Step 32 - Underground Electrical Line, Part 1

Our existing power line, cable TV and phone line go overhead from the pole to an old weatherhead near the south side of our house. Our electrical system has always been deficient, with two separate and obsolete panels and lots of oudated wiring. So now we will have one new electrical panel which will be on the north side of the garage. That would be problematic for running the line overhead, so we decided to put all 3 lines underground. San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) is our electricity provider and they oversee the undergrounding process.

Mark Stanfield painted the route on the ground, then he and Miguel Gomez jackhammered the asphalt and dug the trench.

After SDG&E inspected the trench, Les Wannamaker (our electrician) laid the conduits in the trench from the pole to the new electrical panel. There are separate conduits for electricity, cable and phone. The electrical conduit has a rope in it to facilitate the next steps.

SDG&E came out again to "mandrill" the conduit. They run a torpedo-shaped device through the conduit to make sure there are no obstructions. We had no obstructions, so the end of the rope was tied off inside the panel.

The final steps will come next week when another SDG&E crew comes out to disconnect the power line from the pole, run it through the conduit, connect to the new panel and energize it. At that point all our electricity will come through the new system. Les will remove our two old electrical panels and Mark can put new siding over those walls. We will work with our phone company and cable provider later to get their lines in the new conduits.