# Mystery underground service coupling



## joe-nwt (Mar 28, 2019)

Is it lead?


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

joe-nwt said:


> Is it lead?


Heading back tomorrow. Guy running my crew called the power company to ask what we should use to connect to this.

Is there a way to see if it is lead?

Someone else thought it was clay since it doesnt have a metal feel or sound to it when tapped w a steel shovel or other tools.


----------



## catsparky1 (Sep 24, 2013)

back in the early 90s we were doing undergrounds in San Francisco and I had to ask my foreman how he wanted me to attach PVC to redwood . 


And yes we did .


----------



## joe-nwt (Mar 28, 2019)

Pepelectric said:


> Heading back tomorrow. Guy running my crew called the power company to ask what we should use to connect to this.
> 
> Is there a way to see if it is lead?
> 
> Someone else thought it was clay since it doesnt have a metal feel or sound to it when tapped w a steel shovel or other tools.


I just thought it looked silver. Lead won't have a metallic sound. 

Take a stroke with a hacksaw, just enough to get through the crust. You'll know right away.


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

catsparky1 said:


> back in the early 90s we were doing undergrounds in San Francisco and I had to ask my foreman how he wanted me to attach PVC to redwood .
> 
> 
> And yes we did .


I mean, the insulation has that W on it so "we good", right?


----------



## mofos be cray (Nov 14, 2016)

catsparky1 said:


> back in the early 90s we were doing undergrounds in San Francisco and I had to ask my foreman how he wanted me to attach PVC to redwood .
> 
> 
> And yes we did .


How though? Did you use pitch?


----------



## SteveBayshore (Apr 7, 2013)

We came across a few duct banks years ago that were a/c pipe. Filled the test holes back in and redirected our new conduits. A/C being asbestos cement. Once you cut it or modify it, it becomes hazardous waste and an environmental problem. Not a problem if it is not disturbed and just covered back up. I still see old runs it run exposed under some of our overpasses here in NJ every once and a while.


----------



## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

I guess lead also, is the conduit it is hooked to lead also? Looks like you got a mule tape in so I would not think a galvanized conduit would not of lasted but lead would.
Cowboy


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

Okay, on the site now and the supervisor said the utility people are saying the conduit is 3" "fiber". 

???

Stuck and endoscope inside and this "fiber" thing looks like a reducing coupler from 3" to 2". Someone from the utility is coming by today so I am digging an area sufficient for a union fella to squeeze down into to check it out.

Why is this so much fun?


----------



## kb1jb1 (Nov 11, 2017)

Could it be some form of coupling like a Fernco? Maybe before rubber couplings they used some type of wrap to join two galvanized conduits. No unions available at the time. Back then most trade people were ingenious at improvising. They did not always have the tools or materials available. Today anybody can go to a supply house and buy stuff. A real mechanic can make things work. Was it Budweiser that had the "real men of genious" commercials?


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

Walls of the conduit are as thin or thinner than EMT. This bulky coupler or bell end seems to made of a fiber/asphalt-ish material. Weird.


----------



## just the cowboy (Sep 4, 2013)

@Pepelectric thanks for keeping us up to date.


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

just the cowboy said:


> I guess lead also, is the conduit it is hooked to lead also? Looks like you got a mule tape in so I would not think a galvanized conduit would not of lasted but lead would.
> Cowboy


It is some fairly thin black kind of material, not like a nice thick lead pipe. Utility said it is "3 inch fiber conduit".


----------



## mofos be cray (Nov 14, 2016)

Pepelectric said:


> It is some fairly thin black kind of material, not like a nice thick lead pipe. Utility said it is "3 inch fiber conduit".


So it's asbestos.


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

SteveBayshore said:


> We came across a few duct banks years ago that were a/c pipe. Filled the test holes back in and redirected our new conduits. A/C being asbestos cement. Once you cut it or modify it, it becomes hazardous waste and an environmental problem. Not a problem if it is not disturbed and just covered back up. I still see old runs it run exposed under some of our overpasses here in NJ every once and a while.


Is asbestos cement white-ish or grey and has a sort of corrugated exterior? I have seen old vents/ducts doing residential work, abandoned, in walls and under houses before.


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

I think it is "Orangeberg" pipe.



Orangeburg Pipe Identification, properties, history, uses



"Orangeburg pipe was made in inside diameters from 2 inches to 18 inches out of wood pulp sealed with hot pitch. Joints were made in a similar fashion and, due to the materials involved, were able to be sealed without the usage of adhesives. Orangeburg was lightweight, albeit brittle, and soft enough to be cut with a handsaw. Orangeburg was a low cost alternative to metal for sewer lines in particular. Lack of strength causes pipes made of Orangeburg to fail more frequently than pipes made with other materials. The useful life for an Orangeburg pipe is about 50 years under ideal conditions, but has been known to fail in as little as 10 years. It has been taken off the list of acceptable materials by most building codes.
It was observed in early usage that Orangeburg was susceptible to deformation from pressure. Deformed Orangeburg has been referred to as "egg-shaped" and is subject to blistering. Thus, manufacturers recommended bedding the pipes in sand or pea gravel to prevent rupture."


----------



## SteveBayshore (Apr 7, 2013)

Yes, asbestos cement pipe is light grey in color. If you smush a piece of it in your fingers and look real close you can see the asbestos fibers, looks like fiberglass particles. Just don't breathe it in. We have worked alongside of water mains made of asbestos and had to turn off the mains because the old pipes won't hold pressure without being buried.


----------



## catsparky1 (Sep 24, 2013)

mofos be cray said:


> How though? Did you use pitch?


Fernco coupling


----------



## ppsh (Jan 2, 2014)

Watched some videos from a LADWP lineman, seems like SOP to fernco onto the orangeburg to transition to pvc.


----------



## Pepelectric (Jan 15, 2021)

ppsh said:


> Watched some videos from a LADWP lineman, seems like SOP to fernco onto the orangeburg to transition to pvc.


Woohoo! Mystery solved. Man, this was such a fun day. I feel guilty. Weather is perfect. Digging outside, no stress, and a little mystery suspense thrown in. Dont tell the office drones, they will come out and ruin it.

POST SCRIPT: So, what did we end up doing? I got told to STFU, calm down, and go trench on the furthest part of the job site for some 3/4" PVC that needs to be put in later.


----------



## R777V (May 16, 2016)

Transite?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Norcal (Mar 22, 2007)

Pepelectric said:


> I think it is "Orangeberg" pipe.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If it is black, then it is quite likely it is Orangeburg pipe, also used to see it on customer owned power poles to cover the rigid conduit from below the weatherhead to the top of meter can as a insulator, wood was also used prior to PVC conduit being more common.


----------



## radio208 (Aug 27, 2014)

^^^^ Also, remember above the weather head-2 small blocks of wood,horizontal, to block another contact point from the lineman


----------

