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#1
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Tracing Burried Romex in Yard
The previous owner of my home burried some Romex to power up a pool pump and
he ran a branch to a receptacle for a non existent sheded off this to provide a receptacle to a non existent shed. I like to do some trenching in my yard to run conduit to a workshop that I built but want to avoid the existing romex. Is there a way/device to help me find the burried romex. I tried a metal detector and after adjusting the sensitivity it still picks up a lot of stray stuff in my yard and does not give me a clear picture of the location of the romex. Thanks, |
#2
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Shouldnt use romex in the first place, remove it by finding where it
comes out and start pulling it up. Easy to find them |
#3
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If it's hot maybe one of those wire-finding things could locate it.
But that is a dumb way to run power, it's sposed to be in a PVC pipe I think. I would not only rip it out but also check the previous owner's other wiring "handiwork". |
#4
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#5
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Ray wrote: The previous owner of my home burried some Romex to power up a pool pump and he ran a branch to a receptacle for a non existent sheded off this to provide a receptacle to a non existent shed. I like to do some trenching in my yard to run conduit to a workshop that I built but want to avoid the existing romex. Is there a way/device to help me find the burried romex. I tried a metal detector and after adjusting the sensitivity it still picks up a lot of stray stuff in my yard and does not give me a clear picture of the location of the romex. Thanks Andy writes: I haven't tried this, but I've heard of others who tried it.... Into the receptacle, plug a hair dryer or electric drill and have your wife or somebody run it..... this puts a LOT of static on the power line. Use a little transistor radio to probe around in the vicinity of where you think the underground feeded might be..... The feeder will be radiating a lot of interference, and you might be able to track it this way...... If you have success, please let us know about it on this group. Thanks. Andy |
#6
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A similar method that has been used is to turn off power to the
circuit, strip the wires on the load end, and twist them tightly together, attach a wire nut, and then wrap the wire nut with electrical tape. In the circuit panel, take the wires feeding the circuit and remove them from the circuit breaker and reattach directly to the incoming mains power. |
#7
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I never said I used it, you big silly. I simply said it _had_ been
used. Pay more attention. |
#8
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In article .com, "Matt" wrote:
A similar method that has been used is to turn off power to the circuit, strip the wires on the load end, and twist them tightly together, attach a wire nut, and then wrap the wire nut with electrical tape. In the circuit panel, take the wires feeding the circuit and remove them from the circuit breaker and reattach directly to the incoming mains power. Thus creating a dead short across the incoming mains, and one HELL of an arc. What a brilliant idea -- NOT. You have no business offering electrical advice to anyone. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time? |
#9
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"A similar method" ... to what?
Matt wrote: A similar method that has been used is to turn off power to the circuit, strip the wires on the load end, and twist them tightly together, attach a wire nut, and then wrap the wire nut with electrical tape. In the circuit panel, take the wires feeding the circuit and remove them from the circuit breaker and reattach directly to the incoming mains power. |
#10
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Thanks Doug.
Cause, I mean, I was serious and everything, and I really expected someone to actually believe it. Thanks for being the usenet safety marshall today, you are doing your job well. Put a capital G on that geek, will ya? Putz. |
#11
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"Matt" wrote in message oups.com... A similar method that has been used is to turn off power to the circuit, strip the wires on the load end, and twist them tightly together, attach a wire nut, and then wrap the wire nut with electrical tape. In the circuit panel, take the wires feeding the circuit and remove them from the circuit breaker and reattach directly to the incoming mains power. I don't even see a remote possibility of that procedure showing you anything useful. It's been used to turn the power off to the circuit? By shorting out the mains? I say the redneck method for turning a breaker off for a particular circuit without having to know which breaker it's on is to short out the hot to the outlet box with a screwdriver. You already know which circuit(s) the main provide for. |
#12
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Well, I believe the theory is that the romex will heat up like a
