DIY cable moling

[Tim+]

I?m toying with the idea of moving my car charging point from wall mounted to pole mounted by my driveway.

Biggest obstacle is about 4ft of block paving that I?d really rather not lift if I can avoid it. Any suggesting for a DIY moling technique to get a length of cable or conduit under the block paving with minimal disturbance to the paving?

Toying with the idea of a length of conduit with a hosepipe rammed down the middle and trying to push it through whilst the water is flowing. Maybe a non-starter?

Tim

[alan_m]

You will end up with the same result as seen when a water main leaks - the road above just sinks into the void created by the water excavating the soil. It may sink weeks after you think you have finished the job!

Bite the bullet and lift the block paving to dig a trench - install a conduit/pipe - feed through the wire plus a rope to pull through extra facilities in the future. Back fill the trench, compact the fill, add a layer of sand, get the level correct, re-lay the block paving.

[Robin]

Depends on what's either side and on the soil. E.g. I put cable under a

600m path by digging a trench on one side, a bit of tunnelling with a trowel, and then hammering a length of black iron pipe. But I was lucky enough not to meet large stones, broken bricks etc.

[Tim+]

I?m sure that?s the best way to do it, but it sounds like a lot of work. ;-)

I?ve just realised that there is a bit of conduit already in place for a redundant Virgin cable connection that I?d forgotten about. Hopefully it?ll be big enough to thread a bit of armoured cable through (after removing the Virgin cable).

Tim

[Tim+]

Thanks, if my bit of Virgin conduit isn?t adequate I might try this.

Tim

[Tim Lamb]

In message [e-mail]>, Tim+ [e-mail] writes

Depends hugely on the soil stone content but you could probably sledge hammer a piece of steel scaffold pole through 4 foot of topsoil. You will need a 6 foot plus trench to work from.

Alternatively wave £100 notes in front of your local mobile air compressor operator...

[Steve Walker]

If you might use metal pipe to get through under the path, how about using an angle grinder to cut some teeth into the end and turn it into a very long core drill? Weld a bar on the end to use as an arbour or use pipe fittings to reduce it down to something you can use as an arbour.

Once through you can pull it back to push your conduit through or cut the end off, leave it in place and poke/wash out the pipe.

[nightjar]

You can, of course, hire moling equipment. More expensive, but probably more reliable than a pure DIY approach.

[The Natural Philosopher]

As the actress said to the bishop, acquiring a brandy snap with her other hand..

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Tim+ brought next idea :

I managed to use that method here, into heavy clay, to bury a several feet of 15mm copper water pipe for an RF earth vertically. No reason why it would not work horizontally too, providing you didn't hit brick or stone.

[John Rumm]

If you dig an access hole on each side, you may be able to hammer through a length of scaffold pole or iron pipe with a cap on the end.

(shorter sections of 1" iron barrel pipe with threaded couplers might work ok if access is restricted at the sides)

[Andrew]

Hammering vertically is a lot less effort than doing it horizontally, while stooping down into a 600mm deep trench.

Personally I would buy one of those 'cheapo' SDS drills that can be about a metre long and bore a hole from each end. Let the SDS drill do all the gut-straining.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

For what reason do you wish to move it. I was given to understand that the fitters of these chargers are pretty specific of where you can, and cannot put them and or route a cable. Brian

[williamwright]

Methods that are a lot of work are generally the best way to do a job, otherwise no-one sensible would entertain them.

Bill

[williamwright]

high voltage cables, water pipes, gas pipes, secret tunnels for kings to escape from castles...

Bill

[williamwright]

How would you get them to meet?

Bill

[newshound]

If you can get it a metre of your 4 feet that's only 8 inches to go, quite a reasonable chance of banging through a length of iron pipe after drilling, I would have thought. With any luck the drill will find its way around obstacles (and if not, you know there's a problem).

[ARW]

It's down to price.

[Tim+]

Just don?t like where it is very much. Given that I always reverse into my driveway, it would look better and be easier to use if it was beside the driveway near the front of my car rather than dragging a cable the length of my car from the front of the house to plug it in at the front.

Tim

Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) snipped-for-privacy@bluey> For what reason do you wish to move it. I was given to understand that the

[ARW]

Can you get a 5/6ft trench before the 4ft path?