ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues Underground Junction

It's the same this side of the pond. Many DIYers don't seem to know that anything else exists, and you'll see our equivalent of NM used for everything. The "high quality" installs for sheds, greenhouses, and so on may actually have the cable pulled through a length of old garden hose, although quite probably with a taped join in the middle where a couple of odd lengths were dug out the back of the garden to be pressed into electrical service. The slightly lower quality jobs ( ) just have the cabled buried directly -- Sometimes as much as 12 inches below the vegetable patch.....

For proper underground junctions, we have these plastic boxes which can be used to joint our SWA cable:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/PRUBX13.html

Or for junctions which will not need future access, we can use a resin-filled joint, although "code" requires the splices within to be crimped in this case:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/SWJK1.html

http://www.paigewire.com/Specs/3M3570.htm

This is the solution for you.

They have taken over and are now sitting on the Will Call counter at my favorite distributor.

Tesla, I have used those with great success ... especially in applications, such as replacing pump floats (where for some reason you cannot remove the old cable completely).

If you can make your connection in a red wire nut, it will fit into one of those little packs.

You can forget about ever taking it apart, though ... be sure to test the connections before final sealing.

I have had mixed success with the Scotchlok packs.

A few years back I found myself needing to splice UF on 3 occasions within a few of months of each other. The first couple of times the Scotchloks worked great. Set up like concrete. A few months later I tried to use a pack and it wouldn't set up. Tried another and another with the same results. Went across town to a different wholesale house and bought some or theirs. Same results.

I'm guessing that 3M must have let a bad batch out. The funny thing is that I haven't noticed them on the shelves of either supply house since.

It's also possible that the packs were just ... old. I've had plenty of 'magic potions' go bad, just sitting in the shop.

I've had similar situations with 3M's splice kits for telephone cable. Seems that shelf life is not very long for the filling that turns hard. Their gel-type filling has a much longer shelf life. Storage temperature also affects them, even though the chemicals are kept separate.

I just found this out with a brand-new tube of epoxy that I kept in storage for about six months. I suppose that even if the compounds aren't mixed, they do still start to harden on their own at some point.

Yes, there's a certain shelf life for epoxy. Some of them are useless as little as 6 months after manufacture. The manufacture date and shelf life *should* be marked on the package if this is an issue.

Actually, I used to get a lot of great free CA glue and epoxy when the local shipyard restocked their shelves... Usually worked just fine for a good while after that. Thin CA turned into thick CA, and thick CA never cured was the only real difference.

For an underground UF splice, make your joints in a plastic switch box and fill it with roofing tar...

"handholes" and "Brooks boxes" are used all over in S Florida. I'd rather use them as a pulling point only but have used them as junction boxes before, unless all of the inspectors are wrong, it is a code compliant installation.

While this might work I wouldn't do it. IS UF compatible with the solvents in roofing tar??

They make kits to make this type of splice and they aren't expensive