toaster element, burning a black streak from its origin to it's destination. Sort of like on "The Money Pit" when Tom Hanks turns on the kitchen lights. And careful with that redneck advice, Olaf. You'll probably get a warning from the safety marshall. |
#13
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Matt:
I like a joke as much as the next person but this group is a mix of seasoned individuals with a wealth off knowlege on may subjects and other who don't know much about anything. Going on a public forum like this and even indirectly hinting that shorting out the wiring at the main box might help a person trace the path of a wire is just plain stupid. If just one person out of the possible thousands who lurk on this site follows your advise you could be responsible for someone killing themselves. I look forward to your response Jimbo "Matt" wrote in message oups.com... Well, I believe the theory is that the romex will heat up like a toaster element, burning a black streak from its origin to it's destination. Sort of like on "The Money Pit" when Tom Hanks turns on the kitchen lights. And careful with that redneck advice, Olaf. You'll probably get a warning from the safety marshall. |
#14
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I don't even see a remote possibility of that procedure showing you anything useful. It's been used to turn the power off to the circuit? By shorting out the mains? Well, if you can get to the other side of the transformer, your heirs will be able to find where the wire was by hunting for the little furrow left when said wire exploded.. |
#15
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A $35 tool like the following will do the trick
http://tinyurl.com/agr9z Ray wrote: The previous owner of my home burried some Romex to power up a pool pump and he ran a branch to a receptacle for a non existent sheded off this to provide a receptacle to a non existent shed. I like to do some trenching in my yard to run conduit to a workshop that I built but want to avoid the existing romex. Is there a way/device to help me find the burried romex. I tried a metal detector and after adjusting the sensitivity it still picks up a lot of stray stuff in my yard and does not give me a clear picture of the location of the romex. Thanks, |
#16
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Jimbo -
If someone goes out to usenet and follows advice that gets them killed, then they shouldn't have been messing with it in the first place. Usenet is not a qualified, guaranteed safe source of information FOR ANYTHING, and I don't recall getting the memo that said if you follow advice given here, everything will turn out just dandy. I'm also very tired of the line "you could be responsible for someone's death". If that is true, then the exact opposite is also true - people giving reliable instuctions on how to do something, and someone follows it and dies. By that logic, this group should not exist at all - it's a hazard and kills people! Bottom line is - if you don't know what you are doing, and "it" involves fuel, electricity, powerful springs (garage doors), or anything else that holds the potential to kill you (a clothes dryer, a stove, a microwave) ... then don't **** with it. Call someone who knows what they are doing. If a person isn't smart enough to know their own limitations and capabilities, a usenet forum isn't going to change a damn thing. |
#17
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Your response in nothing less and nothing more than I expected.
I have been using usenet for years in my hobby of restoring old cars and in my sons specialty TIG welding business. Nobody can have all the right answer to every problem and I have always found most usenet posters to be very genuine and willing to help others through a difficult situation. The number of top quality professionals willing to share their knowledge is amazing to say the least. However I guess it should be expected that their will always be people like you looking for an opportunity to mess with peoples heads. Have a great day Jimbo "Matt" wrote in message oups.com... Jimbo - If someone goes out to usenet and follows advice that gets them killed, then they shouldn't have been messing with it in the first place. Usenet is not a qualified, guaranteed safe source of information FOR ANYTHING, and I don't recall getting the memo that said if you follow advice given here, everything will turn out just dandy. I'm also very tired of the line "you could be responsible for someone's death". If that is true, then the exact opposite is also true - people giving reliable instuctions on how to do something, and someone follows it and dies. By that logic, this group should not exist at all - it's a hazard and kills people! Bottom line is - if you don't know what you are doing, and "it" involves fuel, electricity, powerful springs (garage doors), or anything else that holds the potential to kill you (a clothes dryer, a stove, a microwave) ... then don't **** with it. Call someone who knows what they are doing. If a person isn't smart enough to know their own limitations and capabilities, a usenet forum isn't going to change a damn thing. |
#18
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I have stumps in my yard smarter than you.
Yes, I've heard trees stumps are all the rage in mobile home parks. I'm sure you have quite the collection. |
#19
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Your response in nothing less and nothing more than I expected.
