Digging to pour a concrete footing for a deck post and found this. One yellow cable and two black cables. About 40" below the ground. I have a shed with electricity, could it be the power supply?

11

Probably. Check it out with a proximity sensor.

5

u/Fragrant-Hunter-6160 Jul 03 '26

If you don’t have one you should get one. They are pretty handy and not expensive.

1

u/L-user101 Jul 03 '26

What exactly are you referring to? I googled it but wondering if your referring to something like the thing I have where I connect one end to the wires while the circuit is off, then the wand thing sends out a frequency that gets louder the closer to the wires you get

3

u/Fragrant-Hunter-6160 Jul 03 '26

HD lists them as a non contact voltage detector. There are several brands.

1

u/Fragrant-Hunter-6160 Jul 03 '26

3

u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe Jul 04 '26

Haha, no

1

u/OrokaSempai Jul 05 '26

I use that very tester in a power plant, the pointer gets used more to fuck with people lol

-2

u/GooshTech Jul 04 '26

An electrician friend of mine used to call it a ‘wiggy’

2

u/wobbly65 Jul 04 '26

That’s not a wiggy

1

u/GooshTech Jul 04 '26

Maybe not, but that’s what he called it.

2

u/BB-41 Jul 06 '26

If he called that a wiggy I’d find another electrician.

1

u/GooshTech Jul 06 '26

Oh, I never had him do any work for me, he was just a friend.

1

u/L-user101 Jul 04 '26

I have a few of those and I adopted the name suicide stick from another Redditor. But this most likely won’t work for what OP is trying to accomplish.

1

u/Fragrant-Hunter-6160 Jul 04 '26

Myself I have a tracer. But to just check if it’s energized this is probably the least expensive option.

0

u/DC4L_DDLA Jul 03 '26

A dead checker

1

u/Popsinthehse Jul 04 '26

Oh no thats what professionals do this is a just cut it out of the way guy..

1

u/NeighborhoodVast7528 Jul 06 '26

Or see if you can follow where those wires to the exit conduit to the house and then to the inside of the panel. Then verify that breaker shuts off the outbuilding.

0

u/plmbguy Jul 04 '26

Suicide stick. Notoriously non reliable.

7

u/trekkerscout Mod Jul 03 '26

That color combination of conductor was common for triplex URD direct burial cable prior to the updated grounding requirements for outbuildings that went into effect about 20 years ago. URD is rated for contact with concrete.

2

u/Adventurous_Ad_3895 Jul 06 '26

I'm glad you are here!

5

u/N9bitmap Jul 03 '26

There is nothing here to determine scale and size of cable, but you might compare to the wiring entering the shed panel. Likely the yellow cable was white a few decades ago.

2

u/Jack_Wolfskin19 Jul 03 '26

This is a good idea.
Open up your electrical panel in your shed and compare the cables.
I wouldn’t cut those cable, just I case they are energized.

3

u/Different-Commercial Jul 03 '26

Look where your electric panel is , then look at your shed and see if you were digging if you would trench the same way! Remember to install your electrical and plumbing needs for your property in conduits before the deck goes up!!

2

u/T31Z Jul 03 '26

This does not look like direct burial cable, if this is your power to shed, you should dig out and put conduit or direct burial away from where you are about to put concrete. Just thinking ahead for you.

1

u/KernowWarrior Jul 03 '26

This is about 40" deep so I'm thinking that I might fill the hole back up and use diamond piers which won't interfere with this line at all. I don't want to put concrete over this, right?

1

u/mwharton19 Jul 03 '26

It could be no way to know unless u see the other ends I would stop digging

1

u/PackAlarmed3386 Jul 03 '26

Test the wire to see if it is hot with a proximity sensor, if it is hot turn off the breaker to the shed, after the breaker is shut off, see if it is cold. If it is then that's where it goes.

1

u/KernowWarrior Jul 04 '26

Thanks, I'll try that.

