Drilled into earth

troffasky

It seems a bit like this:

https://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/yellow-plastic-coated-copper-tube-15mm-x-3m

but the above wouldn't be screened/braided [or at least, I can't see why it ever would be, maybe my imagination is lacking].

I would think clues would be at one end or the other of whatever it is. Any unusual sockets/switches in the house? Antennas on the roof?

jamie_128

troffasky said:

It seems a bit like this:

https://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/yellow-plastic-coated-copper-tube-15mm-x-3m

but the above wouldn't be screened/braided [or at least, I can't see why it ever would be, maybe my imagination is lacking].

I would think clues would be at one end or the other of whatever it is. Any unusual sockets/switches in the house? Antennas on the roof?

There is something odd in the house. 

A black long ariel cable comes into a kitchen cupboard from outside the house through the brick not too far from that cable, also upstairs in the bedroom above there is again a long black ariel wire coming through the brick and hidden behind the radiator. 

They dont seem linked but???

Rather than normal ariel sockets on the walls in them rooms theres just that cabling. 

Mickey666

jamie_128 said:

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. 

Hmm.  Much clearer photo so thanks for that but I'm afraid it's no help to me as I've never seen anything quite like that.  Might help if we knew what it was connected to, but I guess that's not going to be easy to find.
Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say. 
I'm stumped!

Money_Grabber13579

Pure guess, but lightning conductor? If it’s linked to something running up the outside of the house?

jamie_128

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Pure guess, but lightning conductor? If it’s linked to something running up the outside of the house?

will a voltage pen tell me if its an electrical wire? 

Homer_home

Looks like a control cable to me , they are multi cored electrical cable wrapped in a braided sheath with a pvc outer , normally used in industrial applications as the braid helps protect them from damage 

A voltage pen will tell you if it's a live cable or not but that's it , doesn't solve the mystery of why such a thick cable is buried in the wall in a domestic setting 

Mickey666

jamie_128 said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Pure guess, but lightning conductor? If it’s linked to something running up the outside of the house?

will a voltage pen tell me if its an electrical wire? 

Perhaps.  They should certainly detect any mains voltages but I think they only detect AC.  I have a LAP one and it's rated from 90-600Vac - fine for mains but not much good for lower voltage circuits.  Also, if it is some form of control cable as Homer_home suggests then it's possibly low voltage DC so a pen would not detect it.
So, definitely worth a try if you have one but won't be conclusive if it doesn't detect mains voltage.

jamie_128

Mickey666 said:

jamie_128 said:

Money_Grabber13579 said:

Pure guess, but lightning conductor? If it’s linked to something running up the outside of the house?

will a voltage pen tell me if its an electrical wire? 

Perhaps.  They should certainly detect any mains voltages but I think they only detect AC.  I have a LAP one and it's rated from 90-600Vac - fine for mains but not much good for lower voltage circuits.  Also, if it is some form of control cable as Homer_home suggests then it's possibly low voltage DC so a pen would not detect it.
So, definitely worth a try if you have one but won't be conclusive if it doesn't detect mains voltage.

Surely a low voltage wire wouldent be that thick?

My main concern is a risk of serious electric shock so if its not mains then ill just fill the hole back up. 

jamie_128

Ive held the non contact detector, doesent seem to detect any AC current from 50v to 1000v, so can we assume its safe to just leave, its only took the coating off anyway in a small patch, i really dont know what the wire is. 

troffasky

A multi-pair cable could have lots of low-voltage pairs in it and be anywhere up to the thickness of your arm, but doesn't make any sense in a domestic situation. Until someone recognises it from the picture, all you've got is guesswork.

I think whoever lived there before used this cable to do something out of the ordinary for domestic use [eg multi-room audio all wired back to one place] and has just disconnected whatever was at each end before moving out, leaving you with a mystery cable in the wall. Perhaps they used this particular cable because it was going spare, rather than choosing it specifically for their needs.

I ran ethernet in a previous house and didn't bother pulling it all out, I took the sockets, pushed the cable back in and made good the holes.

I'm not going to say "yeah, it's fine, ignore it" even if I think that's the case, because I just don't know.