How To Find Underground Electrical Lines

The method you use may depend on what is allowed or recommended by your local code authorities so always check with the local building inspections office to find out what is recommended in your community.

How to find underground electrical lines.

Today locating has become more complex as telecommunications cables join utility lines in the underground environment. Before we bought our house there was an underground line going from the house to a storage garage. I tore the garage down last year as it hadn t been taken care of an was rotting. You can avoid harm to yourself utility outages and repair costs for negligence.

Surprisingly though today s underground cable locators rely on the same basic technology found in their early counterparts injecting. When first introduced approximately 40 years ago underground locators needed to do little more than find buried water gas or sewer lines. From there there was an underground line that went from the garage to the stables in the back of the lot. Devices for locating underground cables may use inductance frequency measurement radio frequency or other methods.

These devices read through earth to find line breaks and faults and are also known as rf null wire trackers. Find underground electrical line. This article provides information about the devices used in locating underground power lines and cables and the basic concepts upon which they work to find power lines and other underground pipes cable tv and phone lines gas lines and water lines. Run the underground wire tracker above the path of the electrical line to find the break.

Step 2 read the directions of the underground cable and pipe locator as operating procedures can vary significantly depending on the manufacturer. There are a variety of ways electrical wiring can be run underground. Locating all buried utilities including electrical lines before digging in your lawn protects you in several ways.