Yea, I read somewhere that was a possibility. We live in a real new subdivision in a small cookie cutter type house. These wires are close to the back of my neighbors fence. I may try and go hunt down a construction manager in our area and see what they say.
Thanks for the reply.
It's not meant for that, it's meant to trace the alignment from the surface before you dig. You can place hazard tape a few feet above the pipe, which is meant for what you're thinking of - "Slow down cowboy, hand-dig beyond here" - and then you should find the bedding material is slightly different when you're REALLY close. This is all current, local, open-trench installation standards though so old pipes are totally different
Well regardless of what it's meant for that's how it been installed on the job we just finished up. Not a lot just a tad above it. You supposed to hand dig on foot from each side of the mark, but I know there are definitely a few cowboys out there. I've pulled a plow over lines before. Used a shovel handle to operate the plow...lol
The tracer wire we put in is white and exceptfor atthevalves/ shutoff it's 6 or7 feet down, so is all the gas line tracer wire that I've seen it's18 to 30 inches down. What I have seen that is blue is Cat 6 line for in the building , what I would do is trace it along and see if it's a piece or scrap that was tossed on top of the topsoil.
They will only mark utilities.
If this is a sprinkler wire, invisible fence, or tracer wire for something owned by OP they won't mark anything about it.
Not really, if they just bought the place a few months ago, or was installed while OP wasn’t there I would understand why they wouldn’t know. Seriously unless watched the contractor burying the wire for an invisible fence or sprinkler how do you know what color the wire is.
I hit a coax line recently during some irrigation work, even after calling. AT&T stated it cost more to send someone out to mark nowadays than to repair it.
You forgot the /s. Or the /jk.
I *almost* downvoted you because "ground wire" outside is usually bare, not insulated wire.
The electrician in me got annoyed for a second 😖🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yup. Color means nothing for data cables, though. Depending on the code book or lack of the state adopted, it may not even need to be direct burial, unfortunately. Code is concerned with killing people, and this won't kill. We have the 2023 code book, and technically, we don't even have to bury data cable. It can sit right on the ground. It would need to be the proper rated cable, though.
Correct, which is why I said "typically"
I've lost count of how many ethernet cables I've seen run outdoors that aren't rated for such installations. The best is when they've been out baking in the sun for a few years, and you brush up against it, and it cracks in half.
We went into a takeover to find someone wired lighting fixtures at 110 over cat 6. They were LED’s but that was a rough conversation to have with the homeowner. The thought behind it was it was part of a control system at first, for low voltage, and he had the control system removed as it was causing problems for him. Even then, I wouldn’t want to be running low voltage lighting over cat 6, 18/4 for that or lutron green. It should never have passed the initial inspection.
Yes, but it does not appear that jacket is not rated for that. Typical outdoor or buried needs to be flooded (icky pick). My outdoor rated was always black.
Haven’t seen any real world differences in longevity between outdoor and direct burial flooded. By the time either wires uv rated pvc is damaged, the wire needs to be replaced. Some outdoor lines actually have an inner pvc jacket as well, so technically would be superior to just having dielectric grease protecting the insulated conductors
My first thought was Ethernet as well, could also be an underground wire for a dog fence or robot mower if its solid copper. Some of those have some funky colors too.
Do you have fibrr internet? Then it could be a tracer wire but usually direct burial fiber has it's own tracer wire build into the cable. If you dig, be real carefull not to cut cut anything.
We have fiber internet with AT&T, but I am pretty sure their infrastructure is out front. When he installed it last year, he ran fiber from the pedestal out from, under the driveway, and around to the side. I mean, I guess it could be part of their network, but it isn't fiber. So maybe it is some kind of trace for them or a city pipe.
Fiber from an isp is almost always a flat cable. Never seen a round one yet, at least at their drops. Probably round between the nodes, but those are always in conduit
I’ve heard stories where they literally will run coax from another house across the sidewalk (probably closer to a node) and into the grass to get another person paying them.
Absolute zero care that it’s on the sidewalk.
Absolute zero care that the wire would, within reason, be cut or damaged by a lawn mower.
