Big Boys Hobbies

Buried Electric Bites!

bvpe

bvpe

Junior Member
Joined
May 13, 2010
Messages
76
Location
NE Ohio
So I'm detecting a church property and I just found a 1941 Merc. Two feet away I get the same signal on the Etrac. So I'm down on my right knee and cutting a plug in the grass when ZAP? Next thing you know I'm on my back with a dazed feeling. I compose myself and sit up on the ground and look around. I see the electric service coming into the building from overhead. The pole that the service feed comes from is on the edge of the grass at a paved parking lot. A light is mounted to the pole and I see a light switch mounted on the pole about 6' above the ground. I turn to look back at the building and I spot a romex line coming out of the brick veneer just about 6" above grade. The romex goes into the ground and apparently over to the light switch on the pole for the parking lot light. What dumb#@$ would have buried romex less than 8" below grade?!!!!!:mad::mad:

I had a talk with the priest and in turn with his ground keeper/maintenance guy. They said they would take care of it. I drove by a week later and no signs of digging for a trench were present. I did end up with 49 coins for the day.

So I send out a mass text to my friends and wife describing my ordeal and that I'm going to chill out and have a beer or two. Many return texts came back in including one from the wife who said that I should hang up the detector, do not drink too much and mow the grass.:shock::shock:

Fast forward less than one week. I'm on a new property, same town, house built in 1860. I have 6 coins so far and I'm hopefully digging for my seventh and lo and behold I uncover a buried romex cable at 6" deep. I see at the house where it comes out of the wall and down into the ground and probably feeds a circuit in the detached garage. This one I did not slice into with the Lesche, Thank God. Maybe I'm being told a message? Maybe my wife was right for me to hang up the detector!:?:

So, has anyone else run into buried electric lines and what's your take on this issue?

Second thought, the new property that I'm hunting is one of three that I got permission for. I'm reluctant to tell the property owner of this issue for fear that he will kick my off so that liability will not become an issue. On the other hand if one of his renters gets out a shovel to plant a bush or whatever and finds the line, it could have been prevented.:?:
 
I did find a buried (plugged in) extension cord once at a school yard. It was plugged into one building and ran over into a small little shed type place. I missed it with my digger, but just barely. It was only an 1" (maybe less) down and probably sat above ground at one point and sunk naturally. Made me nervous but have never had it happen since. I did get the penny that was next to the cord though. lol

I certainly wouldn't tell owners of potential sites or your fear of getting booted will come true. I have had many homeowners express concern that I may hit a gas or electric line and telling them you actually have will be enough to keep them from letting you for fear of liability issues.
 
I have never dug up a line, but when I pinpoint a target with my MD I check around it to see it continues one way or another. You should never have to dig up a power line.
 
Always wear gloves

Sounds like the signature of the same guy offering discount (not to code) electrical work. I hit a single wire conductor in my park recently and stopped digging the plug immediately. I never determined what it was. I always wear gardening gloves dipped in rubber not so much for electric insulation, although they serve that purpose, but because of the homeless people turning the parks into their toilettes.

Glad you are ok but someone needs to find that mad electrician wannabe and report him.
 
I have run in to this while up north and hunting around old cabin properties on lakes. Many of the cabins are very old and originally did not have electric. Because of the low lying area and the sand and being next to the lake alot of electrical lines are quite shallow. I have not hit any, but have exposed some of them, so now I always look around the base of the cabins and the light poles first when I start at a spot I have not been to before.
 
If the ground had been real wet and if you were any more grounded, you probably would not be here today.
It knocked you away but didn't "grab" you...you were lucky.
Glad you're ok.

Just be careful...looks like stupidity is running rampant in your town.
 
bvpe said:
So I'm detecting a church property and I just found a 1941 Merc. Two feet away I get the same signal on the Etrac. So I'm down on my right knee and cutting a plug in the grass when ZAP? Next thing you know I'm on my back with a dazed feeling. I compose myself and sit up on the ground and look around. I see the electric service coming into the building from overhead. The pole that the service feed comes from is on the edge of the grass at a paved parking lot. A light is mounted to the pole and I see a light switch mounted on the pole about 6' above the ground. I turn to look back at the building and I spot a romex line coming out of the brick veneer just about 6" above grade. The romex goes into the ground and apparently over to the light switch on the pole for the parking lot light. What dumb#@$ would have buried romex less than 8" below grade?!!!!!:mad::mad:

I had a talk with the priest and in turn with his ground keeper/maintenance guy. They said they would take care of it. I drove by a week later and no signs of digging for a trench were present. I did end up with 49 coins for the day.

