One of the last steps (maybe THE last) before I can actually have the driveway done, is to run this wire under my driveway. I bought 250 feet of exterior/direct bury wire. Right now it is just coiled and stowed in my front yard. The immediate goal was to get it ~2 feet under the driveway, so no chance of the driveway job disturbing the wire. I estimated the total length with a tape measure a few weeks ago and I came to 170 feet or so. 250 should buy me enough slack even if I take a circuitous route back to the junction point, which is the post lamp next to my front steps.
Amazingly, I dug right where the old wire was. I had to swap over to the trenching bucket on the excavator, which took me probably 15 minutes to figure out.
It's actually deeper than 2 feet in sections, which is fine.
The coiled end that I need to trench and bury (manually).
I ended up with extra dirt since the driveway was pretty compacted over the years. This is more than adequate considering I expect to have a driveway done soon.
Trenching direct bury wire for streetside post lamp
Trenching direct bury wire for streetside post lamp
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Re: Trenching direct bury wire for streetside post lamp
Big sigh. Ian somehow convinced me to find the old wire, which we did. But I thought he was like pulling the wire out from under the driveway so I freaked out and started digging on the other side to "find" it. Made a pretty deep hole. No wire. I actually found these pictures from a Onedrive search (would have been nice if I found this thread before). Somewhere along the way I thought, wait, maybe I did connect the wire to the lamp. So I tried sticking a bulb in there and measuring the resistance on the other side. Open. Then I remembered more and pulled the whole lamp off the post. The hot and neutral were just terminated. So I went to the other side, stripped some wire, twisted them together, and checked continuity from the lamp area. Yup, it was connected. So I had actually connected my new wire to the old wire that went into the lamp post. 9.5 years is my excuse.
So I had Ian put all the dirt back and really we accomplished nothing. It is tempting to rough run the wire and do a shallow trench by hand. That would get the wire in the vicinity of the underground junction (I know about where it is). Once I connected it, all I would have to do is buy a new lamp to plop on the post and this project would finally be complete. Oy.
So I had Ian put all the dirt back and really we accomplished nothing. It is tempting to rough run the wire and do a shallow trench by hand. That would get the wire in the vicinity of the underground junction (I know about where it is). Once I connected it, all I would have to do is buy a new lamp to plop on the post and this project would finally be complete. Oy.
Re: Trenching direct bury wire for streetside post lamp
Rough laid. It's gonna end up pretty shallow. Meh.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Re: Trenching direct bury wire for streetside post lamp
Did a little "trenching" last night. Ian blew off the leaves along the wire and we also snipped off thorn vines along a suitable path. I used a pick to "trench" and Ian would sort of jam the wire in, put some dirt on top and use the hand compactor to flatten it down. Again it will be very shallow but there are so many roots and things and it's way too bushy to get a machine in there without just making an ugly 5 foot clear path. It's not a high voltage transmission line right of way. The risk I think is mostly if a tree falls in just the right way and severs the wire. Perhaps freeze thaw cycles could push the wire up to the surface in some areas? No clue. Otherwise I suspect direct bury will live happily at 2" under ground especially as stuff naturally builds on top over the years. It's not a mission critical circuit either. Well I guess I don't remember what else is on the circuit but if a breaker trips one day and the step lights don't work, I'll have pretty good direction. The path is not part of my lawn (well except a small section near the house that maybe I'll have to put a little more effort into) and really doesn't see foot traffic in any real way.
I could switch the breaker for this circuit to GFCI for a little added protection I suppose.
I could switch the breaker for this circuit to GFCI for a little added protection I suppose.
Re: Trenching direct bury wire for streetside post lamp
Did another 10 feet last night. Just chipping away. Lots of rocks and roots.