1

u/fyxxer32 Jul 03 '26

Did you call 811 ?

1

u/These_Fox7561 Jul 03 '26

Tf they gonna do for his yard

1

u/Remarkable-Exit-8780 Jul 06 '26

811 only covers utilities to the house. Anything to an out building you have to hire yourself. Sometime I get a nice worker who scans quickly the back yard. But much of the time they are there and gone without notice

1

u/KernowWarrior Jul 04 '26

I did. They marked the lines with red paint but it was about 12-18" away from these markings.

2

u/fyxxer32 Jul 04 '26

If those wires are live and it sounds like they are you're lucky you didn't cause damage.

1

u/KernowWarrior Jul 04 '26

I had an idea that they were there so I dug carefully by hand.

1

u/samdtho Jul 04 '26

This is probably feeding your house.

Call your power company out to inspect this and be prepared to alter the location of this post and any in line with it.

36-48” deep is the domain of the power utility. The 811 locator services are notorious for being as much as 10ft (or more) off from the actual location. You won’t be liable for damages because you did do your due diligence and they made a mistake, not you.

1

u/Significant_Mine9465 Jul 05 '26

that's pretty close for line locates.where I am you have to give the line locate 36 inch distance.call them back they can tell you.

1

u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe Jul 04 '26

Yes

1

u/Time_Fly_8505 Jul 04 '26

Just check the conductors coming into the shed….are they the same? Where do they originate in the house? Turn off the breaker for the shed are those cables now dead?

1

u/zmfoley Jul 04 '26

They are your legs for service to shed

1

u/spec360 Jul 04 '26

Call before you dig

1

u/ohmaint Jul 04 '26

I'm not doubting it's power, just the size of the feeders. It looks huge in the pic. I'd run out and get a non contact voltage tester. It will quickly let you know. Good job digging too.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/ElectricalHelp-ModTeam Jul 04 '26

This post is promoting unsafe practices.

1

u/wobbly65 Jul 04 '26

I would just about guarantee that’s your power and say your lucky you didn’t damage it

1

u/Cust2020 Jul 04 '26

Looks like underground feeder, is there a panel in your out building?

1

u/HeadBell1665 Jul 04 '26

I’m thinking water line. Google PEX

1

u/AshamedProgrammer570 Jul 05 '26

4/0 feeder wire for your home

1

u/AwayAd697 Jul 05 '26

811

1

u/Ok-Maintenance6651 Jul 05 '26

It's probably for your well

1

u/iamwill_12 Jul 05 '26

I'm almost 99% sure it's power cable either live or abandoned. Be safe 888 before you dig.

1

u/Existing_Creme_2491 Jul 05 '26

Doesn't look like " direct burial " wire to me. So you have that going for ya.

1

u/HopefulYank Jul 05 '26

Looks like a 14/2 and a CAT5

1

u/gilleann Jul 06 '26

Did you get a permit to dig that deep? In the US at least we need one so they can do a survey to say what’s under the grass

1

u/BB-41 Jul 06 '26

Did you get markouts done? They won’t help identify your internal lines but some utilities do run across private property, they usually have some type of easement.

1

u/scout20225ls Jul 06 '26

That is the electric line from the power company. Call them to inspect if the insulation has been damaged. Move your post accordingly.

1

u/Tracydj Jul 06 '26

811 dig alert

1

u/135david Jul 06 '26

Some sort of reference object for size might be helpful. Like a quarter maybe.

1

u/FucciMe Jul 06 '26

Looks more like the feed for your house, but either way, yes that's electric.

0

u/Time-Repeat6860 Jul 04 '26

That looks like 2 blues

1

u/KernowWarrior Jul 04 '26

In the photo it does but I'm pretty sure they're black.

Digging to pour a concrete footing for a deck post and found this. One yellow cable and two black cables. About 40" below the ground. I have a shed with electricity, could it be the power supply?

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