Electrical surprise

We have a 10-3 with ground UF cable running from the barn we live in to the old farmhouse, on through it to the sawmill/tractor building and then to the well house. It was put in about 10 years ago to save on meter costs since each meter cost $20 per month even when there was no power to speak of being used. We hired a local fellow who knew about the electrical part of it and I did some of the labor. The first part runs in PVC pipe, buried 4 feet deep since it runs under the main driveway/parking area. The rest beyond the house was buried in sand about 1 foot deep. At the time the sawmill building had not been built. When it went it the wire was cut and spliced so it runs along the first floor ceiling. This morning there was no water so I went to check if the pipes in the house basement had frozen as they do occasionally. When I got to the house there was no power, the breaker at the start of the whole line had tripped. I flipped it back on and it stayed on. When I went to the house it now had power but the sawmill building still did not. There was no breaker between them, so I figured the wire must have broken in the ground. I went to town and got a roll of wire and ran it temporarily overhead from the house to the sawmill building and now everything is fine. I am wondering what could have caused the wire to break in the middle of the night. All conductors were dead and I presume they were actually broken in two. The temperatures were in the teens. No traffic had driven over the line since the 26th of December other than a Massey 35 blowing snow yesterday morning. I will dig it up in the spring and find out but in the meantime I am wondering if anyone has seen this and what the cause may have been.
Zach

The live lines have burned open.
Direct burial is just a cable failure waiting to happen. At least place the cable in a conduit or pipe so it can be pulled out and replaced. Cables do last much longer in a pipe compared to direct contact with earth.

Hard tell but I have a 12/2 buried to an outbuilding in the same shape. Except mine has a dead short. I had to cut the line. But Hey, It worked for 20 years! I figure if I replace it now it should last me out.

Depending on the conditions of the splice, I would start there and determine if voltage can get to it. If not, at least you know whhich direction to head. Jim

I had one a gofer got to it. Also had one put in among rocks. over time the ground shifted enough to brake one wire. Ground changes a lot this time of the year.

buickanddeers,

Conduit has a habit of collecting water, then freezes, and with it stretching the conductor/cable caught in the ice.

Direct burial is usually taken from a spool and is somewhat looped, with (usually) no single area of water (ice) concentrated.

I also use conduit, besides my reply. I can always string a temporary above ground until spring, then re-pull.

D.

Growing up we would occasionally lose power. A mole or gopher was usually the culprit. You would find him BBQ'ed at the point of impact.