Drilled into earth

jamie_128

Mickey666 said:

Still not very clear photos but it's looking more like a regular cable to me rather than a separate earth wire.
Also, not sure what you mean by "My live and neutral are black and blue in the house. "  Live/neutral should be brown/blue or possibly red/black for old wiring colours.  A yellow wire inside a cable is unlikely to be the earth conductor as that would normally be a bare wire, therefore yellow is probably a conductor, possibly for a lighting circuit with two-way switching.

The real problem, as mentioned above, is that it's not always safe to rely on the original work being standard and to the appropriate regs because mistakes and short cuts can sometimes be taken.  So, the usual approach is to assume the correct colours have been used BUT ALSO verify to be absolutely sure.

Having seen those new photos (even though they're not entirely clear) and now thinking that the broken wire is likely to be a conductor, I'm now tending to agree with GDB2222 that the wall needs to be opened up and the damaged section of cable should be replaced.

Its basically a thick yellow coated copper wire from what i can see, i guess its going to have to be repaired by an electrician then urgh, what a nightmare. 

Mickey666

jamie_128 said:

Mickey666 said:

Still not very clear photos but it's looking more like a regular cable to me rather than a separate earth wire.
Also, not sure what you mean by "My live and neutral are black and blue in the house. "  Live/neutral should be brown/blue or possibly red/black for old wiring colours.  A yellow wire inside a cable is unlikely to be the earth conductor as that would normally be a bare wire, therefore yellow is probably a conductor, possibly for a lighting circuit with two-way switching.

The real problem, as mentioned above, is that it's not always safe to rely on the original work being standard and to the appropriate regs because mistakes and short cuts can sometimes be taken.  So, the usual approach is to assume the correct colours have been used BUT ALSO verify to be absolutely sure.

Having seen those new photos (even though they're not entirely clear) and now thinking that the broken wire is likely to be a conductor, I'm now tending to agree with GDB2222 that the wall needs to be opened up and the damaged section of cable should be replaced.

Its basically a thick yellow coated copper wire from what i can see, i guess its going to have to be repaired by an electrician then urgh, what a nightmare. 

It's certainly unfortunate but I wouldn't call it a nightmare.  An easy repair job for a proper electrician.  The worst part will be repairing the wall, but that's so often the way with electrical work.

If it's any consolation, many years ago I drilled through a cable in a wall but I hit the live wire and there was a huge bang that scared the life out of me!  Once again, an easy electrical repair but replastering the wall was the real pain.  Still, no injuries or fire so all good in the end.  I bought one of those cable detectors after that and have never made the same mistake again.  We live and learn

Good luck with the repair.

jamie_128

Mickey666 said:

jamie_128 said:

Mickey666 said:

Still not very clear photos but it's looking more like a regular cable to me rather than a separate earth wire.
Also, not sure what you mean by "My live and neutral are black and blue in the house. "  Live/neutral should be brown/blue or possibly red/black for old wiring colours.  A yellow wire inside a cable is unlikely to be the earth conductor as that would normally be a bare wire, therefore yellow is probably a conductor, possibly for a lighting circuit with two-way switching.

The real problem, as mentioned above, is that it's not always safe to rely on the original work being standard and to the appropriate regs because mistakes and short cuts can sometimes be taken.  So, the usual approach is to assume the correct colours have been used BUT ALSO verify to be absolutely sure.

Having seen those new photos (even though they're not entirely clear) and now thinking that the broken wire is likely to be a conductor, I'm now tending to agree with GDB2222 that the wall needs to be opened up and the damaged section of cable should be replaced.

Its basically a thick yellow coated copper wire from what i can see, i guess its going to have to be repaired by an electrician then urgh, what a nightmare. 

It's certainly unfortunate but I wouldn't call it a nightmare.  An easy repair job for a proper electrician.  The worst part will be repairing the wall, but that's so often the way with electrical work.

If it's any consolation, many years ago I drilled through a cable in a wall but I hit the live wire and there was a huge bang that scared the life out of me!  Once again, an easy electrical repair but replastering the wall was the real pain.  Still, no injuries or fire so all good in the end.  I bought one of those cable detectors after that and have never made the same mistake again.  We live and learn

Good luck with the repair.

Im looking at it now and im wondering if its something else like a coaxial cable, just under the yellow covering is thin copper colour but then under that it almost looks like another white coated wire or something, i cant see any blue brown or green/yellow sleeves for 3 way cable, and it doesent actually look like copper wiring more like very thin and i mean very thin copper covering. 

grumbler

If it's a 1-core cable, it's an easy DIY job.

E.g. cover the damage with at junction box, e.g.

- with the terminal box inside removed.

Optionally, you can fill the box with Di-Electric Gel (overkill IMO).

Of course, some plaster has to be removed for this, but it's not a disaster.