I have been using usenet for years in my hobby of restoring old cars and in my sons specialty TIG welding business. Nobody can have all the right answer to every problem and I have always found most usenet posters to be very genuine and willing to help others through a difficult situation. The number of top quality professionals willing to share their knowledge is amazing to say the least. However I guess it should be expected that their will always be people like you looking for an opportunity to mess with peoples heads. Have a great day Jimbo That's an awful lot of words, Jimbo. You could have just said "Ya know - your right". Oh wait. I guess you did. Have a fantasticaly wonderful day! Matt |
#20
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On 4-May-2005, "Matt" wrote: If someone goes out to usenet and follows advice that gets them killed, then they shouldn't have been messing with it in the first place. Usenet is not a qualified, guaranteed safe source of information FOR ANYTHING, and I don't recall getting the memo that said if you follow advice given here, everything will turn out just dandy. No doubt all true. However... Speaking hypothetically suppose some idiot did follow your advice and shorted the mains and for arguments sake let's say they lived. Then let's say they sued you for giving them this advice to begin with. It's not likely they really have a case but they do have the right to sue I believe (I'm not sure, not an attorney). So ok, you make your above point and you do probably win the case. Do you think that the judge or civil adjutant or whoever is just going to say very good carry on? I think that you would most like have a discussion with someone in authority about the wisdom of giving life threatening advice in any forum. If the person following your advice died I think that while you still might legally prevail that discussion would be a tad more serious. And some prosecutor somewhere might make it their business to hit you with some charge and they might just make it stick. Not a good idea giving out life threatening advice even if it's obviously a joke. Just too dangerous. ml |
#21
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In article . com, "Matt" wrote:
Thanks Doug. Cause, I mean, I was serious and everything, and I really expected someone to actually believe it. So you said something stupid, got called out, and now you're pretending it was a joke all along - which makes you look even sillier than you already did. On the off chance that this really *was* a joke -- that's even more stupid. Many people who post here know even less about electrical safety than you do, and do *not* have the technical competence to distinguish between good advice, dangerously stupid advice, and dumb jokes. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time? |
#22
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wrote: On 4-May-2005, "Matt" wrote: If someone goes out to usenet and follows advice that gets them killed, then they shouldn't have been messing with it in the first place. Usenet is not a qualified, guaranteed safe source of information FOR ANYTHING, and I don't recall getting the memo that said if you follow advice given here, everything will turn out just dandy. No doubt all true. However... Speaking hypothetically suppose some idiot did follow your advice and shorted the mains and for arguments sake let's say they lived. Then let's say they sued you for giving them this advice to begin with. It's not likely they really have a case but they do have the right to sue I believe (I'm not sure, not an attorney). So ok, you make your above point and you do probably win the case. Do you think that the judge or civil adjutant or whoever is just going to say very good carry on? I think that you would most like have a discussion with someone in authority about the wisdom of giving life threatening advice in any forum. If the person following your advice died I think that while you still might legally prevail that discussion would be a tad more serious. And some prosecutor somewhere might make it their business to hit you with some charge and they might just make it stick. Not a good idea giving out life threatening advice even if it's obviously a joke. Just too dangerous. ml Agreed. But what about the other point I made? Isn't someone giving technically accurate advice just as likely to end up at the end of a lawsuit in the event someone is killed/injured following it? If not, why not? |
#23
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On the off chance that this really *was* a joke -- that's even more
stupid. Many people who post here know even less about electrical safety than you do, and do *not* have the technical competence to distinguish between good advice, dangerously stupid advice, and dumb jokes. And yet you continue to give them advice on performing electrical procedures. Moreso, you have elevated yourself to the poistion of "mr. electrical know it all" in this forum, usually chiding and deriding others who have the audacity to also offer advice, and then getting into stupid, pointless arguments about therotical details the OP never cared about in the first place, until you are finally satisfied you have gotten in the last word. Put a sock in it Doug, put a G in that alphaGeek, and do try to get out more often. If you can't tell that my original post wasn't serious - you have been catching WAY too many CRT rays. |
#24
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In article .com, "Matt" wrote:
On the off chance that this really *was* a joke -- that's even more stupid. Many people who post here know even less about electrical safety than you do, and do *not* have the technical competence to distinguish between good advice, dangerously stupid advice, and dumb jokes. And yet you continue to give them advice on performing electrical procedures. To some, yes. Others, who appear to have no clue (perhaps you'll recognize yourself here), I advise to hire a pro. Moreso, you have elevated yourself to the poistion of "mr. electrical know it all" in this forum, usually chiding and deriding others who have the audacity to also offer advice, I have no sympathy for those idiots who, lacking any understanding of electrical safety, offer useless or dangerous advice to those who are in no position to tell it apart from good advice. Perhaps you'll recognize yourself again, as either the former or the latter, probably both. Those who give safe and correct advice never receive a reproof from me. Your confusion is understandable, though, being as you are yourself unable to tell the difference between good and bad advice. If you can't tell that my original post wasn't serious - you have been catching WAY too many CRT rays. Whether it was serious or not isn't really the point - electricity is not a joking matter. What you proposed could be FATAL to someone who thought that was actual serious advice. I don't really believe you were joking, anyway. I think you haven't a clue, you posted something stupid, and now that you've been called out on it, you're trying to pretend it was all a joke. And if you *were* joking... that's REALLY stupid. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time? |
