# Water inside the cable



## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

Leave a coil of it outdoors in the weather and you will see that it gets wet but the conductors in the jacket are rated for wet location so it shouldn't matter much.


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## Industrialsparky (Jul 10, 2012)

I was just shocked because it was that way in the basement of the house indoors


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

If there's a poor termination or improperly installed weather head capillary action will wick water between the strands a long way down the length of the cable. There might be some additional work for you if you can find the water entry point.

-John


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Big John said:


> If there's a poor termination or improperly installed weather head capillary action will wick water between the strands a long way down the length of the cable. There might be some additional work for you if you can find the water entry point.
> 
> -John


I've seen that the water dripping out from the inside of the conductor coming from the pole :laughing: That is a strange site when you first see it.

So I called the power company and told them,They said they would change the drop but I don't think they ever did..:laughing:


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## Awg-Dawg (Jan 23, 2007)

HARRY304E said:


> I've seen that the water dripping out from the inside of the conductor coming from the pole :laughing: That is a strange site when you first see it.


 

Ive seen it one time.

Its kinda odd, it was a very slow drip.

And constant the week we were there.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

That's why I avoid SE services and when I do use SE on the tail end I run 2" pvc from the LB into the structure to a female TA with a SE connector and strip the sheathing back so any moisture or water will find another way out other than the panel.


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## mbednarik (Oct 10, 2011)

I do the same as shockdoc. I sleeve the outside in pipe. I have seen SE several times crack from sun damage and allow water to get inside of the jacket. Then it follows it to the panel. In a couple cases i have seen it rot the neutral in half in AL SEU.


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## Auselect (Dec 2, 2011)

Shockdoc said:


> That's why I avoid SE services and when I do use SE on the tail end I run 2" pvc from the LB into the structure to a female TA with a SE connector and strip the sheathing back so any moisture or water will find another way out other than the panel.


Can you explain that again, you LB into the building from SE then pipe it to the panel?
Wouldn't the water still drip into the panel over time?


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## hardworkingstiff (Jan 22, 2007)

HARRY304E said:


> I've seen that the water dripping out from the inside of the conductor coming from the pole :laughing: That is a strange site when you first see it.


I'll say it's a funny feeling. The only time I've seen it, I was working in the back room of a C-Store and I noticed some water where it shouldn't be. Being the inquisitive kind of guy I am I tracked it down to the neutral wire coming into the service disconnect (metering at the pole (via CTs) at the street about 80' away). As I studied the pole I noticed the neutral wire came out of the conduit and connected to the distribution neutral in a way that left the insulation looking up. 

So, when it rained, water went down the wire, into the insulation, and came out of the insulation in the service disconnect. Bizarre.


On another note, this is also the job where a guy on the backhoe hit the steel fill riser coming out of the underground fiberglass tank (very end of the work and back filling/final grading was being done). He wound up ripping open the top of the tank and a whole lot of pea gravel went pouring into the tank, and since the tank was being worked on it was full of fuel for ballasting (with the concrete pad and overburden removed for the work, tank flotation was a concern) so the fuel came out as the stone went in. Sure glad I was the electrical contractor only on that job.


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

I disconnected some 2300 volt feeders that were connected to the interior switch gear bus and tightly taped. When we took the tape off we got about a quart of water out of each conductor. The cables originated outside and were pointing up. Over time the water filled the spaces between the strands under the insulation. 
When we installed the new cables we used these lugs.
They have a "skirt" at the bottom that goes over the conductor insulation to provide a roof and prevent water entry.


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## hardworkingstiff (Jan 22, 2007)

don_resqcapt19 said:


> I disconnected some 2300 volt feeders that were connected to the interior switch gear bus and tightly taped. When we took the tape off we got about a quart of water out of each conductor. The cables originated outside and were pointing up. Over time the water filled the spaces between the strands under the insulation.
> When we installed the new cables we used these lugs.
> They have a "skirt" at the bottom that goes over the conductor insulation to provide a roof and prevent water entry.


That's a pretty cool lug, thanks


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## donselec (May 7, 2011)

water cooled = higher amperage rating.... :jester:


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## glen1971 (Oct 10, 2012)

A buddy of mine was working in a gold mine and they had a ground fault come in one night.. They checked it out and isolated it to one MCC.. Once they had power back up to the rest of the site, as it was set up to knock the power out on a high enough fault, they got out their flashlights and looked in the gear. They saw a cable with a slow dripping.. When they checked it in the light it was a gold slurry that was dripping! They checked the cable and it went to an immersion heater that the seal had failed in the heater, and filled the cable, some 750' of teck with a gold slurry.. They talked it over and came up with a fix.. They isoalted it, unhooked the cable and poured an STX connector on each end...
Wouldn't you like to be the guy doing the salvage on that one when the time comes?? That would be a good surprise!!!


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