I was digging a hole in my yard today, and severed a small electrical wire by accident with my shovel. The wire was about 1/2 a foot under ground and supplied the garage with electricity. There was a small spark and a small pop sound. I covered it back up with dirt, and I really don't know what to do with it. Is there electricity everywhere now? I'm really afraid to go into the yard.
You cut a wire that shouldn't be there in the first place but now that it's cut all you have to do is make sure the circuit is off. You could have shorted the curcuit and tripped the breaker or not and the wire could still be hot or have electricity flowing through it. If you don't feel comfortable about dealing with it yourself then call an electrician. You need to know for sure what breaker will cut off that wire in order to remove it. In the day time turn off the main power supply to the house and dig up the wire and trace back to the house service box. If you buy a testing unit you can do a continuity test to find and remove the wire. If you need power to the garage make sure you run the new line in conduit and the proper depth.
No electricity isn't everywhere. Do you gave an electrical box in your backyard? This connects your and your neighbors cable to their house. Most probably the person without cable will call the cable company, and they will come out and replace the wire. In my backyard there is a huge electrical box and next to it 2 small boxes (1 for comcast and the other ATT). This guy cut a wire in our backyard when landscsoing and we didn't have wifi cable and phone. My mom called and they replaced the wire.
Gawd , have you no neighbors or friends? No church? No nothing? You are not necessarily required to have knowledge of the electrical system but you ARE required to have a brain. Get local help! ~~~~ You were smart to cover the wire up though -- Kids, animals etc. Someone could reset the breaker and cause a hazardous situation.
i had a friend who had a landscaper hit his with a ditchwitch, actually pulled the wires very hard causing his sub panel to collapse! ouch ! anywho, it's not that big of a deal, was it in a pipe or conduit or was it burial cable ? open your electrical panel and find the breaker that has been tripped, put a piece of tape across it so no one trys to turn it back on and you know which one it is. home depot sells voltage detectors (looks like a permanent marker with a light at the tip) for around $10-$15. when you hold it next to a live circuit it will illuminate and beep. you can use this to make sure it is not live. sound like you will need an electrician, electrical cables should not be buried that shallow underground so it may be a lot of work to re run as you will most likely want to bring it up to code.
yes isolate people power from/to how did you recover ?
