Home Improvement

I had an issue the home inspectors missed. I called them, they sent someone out to verify, and they footed the bill for the repair. I would start there, and you may be in luck.

So obviously this all isn't very ideal but they actually made at least two mistakes here. That pipe is not rated for being outside and also Romex isn't allowed to be used in wet areas such as underground. Only something like UF cable would be allowed to be ran buried like this.

There's two things that you can do here, the right way and easy way. The right way would be to rip the whole wire out and run it properly. The easier way would be to kill the outlet at the breaker, disconnect the wire from the outlet and to carefully remove the pipe and replace with a PVC pipe that won't rust. Get one from the electrical aisle because those won't degrade in the sun.

Assuming this is on its own circuit and you've got the space in your panel you could make whatever repairs to the conduit you think are practical and then swap the breaker for an arc fault circuit interruptor (AFCI). That should trip under any failure conditions you are likely to experience but it won't stop the problem from getting worse. It's not up to code either but I wouldn't be too concerned about it under those conditions. That's also assuming the wire run you can see during your repairs seems to be in decent shape.

There's really no substitute for digging it up and replacing the whole damaged section of conduit but my suggestion would be a serviceable solution if that is untenable for some reason. It certainly doesn't come without risks but neither does the situation you're currently in.

I have zero experience with this problem and I’m just spitballing but I’d consider. (Note that I’m rather stupid, don’t own a home, and uneducated about electrician stuff):

• Some kind of epoxy to just totally coat the outside. Slather it on and it hardens and I don’t have to think about it
• build a little enclosure around that bit so it’s living a bit more “inside”. probably impractical but a fun challenge
• wrap electrical tape, then pipe insulation. Tape over the pipe insulation then brush on something that cures into a waterproof seal

Also ask an electrician

That steel conduit is just there for mechanical protection. The cable inside the pipe has its own insulation and you can assume its integrity is still good if its still working fine. I wouldn't upgrade the protective device myself. If youd had no issues with the circuit then all id do is get a galvanised cable/pipe protector and cover the rusting pipe. (Im an electrician 🤙)