Electrical cable depth

[V8Druid]

I had the same with open reach. I broke a cable that was in my pals ground . They took it across his ground rather than go round the verge where it was on there drawing . It was just under the turf.
I called them out to repair it and they billed me. I refused to pay it . I then started getting calls from New Delhi telling me it would cost me a lot of money if it goes to court I’m bettter of paying it . I still refused . I insisted on a local engineer to come out so I could show what had happened . Eventually after 18 months and lots of threats of court action I told them stop calling me and just take me to court , I will say my piece to a judge . A week later a local engineer called and said I’ve had a look on site . It shouldn’t of been in your pals garden . I heard no more about it !

open reach were pretty blasé with me when i rang them, saying it'd be a chargeable repair ........ until they were told they had surveyed it three days earlier at my request and it was 30 ft from where they said it was and only 3" below the surface/grass.
then they said it'd be a couple of weeks ...
until they were told there were two pregnant neighbours, both about to drop and we had no mobile service - Get your arses here now -
a very nice chap by the name of Bowie arrived about 40 minutes later and did a stupendous job of splicing in some extra cable length so I could bury it under the land drain I was laying ...
when he saw how deep it was(n't) he said it was typical contractor moling job ... we were both amazed it actually made it under the tarmac of the drive

 

[Maxus]

Interesting to hear about everyone's experience with buried services. So on the site I was asked to bury another electrical cable, when digging the trench discovered another electrical cable... this one looked seriously chunky.. thank god I took the tooth off my bucket is all I can say, very little indication it was there when digging as all the soil around was completely undisturbed and the warning tape right on top. With this in mind, and everyone else's experiences, I'm absolutely going to buy a cat and genny. My question is, can I get an old one of ebay or should I be buying the latest generation (no pun intended) new. Given new is 1200 ish vs used @ 300 I know what I rather..

 

[fred]

ive got the cat4+ and genny but its not a lot of cop if you cant connect the genny. I've scanned before in a back garden (had maps from western power nothing there). indicated nothing found an armoured to a shed (long gone) that was still live.

bucket with no teeth best insurance.

 

[GazCro]

If you've got a digger you must have a cat and genny end of. Cat by itself is about 10% as effective as with genny so bath are a must imo. There's always a way get a genny signal onto a cable even if its a lampost down the road.

 

[Smiffy]

Second hand kit isn't a problem as they need yearly calibration regardless. Sunbelt rentals do calibration and repair.

Spx radio detection cat 4 is the nicest to use I find. The Leica auto ranging are horrible. The + version just has the ability to download data incase of a cable strike to ensure it was used. So for a one man band a standard one is just as good and take a photo of using it

 

[Maxus]

If you've got a digger you must have a cat and genny end of. Cat by itself is about 10% as effective as with genny so bath are a must imo. There's always a way get a genny signal onto a cable even if its a lampost down the road.

Yes I completely agree.

Would this do the job?

 

[6feetdown]

Yes I completely agree.
View attachment 33040
Would this do the job?

Mines in for calibration now

 

[GazCro]

Mines in for calibration now

Tbh in not sure calibration is a necessity, they either work or they don't imo. A lot is made of what's going on inside but put simply a genny is just a signal generator and a cat is just a signal receiver. Calibration is more an arse covering exercise imo.

 

[6feetdown]

Tbh in not sure calibration is a necessity, they either work or they don't imo. A lot is made of what's going on inside but put simply a genny is just a signal generator and a cat is just a signal receiver. Calibration is more an arse covering exercise imo.

Totally agree but if not in date and you have a strike makes matters a lot worse

 

[Smiffy]

Tbh in not sure calibration is a necessity, they either work or they don't imo. A lot is made of what's going on inside but put simply a genny is just a signal generator and a cat is just a signal receiver. Calibration is more an arse covering exercise imo.

I disagree we had one went away for calibration. Came back a vast improvement. The accuracy was much better and it was better able to filter out the random signals from stuff bouncing it around in the ground.

 

[fred]

If you've got a digger you must have a cat and genny end of. Cat by itself is about 10% as effective as with genny so bath are a must imo. There's always a way get a genny signal onto a cable even if its a lampost down the road.

thats assuming you know where the cable comes from.

 

[GazCro]

I disagree we had one went away for calibration. Came back a vast improvement. The accuracy was much better and it was better able to filter out the random signals from stuff bouncing it around in the ground.

Take one to bits have a look at what's inside as far as i can see other than cleaning a few connectors like battery terminals I can't see there's anything to adjust

 

[fred]

Totally agree but if not in date and you have a strike makes matters a lot worse

i calibrate my own, they sent me the software and you plug it into the pc. You have to buy a calibration 'credit' but they werent very much.

 

[GazCro]

i calibrate my own, they sent me the software and you plug it into the pc. You have to buy a calibration 'credit' but they werent very much.

So what can you actually do?

 

[fred]

plug it in and press calibrate. assume they use the same software made by CAT.

C.A.T Manager

C.A.T Manager is the Microsoft® Windows® PC software package for Radiodetection’s Cable Avoidance ToolsC.A.T Manager allows operators to:

www.radiodetection.com

 

[GazCro]

thats assuming you know where the cable comes from.

They have to come from somewhere and there is always a sign. They may the other side of a house from where you expect but then that's the point in using cat and genny

 

[GazCro]

plug it in and press calibrate. assume they use the same software made by CAT.

C.A.T Manager

C.A.T Manager is the Microsoft® Windows® PC software package for Radiodetection’s Cable Avoidance ToolsC.A.T Manager allows operators to:

www.radiodetection.com

Basically it's a test then imho.

 

[fred]

nope. my cat locks out once out once the calibration expires the tool re-calibrates it.

 

[GazCro]

nope. my cat locks out once out once the calibration expires the tool re-calibrates it.

Unlocks it.

 

[fred]

oh dear .....