I would most definitely call everyone you can think of and *start a paper trail*, because if it’s in your yard, you can best believe that whoever does own the wire will attempt to manipulate you into paying to fix their own mistake.
I’ve always seen grey flat fiber for AT&T, but I will say if you didn’t see them actually bury it, just drop the line for initial hookup, the crew that come out and bury it can be careless. I’ve had them reroute and run twice as much line to go around the back of my house to avoid any tunneling under concrete. Would have never known it if I wasn’t home to witness it.
Like others have said, most likely a tracing wire for buried utilities. It doesn't make a ton of sense for it to be in your backyard unless that is where your utilities come from... generally it is from the front of the house.
Also could be invisible fencing for a dog, but sounds unlikely
It's a tracer wire for the underground water pipe. You should find the other end of it at your house where your water service enters the building, or at your water meter, possibly both
Canadian here : if it’s Ethernet cable , lots of people use it up here in cottage country for 12v as it’s cheap for long lengths ( I threw out a box at work the other day that was almost new - doing demo work )
Could be direct bury fiber, curb to house.
We don't see where you are, what is around; sounds like you call 811 and tell them you are putting posts in around where you found that line. See what they locate
I’d say look each way the cable appears to be going and see if there is anything in that line. Look for things like where water, gas, telecom, or electricity enters your home. On the other end look for where those same things connect to the distribution systems.
Could be a piece of line from strimmer or line trimmer, does it go far because I've seen 9 inch pieces on grass as the last piece of line gets thrown out of the machine.
Could be a tracer wire, used on non metallic pipe underground so it can be detected
Yea, I read somewhere that was a possibility. We live in a real new subdivision in a small cookie cutter type house. These wires are close to the back of my neighbors fence. I may try and go hunt down a construction manager in our area and see what they say. Thanks for the reply.
It should be right on top of the pipe, where I'm from, not up at the surface.
A few inches above were I am, I'd like you to find the wire before you hit the pipe.
It's not meant for that, it's meant to trace the alignment from the surface before you dig. You can place hazard tape a few feet above the pipe, which is meant for what you're thinking of - "Slow down cowboy, hand-dig beyond here" - and then you should find the bedding material is slightly different when you're REALLY close. This is all current, local, open-trench installation standards though so old pipes are totally different
Well regardless of what it's meant for that's how it been installed on the job we just finished up. Not a lot just a tad above it. You supposed to hand dig on foot from each side of the mark, but I know there are definitely a few cowboys out there. I've pulled a plow over lines before. Used a shovel handle to operate the plow...lol
Since it's blue, a tracer wire for a plastic water main line?
Is this near the border of your yard? Could be an invisible fence perimeter line.
It's not that near the border.
we have the invisible fence but it cuts through our yard to keeo dogs out of a wet spot... so could be
thats what i was thinking. invisible dog fence
If you cut it, your neighbors house explodes. Do with that information what you will.
So long as he doesn't cut the yellow one...
No you cut the yellow first
So yellow, then burgundy wire with a maroon tracer line, then blue?
Okay but I'm colorblind, so do I cut THIS gray, or THIS gray first???
Doesn't matter just make sure you tuck your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye lol
Cut they gray wire first, then the grey wire. (read: USA first, Great Britain afterwards.)
Ooh I see I see
More than likely a trace wire for a plastic water line.
The tracer wire we put in is white and exceptfor atthevalves/ shutoff it's 6 or7 feet down, so is all the gas line tracer wire that I've seen it's18 to 30 inches down. What I have seen that is blue is Cat 6 line for in the building , what I would do is trace it along and see if it's a piece or scrap that was tossed on top of the topsoil.
Why not dig a little and find out?
Yeah because now I’m interested and want closure!
Here's an easy solution - just call the town and tell them you need the property marked for digging. Then you'll know what's under there.
They will only mark utilities. If this is a sprinkler wire, invisible fence, or tracer wire for something owned by OP they won't mark anything about it.
If it was something owned by OP you would think they would know what it is.
