" - the
life you save could be your own, or mine if I ever have to come over
and do repairs.

-- Bruce --
--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
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