So I send out a mass text to my friends and wife describing my ordeal and that I'm going to chill out and have a beer or two. Many return texts came back in including one from the wife who said that I should hang up the detector, do not drink too much and mow the grass.:shock::shock:

Fast forward less than one week. I'm on a new property, same town, house built in 1860. I have 6 coins so far and I'm hopefully digging for my seventh and lo and behold I uncover a buried romex cable at 6" deep. I see at the house where it comes out of the wall and down into the ground and probably feeds a circuit in the detached garage. This one I did not slice into with the Lesche, Thank God. Maybe I'm being told a message? Maybe my wife was right for me to hang up the detector!:?:

So, has anyone else run into buried electric lines and what's your take on this issue?

Second thought, the new property that I'm hunting is one of three that I got permission for. I'm reluctant to tell the property owner of this issue for fear that he will kick my off so that liability will not become an issue. On the other hand if one of his renters gets out a shovel to plant a bush or whatever and finds the line, it could have been prevented.:?:
Click to expand...

Glad the detector survived okay for you to finish the job... JUST JOKING... after the fact of course;)

Glad you did NOT get seriously injured. I found a wire once at a camp site that ran to a pole a few feet away and off somewhere else... I broke it in half. I don't think it had ANYTHING to do with electricity as it was only a single wire, fairly small in thickness, AND old. Anyways, I agree with DIGGER, it doesn't sound right and by ALL MEANS this guy needs to get caught and reported.

HH \_ and stay safe...
 
Man, that stuff is dangerous. :shock:

Often I've had hits on my machine that seem to profile a piece of pipe or a long wire. I refuse to dig them. :no:
 
I hunt farm houses and such and good ole country boy electrical has about gotten me many times. :madmad: Just today I pulled a wheatie and got a similiar signal a foot away. 6" down was romex! Glad I'm not using my new Sampson 31" T shovel b/c that could be disastrous!

The best one I seen was at my buddy's uncles place. He had romex running up in his pine trees (at a height of 6') and at the end of the pines was an extension cord to plug in for power to a shed on the back part of the property. :roll: AT LEAST I COULD SEE IT!
 
We have a seasonal sales business under tents in the summertime. We use a temporary pole with a panel and a meter, the power company comes out and wires it directly to the big lines up on the pole. When were done with it, we call them and they come out and pull the meter, and cut the lines so we can remove the pole. After going out there several times to get it and finding it still hooked up, I called them again and told them "I'm trying to get it unhooked myself, but it keeps shocking the !!!! out of me". They got the message, and came out that afternoon to unhook it.
 
When I was working in underground construction putting in cable TV lines we had a guy stab his shovel in the ground and while leaning on it getting ready to stomp on it, he must have cut through the last few millimeters of insulation on a PG&E secondary house drop. Blew most of the end of that shovel off and would have taken his foot as well if he had stepped on it.
I got a picture of it around here somewhere, if I find it I'll post it.

Another time we had a guy drive a ground rod clear threw two PG&E lines.
We discovered that a couple years later when we went back to set boxes.
We come up on this ground rod sticking out about two feet left to go to grade. We could see where he had tried to cut it off with a hack saw but our guess was power was biting him so bad he had to give up,
and he never said a word,
to anyone...:wow2:
 
Glad your not hurt bvpe. I got bit while in the Navy. 440v step down to 220v tried to slap a plastic cover on a stepdown transformer. woke up a few mins later burnt fingers and 6 ft away from the unit i was working on. 2 guys i was working with after making sure i was ok fell out laughing. Said I looked like a bullfrog on a hot skillet i jumped backward so far. Be careful out there.
 
Digger-Dave is right

I agree with Digger-Dave, if my MD tells me that I have something long in length, and I am in an area that a building is fairly close, I check out where the elec. poles are at, and I don't dig it if it is anyware close. Just don't want to take a chance. Glad you came out in one piece! Cheers! GiGi
 
Haven't hit any electrical lines yet, but sliced my hand open on a deep piece of glass, and then a week ago I thought I was digging a really sweet coin signal, when I dug down a foot only to find a copper pipe that used to feed into an old mansion that was once on the property. Nothing like wasting 25 minutes on an old poop tube.
 
Ground cable for Lesche

Has anyone ever considered hooking a ground cable and ground stake to their metal digging tool? One would first push the ground stake in and then cut the sod plug. If an electric cable is touched, you should be okay due to the ground wire. Thoughts anyone?
 
bvpe said:
Has anyone ever considered hooking a ground cable and ground stake to their metal digging tool? One would first push the ground stake in and then cut the sod plug. If an electric cable is touched, you should be okay due to the ground wire. Thoughts anyone?
Click to expand...

Any time you short a "hot" wire to ground sparks will fly! Please do not try this anyone. Whether you short the hot wire to a grounded tool or short the hot wire to the neutral in the wire cable itself a short to ground will occur and you have the possibility of being shocked or electrocuted. You MIGHT be safe if you wear rubber electrical rated gloves and boots like lineman use but really who would want to hunt dressed like that.

I come across buried wires and pipes all the time. Its easy to tell that they are not coins or relics because of the sounds they make are strange and they give off big signals that goes in a line. Watch out for buried Christmas lights!
 
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