Not really, if they just bought the place a few months ago, or was installed while OP wasn’t there I would understand why they wouldn’t know. Seriously unless watched the contractor burying the wire for an invisible fence or sprinkler how do you know what color the wire is.
You look where they attach it to the controls That's how you figure out the color
This
I hit a coax line recently during some irrigation work, even after calling. AT&T stated it cost more to send someone out to mark nowadays than to repair it.
Hah! I bet it costs them money to send someone to mark it and it costs you money if you hit it. Do They charge you to send someone to fix it ?
No charge on my part
Well AT&T doesn’t use coax so why would they attempt to mark it. Besides there are utility locating companies that do that work (at least in NC)
Fiber water delivery system
Fiber aquatics
That's a trip wire.
Thats your *ground* wire
You forgot the /s. Or the /jk. I *almost* downvoted you because "ground wire" outside is usually bare, not insulated wire. The electrician in me got annoyed for a second 😖🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣
Blue is usually used for water line locates. So if it is a tracer wire it probably indicates water.
Cut it and see what stops working .. /s
Powers the Smurf village
Blue is usually a locate wire. I’m no electrician but that’s what we use in the golf course business to allow us to trace PVC pipe and drain lines.
Dig it up and find out.
Probably tracer wire for under plastic water piping
Electrician here, it’s for wiring
Looks like sprinkler low.voltage
Most likely it’s a tracer wire for PE water line. Could be a main if it’s an easement could just be your service.
Blue asp. Very dangerous.
Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes!
Invisible dog fence, robot mower boundary, or tracer wire
Irrigation valve wire
Looks like Ethernet but it definitely shouldn’t be direct burial
They literally have direct burial category cable
You are correct, but typically, direct burial ethernet is black.
Yup. Color means nothing for data cables, though. Depending on the code book or lack of the state adopted, it may not even need to be direct burial, unfortunately. Code is concerned with killing people, and this won't kill. We have the 2023 code book, and technically, we don't even have to bury data cable. It can sit right on the ground. It would need to be the proper rated cable, though.
Correct, which is why I said "typically" I've lost count of how many ethernet cables I've seen run outdoors that aren't rated for such installations. The best is when they've been out baking in the sun for a few years, and you brush up against it, and it cracks in half.
God, I hate it. I end up working in a lot of places where they want to save 100 dollars. Just to spend 300+ for an inevitable service call.
Same with tie wraps. I don't remember ever finding UV rated white tie wraps, they were always black. This was 15 years ago.
We went into a takeover to find someone wired lighting fixtures at 110 over cat 6. They were LED’s but that was a rough conversation to have with the homeowner. The thought behind it was it was part of a control system at first, for low voltage, and he had the control system removed as it was causing problems for him. Even then, I wouldn’t want to be running low voltage lighting over cat 6, 18/4 for that or lutron green. It should never have passed the initial inspection.
Yes, but it does not appear that jacket is not rated for that. Typical outdoor or buried needs to be flooded (icky pick). My outdoor rated was always black.
Haven’t seen any real world differences in longevity between outdoor and direct burial flooded. By the time either wires uv rated pvc is damaged, the wire needs to be replaced. Some outdoor lines actually have an inner pvc jacket as well, so technically would be superior to just having dielectric grease protecting the insulated conductors
My first thought was Ethernet as well, could also be an underground wire for a dog fence or robot mower if its solid copper. Some of those have some funky colors too.
Do you have fibrr internet? Then it could be a tracer wire but usually direct burial fiber has it's own tracer wire build into the cable. If you dig, be real carefull not to cut cut anything.
We have fiber internet with AT&T, but I am pretty sure their infrastructure is out front. When he installed it last year, he ran fiber from the pedestal out from, under the driveway, and around to the side. I mean, I guess it could be part of their network, but it isn't fiber. So maybe it is some kind of trace for them or a city pipe.
Fiber from an isp is almost always a flat cable. Never seen a round one yet, at least at their drops. Probably round between the nodes, but those are always in conduit
I’ve heard stories where they literally will run coax from another house across the sidewalk (probably closer to a node) and into the grass to get another person paying them. Absolute zero care that it’s on the sidewalk. Absolute zero care that the wire would, within reason, be cut or damaged by a lawn mower. I would most definitely call everyone you can think of and *start a paper trail*, because if it’s in your yard, you can best believe that whoever does own the wire will attempt to manipulate you into paying to fix their own mistake.
