Outdoor Wiring

[drunkcat]

We discovered today that the line brining power to our detached garage was burried in the flower bed in the back yard. We realized this after a gardening tool went straight through the wire. Luckily we only have 110V and the handle of the tool was insulated. The line looks like 12 gauge grey romex.

I realize we need to dig a trench and run a new line to the garage. Its getting a little late in the season however. Does anyone know of something I can do for a quick fix to get us through the winter and snow until I can do this right in the spring? Is there anytype of outdoor, watertight, junction box?

I have done pleanty of wiring in the house, but have no experience with outdoor wiring.

Thanks!!!
Scott

[wardprobst]

You can get fairly weather proof boxes at the big box stores. Hopefully you have enough slack in the wire to make a decent splice.
good luck,
DP

[L. D. Jeffries]

Had the same problem a few years ago. They do make a splice kit for underground/outdoor wiring. Probably the only place that would carry it would be an outfit that caters to the contractor crowd. Its a long sausage like plastic cover, in two halves. Splice the wire then u fill it with some kind of epoxy mixture after clamping the two covers together. A touch expensive but then a leak to ground will run your elec. bill to the moon. Mine has been in the ground for at least 8 years with no problems.

[crokett]

Check code in your area. My understanding is all splices have to be accessible (i.e. not buried). So you may have to have a box with a removable cover in your flower bed so you can access the splice. ldjeffrie's suggestion seems to run counter to that, so I could be wrong.
Another suggestion is to get an outdoor outlet and some conduit and turn the splice into an outlet on the outside of your garage. Might be handy to have some day and you know the splice is not buried. Also while you are digging you might want to take the part of the wire in the flower bed and run it through conduit so you don;t cut it again.

[TheRic]

This is a quick, dirty fix to get you thru winter, have seen it last several years, but "I" would not trust it for that long.
Reattach the wires, use a short length of wire at least the same gage or larger, to splice it if need be. Wrap electric tape tight around the area, very good, as in several layers, several inches past splice on each side. Cover whole thing in Silicon past electric tape. Let dry, try to keep it out of the dirt. Once the silicon is hard (well as hard as silicon gets), you can bury it again.
Come spring replace the whole line!

[L. D. Jeffries]

I guess I failed to mention in my reply to "drunkcat" that we live out in the country and "codes" are mostly one's own common sense to do what will work safely. Of course things differ wildly in other parts of the country. The only time I ever saw an electrical insperctor was when we built our house and had an inspection before the power company would hook us up.

[eezlock]

power line....

Scott, I remember from my electrical working days that any and all splices
in cable had to be accessible...not directly buried. Another post made refrence to making an outdoor receptacle at that point and using it as
your splice/ junction point, a good remedy there. I would use electrical
pvc conduit and post mount it above ground for the receptacle.

Also, use the proper cable for direct burial in the ground it has to be
UF cable not NM type and must be buried at a depth of 18'' or more, if you run it thru conduit the depth can be reduced to 12" depth. You should be able to buy moisture proof/ sealtite boxes and fittings from the Borg or any good electrical supply house in your area. Hope this helps...eezlock

[drunkcat]

Thank you for the ideas and replies. In true Polish fashion (calm down, I'm Polish) I went with Ric's Silicon solution. It was quick and dirty and has survived a few very rainy days already. I think it will get me through winter until I can do it up right.

Thanks again,

Scott

[crokett]

It was quick and dirty and has survived a few very rainy days already. I think it will get me through winter until I can do it up right.

Thanks again,

Scott

Just make sure it is on your project list for spring. My problem with quick and dirty is 10 yrs later I still haven't gotten around to fixing it. Another thing you can do is replace an outlet on that circuit that is between the splice and the breaker with a GFCI, assuming you don't have one there already.

[TheRic]

I would give it serious thought to put in conduit / PVC line all the way. Make it larger than what you currently need. Then when you want to add something down the road all you have to do is pull it thru, no more digging. Put a pull rope in the pipe to make it easier.

You can put a second pipe in (with pull rope) to run other wires like phone, cable, intercom, network, fiber, etc.

Do not mix electric lines with cable, phone, etc. in the same conduit / PVC pipe.

I agree with Crokett on the quick and dirty fix, been there done that. My old shop teacher use to say "If you have time to do right the second time, you have time to do it right the first time." I agree with that statement, most of the time. There is a time and place for quick and dirty fixes.

[gjat]

You only have 12/2 UF feeding your Garage? That sounds awful small.
I do outdoor electrical, such as street lights. You can make a buriable, non-reinterable splice. You can improve on the 'silicone' splice. Get some Rubber tape and wrap it, over-lapping each wrap 50%, coat it with Scotch-Cote, cover with good 33+ black electrical tape, then another coat of Scotch-Cote. Improve the drainage buy over-digging and throwing in some gravel and elevate the splice so it isn't likely to sit in water. Cover it with a box so snow won't sit on it. You'll be fine.

Of course, make sure your power is turned off before all that.

If you replace the run, please use conduit, even though UF is rated as direct buried. 18" is minimum NEMA standards. Be sure to include a ground wire in the conduit, a ground rod, and certainly upgrade the size of wire. Avoid any splices outdoors, but if you have to, use a pull box and a proper waterproof splice.