#25
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Those who give safe and correct advice never receive a reproof from
me. Yeah.... sure. Get over yourself Doug. You really aren't that important. |
#26
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I'm no lawyer but my son is an insurance adjuster and he see courts pay out
judgements on some very strange cases and I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibilities that and injured or dead persons insurance company would try and sue you under the subrogation clause of the victims health or life policy. Now wouldn't that be something we could all laugh about, an even bigger laugh would be your legal bill. Jimbo "Matt" wrote in message oups.com... wrote: On 4-May-2005, "Matt" wrote: If someone goes out to usenet and follows advice that gets them killed, then they shouldn't have been messing with it in the first place. Usenet is not a qualified, guaranteed safe source of information FOR ANYTHING, and I don't recall getting the memo that said if you follow advice given here, everything will turn out just dandy. No doubt all true. However... Speaking hypothetically suppose some idiot did follow your advice and shorted the mains and for arguments sake let's say they lived. Then let's say they sued you for giving them this advice to begin with. It's not likely they really have a case but they do have the right to sue I believe (I'm not sure, not an attorney). So ok, you make your above point and you do probably win the case. Do you think that the judge or civil adjutant or whoever is just going to say very good carry on? I think that you would most like have a discussion with someone in authority about the wisdom of giving life threatening advice in any forum. If the person following your advice died I think that while you still might legally prevail that discussion would be a tad more serious. And some prosecutor somewhere might make it their business to hit you with some charge and they might just make it stick. Not a good idea giving out life threatening advice even if it's obviously a joke. Just too dangerous. ml Agreed. But what about the other point I made? Isn't someone giving technically accurate advice just as likely to end up at the end of a lawsuit in the event someone is killed/injured following it? If not, why not? |
#27
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To some, yes. Others, who appear to have no clue (perhaps you'll
recognize yourself here), I advise to hire a pro. I forgot to ask - where did you get that device that lets you accurately judge the capability of the person asking the question, or the actuality of the situation they are attempting to descibe? Is this some sort of new internet device? Is it possible that the advice you give could be passed from a friend to a friend via telephone to one who say, couldn't ask the question themselves as they have no computer? How do you judge their ability? Oh, what about the people who are just reading the thread, have no ability to perform electrical work, but inspired by you - decide they can handle it? Face it Doug. Giving advice here - posting ANYTHING here, accurate or not, can lead to the death or injury of others. There is NO WAY to know how the information you provide will be used, or whose hands it will wind u pin. If you are really concerned about the safety of others, then you will either ALWAYS tell people to use a pro - OR - post nothing at all, therefore causing the person to call a professional. There is no difference between good, bad or joking advice here. It's all just information to be used or ignored by those who seek it, whether they are qualified or not to actually use it. |
#28
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Jimbo,
Can't you just go away? Thanks Matt |
#29
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It's obvious to me a least that your not getting much support for your twisted way of thinking. I think a lot of respondence are posting more out of the concern that someone out there might actually think you know what your talking about. Your obviously an intelligent person but that doesn't mean your worth listening. I think you have done more than I have to help me make my point, so I'll let you play with someone else. Jimbo "Matt" wrote in message oups.com... Jimbo, Can't you just go away? Thanks Matt |
#30
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In article .com, "Matt" wrote:
To some, yes. Others, who appear to have no clue (perhaps you'll recognize yourself here), I advise to hire a pro. I forgot to ask - where did you get that device that lets you accurately judge the capability of the person asking the question, or the actuality of the situation they are attempting to descibe? Is this some sort of new internet device? To some extent, it can be inferred from the questions the poster asks. For example, from your questions, I'm able to infer that you're an argumentative horse's ass. Face it Doug. Giving advice here - posting ANYTHING here, accurate or not, can lead to the death or injury of others. There is NO WAY to know how the information you provide will be used, or whose hands it will wind u pin. That's exactly the point I've been trying to pound into your skull, Matt. I'm glad it finally got through to you. If you are really concerned about the safety of others, then you will either ALWAYS tell people to use a pro - OR - post nothing at all, therefore causing the person to call a professional. There is no difference between good, bad or joking advice here. Just proves what I said before - you can't tell the difference. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time? |
#31
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Whatever you say Jimbo.
