The first box

This is the follow up to the re-wiring job I was working on around the ponds. If you recall, I had installed the first run from the feed to the first pond by burying the conduit below ground but decided that I didn’t need to do that with the rest of the conduit as it could follow around the stone walls that surround the ponds. This made the project much simpler and hopefully quicker to finish.

The middle box

I should mention that I happened to have a couple of boxes with two ground fault breakers in each. It was a bit of an overkill as using just one GFCI outlet would protect all the other outlets on that line but as I already had them, it didn’t make sense not to use them. I needed a third and sticking with the same design ordered and received an identical unit from Home Depot. I used this as an excuse for not getting outside to work in the heat on this project while I was waiting for the unit to come although in truth, there was plenty I could have done while I was waiting..

With the additional third box in hand, I managed to conjure up enough enthusiasm and energy to brave the 95 degree heat and get back out to the project. Luckily, most of it was in the shade and with an adequate amount of sunscreen and a good hat, I was ready to go.

The final box

I laid out the conduit and before gluing it together, pulled the cable through as it was so much easier to work on 10 foot lengths. I finally glued up all of the joints and then made the connections to the GFCI boxes and mounted them on steel posts that I had driven into the ground. I raised the boxes to about 2 feet high off the ground to make it easier to make the connections but even so, sitting on a low stool working on this part of the work really played hell with my old and worn out knees and I was really glad when I was through.

I finally had all of the connections made to the boxes and turned my attention to the final connection to power up the whole thing. I had an outlet that I had installed many years ago attached to the house that worked out perfectly to connect to. It came off the main breaker box so I did not have to worry about electrical load on the circuit other than what I had just installed. I made the connections being sure to throw the main breaker that was the other side of the fence to that line before starting the work.

The connection to the main breaker via a previously installed outlet.

All went very smoothly and then came the moment of truth. I closed the breaker and went to the first box to test the outlets and nothing…The second and third boxes were the same, absolutely no power. I panicked for about a half a minute and then my brain took over and I started to think of what I might have done wrong. I went back to the first GFCI breaker and noticed a reset button on the outlet which I pushed and saw a little blue light come on. “Could it be as simple as this” I wondered and tested the outlet again and success, it was working. I quickly reset all of the outlets and began plugging in pumps and filters and all of the things that each pond required to keep it healthy.

I should mention that it took me three days working a few hours a day to complete this part of the project. I hate getting up early due probably to my late night habit of watching movies or soccer games and consequently, don’t get outside until the temperature is already in the low 90’s. There are exceptions of course but one of the luxuries of being both old and single is the ability to set one’s own timetable on life. At least on the controllable part.

Now, I feel a lot better as I don’t have any long lengths of cable laying around stretching from pond to pond with the exception of the leads that come from the pumps and such. Safer for me and the dogs and I even got a couple of long lead chords back to use when I need them. I have one more similar project on the big pond that I need to seriously consider only this one will require more digging, darn it. Something for the future.

Another successful project.

Written 6/13/2018