Pull box surprise

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Installer

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Location
DesMoines, Washington
Was wire tracing through Pull boxes and manholes. Reached down to find the wiring in the dirt and got nasty buzz. The maintenance worker with me did also. I thought the zing was a leakage through a wire nut through most soil .
The wiring is owned by the County. I'm a realist, nothing in the real world is perfect.
Whats going on here. Is it dirt in the pull box ? Should the 1000' wire run be replaced?
Pull Box 1 (2).jpg
 
Yeah, it's filled with soil. You won't be able to see what the problem is until you clean it out and examine the conductors and splices. Likely is leakage from a non-waterproof wire nut.

-Hal
 
If you want to clean out the box safely, you will need to de-energize the circuit, at least temporarily.
if you are careful you might be able to get away with properly rated insulating gloves and use of insulated tools, but I cannot recommend that, nor would OSHA approve.

I see from your profile that you are not an electrician, so i have to advise you to seek the assistance of a licensed electrician for the actual work.
 
is owned by the County

Are you working a contract job for the county? I live near Renton.

A few years ago called in about an open manhole to King county one Saturday morning and got a guy on the line said "we'll fix it Monday".
I put a piece of plywood, orange cone (and old chevy SB core to keep it in place) over it as there are kids in the neighborhood.

About 5 PM Sat night, got a call from county that repair crew was on the way, the 'newbie' who answered the phone that morning did not realize the liability the county could face if anyone fell in, was injured, or electrocuted, the 2nd shift guy was upset an overtime crew had not been called and sent immediately. Repair crew thanked me profusely for covering the open hole.

BTW, the easiest and safest way to get the dirt our of the hole is with a vacuum, using plastic hose of course. Even a shop vac would work. Potelco here has some neat vacuum trucks with either air or water to blast stuff out of corners. Nobody here digs any more than they have to, water jet and vacuum to dig down to conduit, air blast and vacuum for situations like yours.
 
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