Summertime

Doctor BagThe Shock Doctors 
Progressive Electrical Services Ltd 
 ECRA/ESA #7001377 
 

Writing your Prescription for Electrical Safety            June 2011
In This Issue
Buying New Lights
 
 Ontario One call

 

CALL BEFORE YOU DIG! (www.On1call.com)
 
 

 

1-800-400-2255

 

All underground services located with 1 call!
AND IT'S FREE

 

Underground power lines on your  property  can  be dangerous to work around. Please use extreme caution and always call before you dig. Overhead power lines are also dangerous. Stay at least 10' away when pruning trees and shrubs.

Often your property has more buildings on it than just your home. You could have a separate garage, a workshop, a boat house or a garden shed. Providing power to these buildings makes them more functional. Power from the utility company enters your home at your electrical service entrance and is distributed to various areas in your home; but how do you get the power to other parts of your property?

 

Terry Carman 

"News You can Use around Your Home". Terry portrait   
Armoured cable required

The correct way is to take the power from your breaker panel, using an outdoor direct burial armoured cable (technical name: ACWU); run it to the outside wall of your home and then bury it underground to the secondary building. The size of cable is determined by how much power you need in the new location.

Electrical Safety Code Requirements

Shovel

With consideration for future gardeners in mind, the Electrical Safety Code is very clear on the placement of these cables. If you use a direct burial armoured cable, it must be buried a minimum of 18 inches deep under lawns and paths, and 24 inches deep under driveways and lanes and be nestled in and all around with 3 inches of quarter inch gravel screenings or sand.

Mechanical Protection

The code allows you to shave 6 inches off this depth if you place mechanical protection above the wire. This protection can be 1 ½ inch pressure treated lumber; it can be 2 inch thick poured concrete or concrete slabs. All of these products must be two inches wider than the wire on both sides in order to assure adequate protection.

Trench inspection

A quick inspection by the ESA is required before you refill your trench. When you are refilling, you must lay buried cable warning tape half way between the cable and the ground surface.

 red tpe

 This tape looks like crime scene or caution tape, and is red. Fill in the rest of your trench and you are ready to bring the cable up to its new location.

 

Remember, a week before you dig, call Ontario One Call to request your free underground locate.  1-800-400-2255 

Dear Doc: 

Dear Doc: I've got some leftover yellow caution tape from a halloween display. No problem using that up, is there? My trench is only 15 feet long between the garage and the shed.  Signed: Thrifty Theo

 

Dear TT: The Code is very specific on RED tape marked "Caution Buried Electrical Cable" or "Caution Buried Electrical Below" or "Caution Electric Line". This standard came about as the result of a fatality that could have been prevented had the rule been in place and it must be maintained to protect anyone digging in the area.

 

Do YOU  have a question for the Doctor? 
   StethoscopeIf you have a question about the health of your electrical system or just wondering about a little "plastic surgery", ask the doctor: Just click below and send your question to terry@theshockdoctors.ca

  

For You This Month ONLY

 

Book any buried cable job during the month of June and we will rebate the HST

Yours for safe gardening, 

ECRA./ESA
ECRA of the ESA #7001377

 
Cheri 

The Shock Doctors

 Cheri Professional