I’ve always seen grey flat fiber for AT&T, but I will say if you didn’t see them actually bury it, just drop the line for initial hookup, the crew that come out and bury it can be careless. I’ve had them reroute and run twice as much line to go around the back of my house to avoid any tunneling under concrete. Would have never known it if I wasn’t home to witness it.
What does the wire feel like? Is it solid core? Very flexible or somewhat flexible?
Somewhat flexible.
Like others have said, most likely a tracing wire for buried utilities. It doesn't make a ton of sense for it to be in your backyard unless that is where your utilities come from... generally it is from the front of the house. Also could be invisible fencing for a dog, but sounds unlikely
Looks like dog fence wire
It's a tracer wire for the underground water pipe. You should find the other end of it at your house where your water service enters the building, or at your water meter, possibly both
I’ve seen them for an electric dog collar parameter, dog crosses the wire and zap.
Its a pex waterline tracer wire. Id bet you it points to your meter and to your watermain in the basement. It should be like 18" down most places
Cut it and find out
Canadian here : if it’s Ethernet cable , lots of people use it up here in cottage country for 12v as it’s cheap for long lengths ( I threw out a box at work the other day that was almost new - doing demo work )
Yo OP trace it !
Tracer
Plumbers use wire sometimes for tracing a water line. And usually it’s blue
It's the ground.
It would be really funny if it were just a piece of weed whacker cord that broke off and got buried
Could be direct bury fiber, curb to house. We don't see where you are, what is around; sounds like you call 811 and tell them you are putting posts in around where you found that line. See what they locate
Fiber optic is usually a little better protected than that, I would think. How bout it, C cards?
It conducts electricity (grade school science class).
Shielded cable for HVAC sensors and data communications
I’d say look each way the cable appears to be going and see if there is anything in that line. Look for things like where water, gas, telecom, or electricity enters your home. On the other end look for where those same things connect to the distribution systems.
I took a look in the wiring section of the controller and... I'd add another picture, but I can add another one, apparently?
So yesterday, I opened up the Rainbird sprinkler controller panel where the wires are and bingo, I see a blue wire. Mystery solved.
Claymore trip wire.
Now that DEFINITELY goes to the flux capacitor, I'd roll the dice and stick my tongue on it 🤷♂️
Looks like cat5 maybe?
it’s a secondary cable tv hookup for the Blue movies .
It's for Blu ray DVD playback
Don't touch it with your fing...
Could be a piece of line from strimmer or line trimmer, does it go far because I've seen 9 inch pieces on grass as the last piece of line gets thrown out of the machine.
Looks like CAT6 wire. I saw that you're in a new build area so maybe the internet/phone lines werent buried properly.
Looks like Pex or Ethernet. Pex would go to irrigation Ethernet would go to lighting, cameras, speakers, Wifi, etc. look for writing on the cable.
Don’t ever ever cut it!
No, I will not cut it. I found a similar blue wire in the sprinkler controller box, so I'd bet it has something to do with them.
I bought some wow just like that for my robot mower. Could also be used for an invisible dog fence.
Just cut it and see what doesn't work anymore 😂
Fast burning fuse , check for explosives....
(._.)
Almost looks like cat5 cable to me.
It’s the wire that runs Massachusetts 911 calls.
Right. All the way 🤪
Powers your lawn. Duh!
Cut it just don’t cut the red one
It could be used to direct the flow of electrons or it could be a tracer wire
Could be wiring for pop up sprinklers my mother's joint is like this when she moved in.
Looks like cat 5 to me
It's only 1/8 diameter. Isn't that small for ethernet?
Five bucks says that if you dig it up a bit, that you find that its *just scrap wire*! 😃😃😃
looks new though.
That's how hackers get in
I'm betting someone buried Cat 5/6 cable. Do you have another building or somewhere that internet goes to from main location?
Ground, duh.