Yesterday we hired a tractor to level the ground below the house for the future RV pad and swimming pool. He got a bit too close to the hill the house sits on and hit the conduit carrying the main feed into the house as well as the secondary conduit carrying feed from the house back to the service pole for the RV pad. We were VERY lucky that the wires were not cut or pulled loose or damaged in any way.

The conduit to the RV was bent, but not broken. However, the main feed conduit is broken - snapped clean in one spot, let loose at a connector in another spot and was crimped and cracked in a third spot. The damage is located about halfway from the pole to the house.

Is there a product that we can use to clamp over the damaged areas to seal it? Or is it best to just retrench back to the pole, remove all the conduit up to the damage and replace with new?

Also, how dangerous is this if we can't get to it for a day or two? It's supposed to rain in a few days. Yesterday we wrapped the broken area with plastic sheeting and duct tape to keep dirt and varmits out.

I have a call into an electrician, but it can be weeks before they'll return a phone call - very few electricians and lots of new houses going up.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

 

You need to replace the conduit for the main service, there's nothing on the market that will repair it. In my opinion its really not a DIY job, there are some variables involved.The 1st thing to do is to call the utility & tell them the situation so they can shut down power to the house until repairs are made. The conduit may have damaged the insulation on the feeder wires which will have to be replaced. If the wire are O.K.it may be possible to replace only those sections of conduit that are broken open or kinked severely.But keep in mind that any work done must be done with the service wires deenergized.

 

I will concur. I would say though to have the utility come out to asses the situation.
I assume shutting down the power until repairs are made is not really an option unless the wires are badly damaged. Let the utility determine that. Like you said, it could be weeks.
You definitely need to dig up any and all damaged areas of the conduit and possibly replace the whole run of cable if there is any damage to that at all.

I strongly agree that this is NO DIY project. This is actually the responsibility of the excavator. He should contact a QUALIFIED electrician and get an estimate to do the repairs. This is why he has insurance. We work with many different site contractors and quite often we have to go and fix their "boo-boo's".

 

Thank you both for your helpful advise. We have a neighbor kid coming over tomorrow to help dig the trench and hope we hear from one of the electricians tomorrow too! Will call the electric company out and have them inspect. I think we got really lucky here though because the wires appear to be intact.

Thank you again.