Cables under garden. Where are they ?

[BILLDIYNOT]

Hello, I have an outside double power socket about 50 feet from my house, in my back garden. Been there since we moved in 5 years ago. No trouble. Handy for plugging the mower into. I want to put a flagged path in the area where, I think, the underground power cable is routed to the outside double socket. I don't want to cover the power cable route with flags, just in case. I've got some flexibility with the location of the path but want to find out where the power cable comes from/to. I have seen cable locators but they are expensive, even to hire. Who could I contact to have them come out with their cable locator to run it over the ground to tell me where the cable is routed ? I had a replacement plastic water feed put in at the front of the house to replace the old lead pipe and they used such a cable locator to check where pipes and cables were before they started. Took him about 10 minutes to do the check, so I am thinking the same or less to find the power cables in the back garden. The kind of thing, I am thinking, that someone who uses such equipment in their profession can do on their way home from a proper job with a minimal charge to me. Unless, of course, apart from digging the garden up, there is another way to find out. Thanks for any advice on this.

 

[Taylortwocities]

What sort of cable is it? Post a photo if you aren’t sure.

 

[BILLDIYNOT]

Hello, I can't see the cable as it is inside, what looks like, 25mm plastic trunking fixed to and behind the mounting post on which the socket units are mounted and I assume that the cable must go through the post to the socket units. Can't upload the picture (via Upload a file) as I keep getting an error message. Tried copy/paste to the page, also, but got the same error message.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I guess it’s round, black conduit?
, that’s a different beast to trunking. Problem is that if the cable is regular plastic cable it’s not recommended for burying, but it will be more secure under paving slabs than just buried in the ground, like it is now.

Ps what error message are you getting with images?

 

[Jackrae]

Forget it. Lay the path where you want. If at some future date the cable goes faulty simply disconnect it from both ends, dig a new trench to avoid the path and lay a new cable.

 

[BILLDIYNOT]

Thanks, Jackrae. problem with that is that I don't know where the feed is from. If I could trace the cable, I could determine where the feed is from.
TTC, the plastic "trunking" I refer to is like a rigid grey plastic pipe, about 25mm dia. Sounds like you are actually recommending me to put the flags over the buried cable to make it "more secure". Not knowing how deep the cable is in the ground makes me nervous to dig in case I put a spade through the cable. There is an ornamental lampost with a working light that is on the path by the house and in a straight line with the outside socket boxes I have mentioned. Could the feed for the outside socket boxes be taken from that ? I might, reasonably, assume a straight line underground to the outside socket boxes then. But still, assumptions are known to be " the mother of all cockups ! " so that's not an ideal process to follow.
The error message is an oblong shaped popup, black background with a red banner stating that "The following error occurred" , then white text on black background states "Security error occurred. Please press back, refresh the page and try again". There is also the reference of the jpg picture file showing. I did as requested but the same thing happened.

 

[BILLDIYNOT]

resized it

 

[Taylortwocities]

That’s the sockets, we know what they look like! Let’s see the mystery grey pipe please.

 

[AndyPRK]

well how about you turn off the MCB while you dig.
Dig carefully across the area. If you were to find it then that's a benefit and you can get on quicker.

If the light and socket were fitted at the same time, yes the cable in a straight line in a good estimate

 

[EddieM]

Make 2 L shaped pieces of wire from an old coat hanger, put the ends in some old biro handles and douse for it

 

[BILLDIYNOT]

Thanks for the advice, AndyPRK.
EddieM, I did get the use of the neighbour's explosives sniffer dog but that didn't work, either
TTC, Please see the attached photo. Not a good one as the wooden post that the sockets are mounted on backs up to well established bushes, but the mystery grey pipe is visible. Where the top of the pipe is cut in half lengthways, the open end has been plugged.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Thanks. Still inconclusive as to cable type but I expect it’s ordinary PVC run in some sort of plumbers Pipey thing.
You’ll be ok as above, power off. I’d worry if you were using a mechanical digger, but the pipe should give adequate protection for medium spadework.

Sequence: power off, Groundworks prep,
Restore power and check it all still works before you put the slabs down!

 

[BILLDIYNOT]

Thanks, TTC. It sounds like there is nobody out there who provides the service to use their expensive cable locator, for the odd 10 minutes, for a small fee. Hey, ho. Long way round it is. Thanks again.

 

[conny]

If you want to see what type of cable MAY have been used then;
1 Power off.
2 Remove both socket fronts but do not disconnect.
3 Have a look at the cabled entering the sockets. If you can see flat grey sheath then, in all likelihood, they have used standard house wiring cable. Just hope it is in conduit all the way under the ground and not just at each end. No sheath showing then it may have been cut back into the conduit or it may be singles, (usually stranded and can be checked by looking at the connection into the socket), which will (99%) be in continuous conduit. Alternatively it could be SWA with the sheathing cut back also.
4 Replace socket fronts and power up.

You could try running a length of string between the lamp and the socket post then digging 2 or 3 test holes to see if you can find the cable but you may have to dig quite deep if it has been buried correctly.

Or just do as TTC suggests in #12

 

[BILLDIYNOT]

Thanks, conny. Very helpful, too .