garden socket

[AleisterCrowley]

I gotta know..

[Itsallaguess]

I think this is the same thread as last year. I have just got around to trying to prepare the ground around the tree which was removed for sowing grass in the Autumn, and have had to revisit the cable which is still sticking out of the ground.

So far I have pulled it up about 5 feet or so from the tree stump but it is a very slow job because tree roots are above it and so I cannot just haul it out. It appears to be quite unprotected and is maybe about 12/18 inches below ground level.

It is headed in the general direction of one of these trip switches for an external socket for stuff like garden tools or a water pump. It may of course change direction as I proceed.

It is a very slow job to extract it though because I need to keep cutting out tree roots and the idea of simply sealing it and burying the end seems most practical. Can that be done, please?

Have you taken the cover off the external-socket that the cable looks to be heading for? You'd be best to do this with the power to it isolated, of course.

If you were to do so, and you saw two sets of cables coming out of each of the read connectors, then that might indicate that one of those cables is the one you're trying to pull out.

Is that external socket normally live?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[XFool]

Better to use someting like this or this (between all three combinations of the socket's internal wires).

Cor! Whatever happened to neon screwdriver 'mains testers'?

[Dod101]

Have you taken the cover off the external-socket that the cable looks to be heading for? You'd be best to do this with the power to it isolated, of course.

If you were to do so, and you saw two sets of cables coming out of each of the read connectors, then that might indicate that one of those cables is the one you're trying to pull out.

Is that external socket normally live?

Thanks. The socket is one of these which someone better versed in DIY will know better than I. I have an external socket with a waterproof cover over it so that you can put in a three pin plug and cover the whole thing to protect against rain. Normally it would be switched off from inside the house, (directly backing on to the plug) and there is a what is it called an RCD? Certainly it is designed to blow if for example I inadvertently cut the cable of the electric strimmer, for instance.

I have not touched that since I moved here 12 years ago although I have installed another similar to it elsewhere. I am beginning to think that that might be the source of my cable. Maybe I will take a look tomorrow! Yes I do not like electricity so I will isolate it first.

Will report again.

Dod

[AleisterCrowley]

This is as fascinating as a certain Fool's stopcock
No names, no pack drill

[Dod101]

This is as fascinating as a certain Fool's stopcock
No names, no pack drill

Sorry about this. Trust you can get your move sorted out peaceably. I must say that renting might be my answer.

Dod

[AleisterCrowley]

I'm genuinely interested - I don't get out much.
Currently looking for an interesting camping spot down by the Thames

Edit=: and how did I accumulate about two houses' worth of crap in a one bed flat?

[XFool]

This is as fascinating as a certain Fool's stopcock
No names, no pack drill

I should hope so...

[madhatter]

It is a very slow job to extract it though because I need to keep cutting out tree roots

I don’t remember any mention of how the tree roots were being cut. To minimise the amount of soil to be removed as well as the chances of hitting anything under the root I would imagine something like a multi-tool would be the weapon of choice?