Cable locate

[ptonsparky]

Customer wanted to know if the cable to his irrigation well was in conduit and how deep it was. He knows the answer now. Just a bit shallower than his last shovel full and no conduit. Lucky. He only went phase to neutral but it blew the shovel handle back up into his face. A night in the hospital and he said something about having a severe case of HUA syndrome.

 

[mdshunk]

Would that be the fat lip brand cable locator? One of my top 10 gripes is well pump installers that wire up their own well equipment.

I saw the aftermath of a guard rail that got driven into primary at a new Wal-Mart. The paint marks were a good 4 feet away.

 

[electricalperson]

Would that be the fat lip brand cable locator? One of my top 10 gripes is well pump installers that wire up their own well equipment.

I saw the aftermath of a guard rail that got driven into primary at a new Wal-Mart. The paint marks were a good 4 feet away.

they dont require primary underground feeders be covered by cement? around here our poco requires us to cover all there primary raceways with at least 2 inches of concrete so this doesnt happen

 

[peter d]

One of my top 10 gripes is well pump installers that wire up their own well equipment.

That's pretty much a fact of life around here. Thankfully most of them do OK work even though it may not be orthodox. Generally the greatest sins they commit are running the submersible pump cable into the house inside of the black water pipe.

 

[peter d]

they dont require primary underground feeders be covered by cement? around here our poco requires us to cover all there primary raceways with at least 2 inches of concrete so this doesnt happen

Not all poco's use conduit. Many simply bury the MV cable and call it done.

 

[mdshunk]

they dont require primary underground feeders be covered by cement? around here our poco requires us to cover all there primary raceways with at least 2 inches of concrete so this doesnt happen

They normally do here too, but I'm pretty sure those trucks that drive guardrail posts would have no trouble pounding through a few inches of concrete. There's enough rocks around here, the operator probably didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Your shovel guy probably never expected to find well pump wires where he did.

 

[electricalperson]

They normally do here too, but I'm pretty sure those trucks that drive guardrail posts would have no trouble pounding through a few inches of concrete. There's enough rocks around here, the operator probably didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Your shovel guy probably never expected to find well pump wires where he did.

that must of been pretty nasty, was anyone hurt?

 

[mdshunk]

Generally the greatest sins they commit are running the submersible pump cable into the house inside of the black water pipe.

Think about this for a minute. Some of that "well pump cable" is labeled as "unjacketed UF cable". You can run UF indoors. Cable so marked falls into some sort of grey area that I don't understand.

 

[mdshunk]

that must of been pretty nasty, was anyone hurt?

I don't know. I got a head's up on it, so I drove out to look for myself. Never made the newspaper, so I guess not.

 

[peter d]

Think about this for a minute. Some of that "well pump cable" is labeled as "unjacketed UF cable". You can run UF indoors. Cable so marked falls into some sort of grey area that I don't understand.

I'm not quite sure how it's classified. Generally speaking the stuff they run is a red, black and green "triplexed" together and marked "Submersible pump cable" as well as the gauge marking. I think it might also say "Type TW" but I'm not sure.

 

[mdshunk]

I'm not quite sure how it's classified. Generally speaking the stuff they run is a red, black and green "triplexed" together and marked "Submersible pump cable" as well as the gauge marking. I think it might also say "Type TW" but I'm not sure.

Ever seen the new stuff, normally yellow, that's sorta like Siamese cable?

 

[JohnJ0906]

I'm not quite sure how it's classified. Generally speaking the stuff they run is a red, black and green "triplexed" together and marked "Submersible pump cable" as well as the gauge marking. I think it might also say "Type TW" but I'm not sure.

Southwire's well cable is THHN/THWN, but not UF.
Just one brand though.

 

[peter d]

Ever seen the new stuff, normally yellow, that's sorta like Siamese cable?

Yes, but only on a reel at Lowes. I've never seen any of the well companies use it around here, as it's probably more expensive. Maybe Stickboy has seen it as he wires quite a few wells.

 

[ptonsparky]

This was 4/0 AL @ 480V, no more than 30 feet from the xfmr bank. Just beyond the meter & no fusing other than the primary side. Hole was filling with water has he dug it. The conductors were basically vaporized back into the insulation. Nice & neat. No burn marks. Haven't seen the shovel.

 

[peter d]

This was 4/0 AL @ 480V, no more than 30 feet from the xfmr bank. Just beyond the meter & no fusing other than the primary side. Hole was filling with water has he dug it. The conductors were basically vaporized back into the insulation. Nice & neat. No burn marks. Haven't seen the shovel.

That changes the picture quite a bit from what I had in my minds eye when you first posted!! I was thinking you hit a UF cable or something like that.

 

[mdshunk]

This was 4/0 AL @ 480V, no more than 30 feet from the xfmr bank. Just beyond the meter & no fusing other than the primary side. Hole was filling with water has he dug it. The conductors were basically vaporized back into the insulation. Nice & neat. No burn marks. Haven't seen the shovel.

Weird. I had it in mind that this was an ordinary residential water well. Guess not.

Do you suppose anyone makes a non-conductive digging shovel? I know they makes one's with non-conductive handles, and grain scoops with poly blades.

 

[peter d]

Weird. I had it in mind that this was an ordinary residential water well.

Same here.

 

[dbuckley]

Weird. I had it in mind that this was an ordinary residential water well. Guess not.

Yeah, got me too. Which it shouldn't, as in my neck of the woods, big three phase submersible pumps feeding big irrigators are rather common...