Personally, I'd just use 2-3 layers of PVC insulating tape

Mickey666

jamie_128 said:

Mickey666 said:

jamie_128 said:

Mickey666 said:

Still not very clear photos but it's looking more like a regular cable to me rather than a separate earth wire.
Also, not sure what you mean by "My live and neutral are black and blue in the house. "  Live/neutral should be brown/blue or possibly red/black for old wiring colours.  A yellow wire inside a cable is unlikely to be the earth conductor as that would normally be a bare wire, therefore yellow is probably a conductor, possibly for a lighting circuit with two-way switching.

The real problem, as mentioned above, is that it's not always safe to rely on the original work being standard and to the appropriate regs because mistakes and short cuts can sometimes be taken.  So, the usual approach is to assume the correct colours have been used BUT ALSO verify to be absolutely sure.

Having seen those new photos (even though they're not entirely clear) and now thinking that the broken wire is likely to be a conductor, I'm now tending to agree with GDB2222 that the wall needs to be opened up and the damaged section of cable should be replaced.

Its basically a thick yellow coated copper wire from what i can see, i guess its going to have to be repaired by an electrician then urgh, what a nightmare. 

It's certainly unfortunate but I wouldn't call it a nightmare.  An easy repair job for a proper electrician.  The worst part will be repairing the wall, but that's so often the way with electrical work.

If it's any consolation, many years ago I drilled through a cable in a wall but I hit the live wire and there was a huge bang that scared the life out of me!  Once again, an easy electrical repair but replastering the wall was the real pain.  Still, no injuries or fire so all good in the end.  I bought one of those cable detectors after that and have never made the same mistake again.  We live and learn

Good luck with the repair.

Im looking at it now and im wondering if its something else like a coaxial cable, just under the yellow covering is thin copper colour but then under that it almost looks like another white coated wire or something, i cant see any blue brown or green/yellow sleeves for 3 way cable, and it doesent actually look like copper wiring more like very thin and i mean very thin copper covering. 

Hmm.  Any chance of a better photo?  Could it be a satellite cable?  Not that I've ever seen them in yellow, but they do have a thin layer of copper wrapping around a centre conductor - as you say a coaxial construction. 

jamie_128

Mickey666 said:

jamie_128 said:

Mickey666 said:

jamie_128 said:

Mickey666 said:

Still not very clear photos but it's looking more like a regular cable to me rather than a separate earth wire.
Also, not sure what you mean by "My live and neutral are black and blue in the house. "  Live/neutral should be brown/blue or possibly red/black for old wiring colours.  A yellow wire inside a cable is unlikely to be the earth conductor as that would normally be a bare wire, therefore yellow is probably a conductor, possibly for a lighting circuit with two-way switching.

The real problem, as mentioned above, is that it's not always safe to rely on the original work being standard and to the appropriate regs because mistakes and short cuts can sometimes be taken.  So, the usual approach is to assume the correct colours have been used BUT ALSO verify to be absolutely sure.

Having seen those new photos (even though they're not entirely clear) and now thinking that the broken wire is likely to be a conductor, I'm now tending to agree with GDB2222 that the wall needs to be opened up and the damaged section of cable should be replaced.

Its basically a thick yellow coated copper wire from what i can see, i guess its going to have to be repaired by an electrician then urgh, what a nightmare. 

It's certainly unfortunate but I wouldn't call it a nightmare.  An easy repair job for a proper electrician.  The worst part will be repairing the wall, but that's so often the way with electrical work.

If it's any consolation, many years ago I drilled through a cable in a wall but I hit the live wire and there was a huge bang that scared the life out of me!  Once again, an easy electrical repair but replastering the wall was the real pain.  Still, no injuries or fire so all good in the end.  I bought one of those cable detectors after that and have never made the same mistake again.  We live and learn

Good luck with the repair.

Im looking at it now and im wondering if its something else like a coaxial cable, just under the yellow covering is thin copper colour but then under that it almost looks like another white coated wire or something, i cant see any blue brown or green/yellow sleeves for 3 way cable, and it doesent actually look like copper wiring more like very thin and i mean very thin copper covering. 

Hmm.  Any chance of a better photo?  Could it be a satellite cable?  Not that I've ever seen them in yellow, but they do have a thin layer of copper wrapping around a centre conductor - as you say a coaxial construction. 

troffasky

What *is* that? Doesn't look like any domestic wiring I've ever seen. Is the diameter about twice the thickness of that bit of plasterboard? Hard to judge...

jamie_128

troffasky said:

What *is* that? Doesn't look like any domestic wiring I've ever seen. Is the diameter about twice the thickness of that bit of plasterboard? Hard to judge...

From what i can work out it looks about 18mm diameter me thinks. House is 25 years old if that helps. 

grumbler

18?!

Can it be some sort of pipe?

jamie_128

grumbler said:

18?!

Can it be some sort of pipe?

Is there any pipes that would have thin copper around then and then wrapped in yellow rubber?

Would a voltage pen help me rule out if its electrical?