On 6/9/2020 7:52 AM, Todesco wrote:
On 6/9/2020 7:01 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 8 Jun 2020 07:32:05 -0400, Todesco
wrote:

On 6/7/2020 4:22 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 7 Jun 2020 06:37:54 -0400, Todesco
wrote:

On 6/5/2020 8:14 AM, Todesco wrote:
On 6/3/2020 3:45 PM, Todesco wrote:
10 years ago I installed a post lamp in the front of my
property.Â* The
house builder left a 2" plastic conduit (maybe 100 feet) from the
house to the area where the post light was to be installed.Â* I put a
4" square plastic box at each end of the conduit as ground
level.Â* The
house end is no problem as it is in the asphalt driveway.Â* At the
house end, I connected an underground "romex" to a breaker on the
panel.Â* At the other end, I connected 2 underground "romex", one to
the post light and one to an outlet, some 25' away.Â* Through the
years, the outside box has disappeared and I can't find it.Â* I've
tried raking up the leaf mulch. Nope.Â* I've also tried one of the
non
touch voltage testers.Â* Nope. I've tried a tracing unit connecting a
signal to the power line and snooping with the other end.Â* Nope!Â*Â* I
don't have a metal detector. Not sure where to go from here.Â* Any
great ideas out there?
Here's an update.Â* When I built the house I took tons of pics.Â* I
didn't
remember taking pics of the orange plastic conduit, but actually,
I did.
Â*Â* Â*The pictures helped a bit.Â* Haven't found it yet, but I feel I'm
closer.Â* Originally, I was looking in a different spot.Â* It's amazing
how much growth occurred in 10 years.Â* Yesterday I put my signal
unit on
the turned off lamp post outlet.Â* I can trace it even to the 2nd
outlet
some 25' away without even getting right on that outlet.Â* But in the
ground there seems to be lots of attenuation (ground).Â* I was getting
close in a big patch of some "weedy flowers" but had to give up as my
back couldn't take any more (recent back surgery).Â* Today it's
supposed
to rain all day, so it will have to wait.
Next update.Â* Yesterday, I used my sounder/receiver, but this time
only
the receiver.Â* It works very well to pic up 60Hz.Â* Connected an
electric
heater to the outlet on the post lamp.Â* It provided lots of 'hum'.
Still didn't find the plastic 4x4 box in the ground, but I think I'm
close.Â* My back got tired again, so I quit after a short time.
BTW, the
area in front of my house is au-natural ... no grass, just wild stiff.
We've even planted some wild flowers.Â* More later.

I suppose a pedantic old inspector might point out you should have
never buried a box in the first place but now you have a chance to do
it right.

Well actually, it was never really buried.Â* The box cover was at ground
level.Â* However, being in an area where plant growth is rampant, there
is lots of leaf mulch, etc.Â* I think some of the new plants are growing
in the leaf mulch on top of the box cover.Â* When I find it, I will
probably glue on another box extension and put some kind of a marker.

So it coulnd't be more than an inch or two deep.

Have you tried poking the ground for the box?.Â*Â* Take a broom stick or a
dowel rod and put a long? nail in one end, then grind the nail head off
and grind it moderately sharp.Â* Then go all around the yard poking.Â* If
it wa a 6" box you only have to poke every 5 inches.

The box was there to terminate the 2" plastic conduit.Â* Yes, I could
have just passed the wire through and buried it, but then it would back
fill with dirt, etc.Â* As for poking, I've even used a pitchfork.Â* I'd
sacrifice the box cover just to find it.Â* Didn't do anything yesterday.
Today it's supposed to rain all day, but it is sunny now.Â* More later.

Found it! It was just inside the clump of weeds (wild flowers). I used
the AM radio as someone suggested, but with a twist. I tuned to an area
where there was no signal. When the radio came to the area where the
cable was buried, it buzzed, 60Hz plus lots of harmonics. I sounded
like there was some data signal on the line as one of the harmonics
seemed to beep in a repepitive cadence. I could actuallly "see" where
the cable going through the clump of flowers. The box only had about an
inch or less of leaf mulch over it. Now I need to open it and look
inside. It was too hot and mostly too humid to continue, so I went to
the mailbox to retrieve the mail....spam, of course.

Next I have to see why the GFCI sometimes trips. I've googled the
problem and people seem to think anything of 150' for the circuit is a
recipe for false tripping. I also turn on the circuit at the house, but
only interrupt the hot lead. So when the circuit powers up, there is
capacitance between the conductors and earch that could cause more
current flow through one conductor than the other. BTW, the run is
about 250' from the GFCI breaker to the box. At that point it splits.
One wire goes to the lamp post, about 15' and the other to an outlet
about 25'. I really don't want to put the GFCI out at the end, but
maybe that's the only way to make it work. More later.