It's obvious that you are more concerned with getting the last word in then you are about actually discussing the validity of a topic - which is good - because as you said: YOU ARE NO LAWYER. You ain't no Jack Kennedy, either. ****, you don't even match up to the capabilities of rain man. I think you have done more than I have to help me make my point, so I'll let you play with someone else. I think you are right. So I'll let you go back to playing with yourself. And for god's sake PLEASE put me in your killfile. Thank you. Matt |
#32
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According to Phil Munro :
"A similar method" ... to what? Chernobyl I think. Theoretically, it _might_ work. Just look for the trench the explosion dug. Mind you, you won't be able to, because the explosion in the main blinded you. -- Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them. |
#33
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According to Matt :
You could have just said "Ya know - your right". But that's not what he said, now is it?. I suggest you read it again. -- Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them. |
#34
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Bennett Price writes:
A $35 tool like the following will do the trick http://tinyurl.com/agr9z I would seriously doubt that such tool would be any help in tracing (properly) *buried* wire as per the OP. Heck, these tools have enough trouble going through 3/4" of sheetrock. |
#35
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According to Matt :
Isn't someone giving technically accurate advice just as likely to end up at the end of a lawsuit in the event someone is killed/injured following it? If not, why not? Say, you're on the wrong end of a manslaughter charge. Which argument do you think would work better: a) The advice I gave was harmless, at worst he'd look silly crawling around his yard with a transistor radio glued to his ear. b) I _knew_ my advice was hazardous, and would quite likely result in property damage, injury or death. Or all three. Think carefully. -- Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them. |
#36
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According to Ray :
The previous owner of my home burried some Romex to power up a pool pump and he ran a branch to a receptacle for a non existent sheded off this to provide a receptacle to a non existent shed. I like to do some trenching in my yard to run conduit to a workshop that I built but want to avoid the existing romex. Is there a way/device to help me find the burried romex. I tried a metal detector and after adjusting the sensitivity it still picks up a lot of stray stuff in my yard and does not give me a clear picture of the location of the romex. Some of the "buzzer" suggestions _might_ work, but don't count on it. [In case it isn't obvious, futzing with the main like that other stupid suggestion can kill you.] Call your local power company. If that line is delivering power to something, they can probably detect it with their equipment. Despite it not being their main feed, they _may_ be willing to search for it. Especially if you need them to find your main feed anyway. [Recently, I did just that. I needed the mains found before some garden work, and when the guy was onsite, I asked him if he'd take a quick scan for the buried feeder to the garage which was only a few feet away and I needed to avoid it too. He spent a few seconds searching for part of it, found it, I thanked him, and that was that.] -- Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them. |
#37
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"Matt" wrote in message oups.com... Well, I believe the theory is that the romex will heat up like a toaster element, burning a black streak from its origin to it's destination. Well then, I stand corrected. I guess it would probably reveal the path of the wire. :-D Sort of like on "The Money Pit" when Tom Hanks turns on the kitchen lights. And careful with that redneck advice, Olaf. You'll probably get a warning from the safety marshall. Thanks for the heads up. G |
#38
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Oops. I meant, the better answer is: A.
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#39
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Damn!
Now we are up to manslaughter. That was quick! Obviously, the bettter answer is B. Now, counsel, if you would: please explain to me how I got charged with manslaughter. |
#40
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Ray posted for all of us...
The previous owner of my home burried some Romex to power up a pool pump and he ran a branch to a receptacle for a non existent sheded off this to provide a receptacle to a non existent shed. I like to do some trenching in my yard to run conduit to a workshop that I built but want to avoid the existing romex. Is there a way/device to help me find the burried romex. I tried a metal detector and after adjusting the sensitivity it still picks up a lot of stray stuff in my yard and does not give me a clear picture of the location of the romex. Thanks, Use your areas "one call" system. -- Tekkie |
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