El Kaboom

[hvacker]

I once was setting a post for my mail box. With my post hole digger I knew
any utility's were supposed to be 30" deep. They weren't and I hit a power
line. I saw smoke belch from the ground and out of the corner of my eye I
saw the fuseable link drop from the transformer across the street.

All was fine but I wondered if anyone else had hit any utilities when MDing.
It's easy to get a signal from all utilities.
Because the power line I hit was only one foot deep I wasn't fined.

 

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[relic nut]

Yep, I hit a power line one time that was going from a house to an outbuilding but luckily I didn't cut it. It was only 6 inches deep. Now I look for power boxes or disconnects on houses. You never know what someone has done.

HH RN

 

[digger460]

Not MDing, but diggin a post hole with an auger once. Owner said julie had marked everything. A little electrical tape on the handle of the auger saved my ass, and it cost the owner 15 grand.

 

[toolmanbutch]

Hmmmm Good Read and Information. Helps to be enlightened by words not Electricity.

I once was setting a post for my mail box. With my post hole digger I knew
any utility's were supposed to be 30" deep. They weren't and I hit a power
line. I saw smoke belch from the ground and out of the corner of my eye I
saw the fuseable link drop from the transformer across the street.

All was fine but I wondered if anyone else had hit any utilities when MDing.
It's easy to get a signal from all utilities.
Because the power line I hit was only one foot deep I wasn't fined.

 

[hvacker]

Not MDing, but diggin a post hole with an auger once. Owner said julie had marked everything. A little electrical tape on the handle of the auger saved my ass, and it cost the owner 15 grand.

That's a chunk of change. Did JULIE miss a power line or did the owner not call?

 

[BigWaveDave]

No power lines, but I did pull up an old wire from a long gone lamp post. It was hard to re-bury.

 

[Dr. Syn]

I once got zapped at the old well on my farm. It hasn't been used in decades, like since around the late 50's.
I was checking the spring it sits above, and touched the power box by accident. Nothing like a little juice and wet feet to wake you up.

Strange, it's got power, but there is no meter. Either it was a off the books hook up, or the power company never cut the underground line to it.

On a side note, our new house in Florida had a problem with the pipe running to the sewer system. Out here, the water utility covers the line from the house to the sewer. When the crew came out to check it they found the previous crew that installed it, had buried it only 4", yes inches, below the sod.
Cost them a few bucks to replace the line, the side walk, and the sod, and get the line a little deeper.