Ditching it all for power

The big project we were working on last weekend when we met our anonymous friends was a ditch digging exercise to remind me why I am so thankful that I do manual labor as an option, not an occupation.  A buddy of mine brought his excavator over to help dig a trench in which we buried conduit to get electrical service installed!

Trenching for underground power line installation
Trenching for underground power line installation

As you might guess, working without electric all this time has made our progress slow and difficult.  I mean, we have a generator but it’s not quite the same as having a socket on every wall we can use.  Having a way to cool drinks and pump water and turn fans would be really nice.  So, this project is a huge step forward and one that I will be glad to finish.

3 inch conduit buried a little over 3 feet deep
3 inch conduit buried a little over 3 feet deep

An excavator definitely makes ditch digging easier but there is still a good bit of manual labor that goes into getting a proper ditch dug and conduit and wire installed.  I guess I am sort of built for manual labor.  I mean, I am well enough and strong enough to do it but golly am I glad it’s only now and then.  Anyhow, we got the conduit in place and I installed the meter base, an outside disconnect and the panel inside the house.

Electrical conduit re-buried
Electrical conduit re-buried

Part of the requirements that the inspector will verify is that there is a proper pull-rope inside the conduit.  The conduit is buried a little more than 3 feet deep so do-overs aren’t really an option.  They require a poly rope be installed so they can yank the supply wire from the pole to the meter.  In my case, that distance is around 50 feet and there are 3 ninety degree turns.  You may be wondering, dear friends, how I got the pull-rope into the buried conduit…with a shop-vac of course!

New meter base and disconnect with underground service
New meter base and disconnect with underground service

I stood at one end and created a seal of sorts with my hands around the vacuum and the conduit pipe.  On the other end, Emily fed in a thin string which was pulled by the suction.  We flipped it all on and waited.  Pretty quickly, the thin string popped out the other end.  I attached my pull-cord to the thin string and pulled it back through…voilà!  A pull-cord installed!

Pull-cord sucked through conduit
Pull-cord sucked through conduit

This coming weekend, the inspector will come review our work and give the go-ahead for the power company to make the hot connection…I can’t wait to get power in the place!  I am not sure we will be ready for Christmas in the cabin but we should definitely be ready for the 4th of July!

See all of the progress on the cabin

3 thoughts on “Ditching it all for power

  1. I have found that when pulling any type of line it is a very wise person who pulls two . One to use and one to leave in the conduit for future possible needs. Dad

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