Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

1. Bite the bullet and bury them deep enough not to get plowed.
2. Use aluminum wire, it is the copper they're after.
3. Run your own genset. Cost of electricity is lower. Now you have an excuse.
4. Put a barbed wire collar around each coconut tree just below the wires (and electrify them).
5. Lights at each coconut tree.
6. Alarm system.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

ask local electric company, if u can use copper bare wire, separated by porcelain holders about 1 foot apart side by side. para makuryente yung magnanakaw. he,he,he!!!!!

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

those crooks are awesome.Incc63's suggestion is good.you have to bury the cables on a 1"pvc pipe.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

Thanks LNCC and VTec. Putting barb is not an option since these palms are harvested of fruits. Gensets in the long run are more expensive and require technical personnel to run and maintain. Diesel or gas can be "stolen" too. Burying it looks promising but in actual applications very hard to maintain especially in farmlands. I'm thinking of an alarm system that will go off when somebody is cutting the wires.....

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

Just try putting an emergency light system. Instead of bulbs, put a doorbell. That's the easiest I can think of.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

Solve the real problem first...which is getting the person red handedly. I suggest place a hidden camera with recording. If you have enough resources just purchase a set of security surveillance system. If your finances are limited, just buy one CCTV camera that can be hidden in the place where the wires are usually cut. You may want to buy a lamp system that will automatically turns ON when movement is detected. (All available in Handyman 😉 )

Once recorded, just report it to Police and Viola! you're problem is gone 8)

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

i dont think cams can solve the problem.even if you see their faces but if the goon/s are from other province and without criminal record, theres no way you nor the police can catch them.sir i think it would be better if you can install proximity sensors along the area.this sensor will activate a bell or alarm when the light (infra red) is cut off thus will startle these goons.it also resets itself when there is no more cut on the signal.just my idea ;D

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

u can try placing your wires high enough na hindi nila maabot at walang means abutin, sa coconut tree madaling maka-akyatin lalo na sa mga probinsiyano!

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

sir tatoski nagbalik paba mga kawatan ng wires nyo?

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

Thanks guys. I installed an emergency light with a car horn and I increased the height of the wires. I routed the wires separately meaning each wire supported by separate coconuts to make stealing more difficult.

One drawback of the emergency light/horn is that when there is an outage nag aalarm. Difficult to distinguish between outage and stealing. Anyway with all this measures medyo OK pa wires ko. Wala pa ulit nagnanakaw.

Thanks ulit.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

I'm glad that you used my idea of an emergency light with car horn. Another idea is to add another pair to the different routed wires. A simple circuit may be designed that will turn off the emergency light if there is a general blackout, but will turn on the alarm if just one of the wires are cut.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

Will this be requiring some kind of a ground (110v) to act as neutral between the two live ones?

Right now they peek out of the windows at night to check if the piggery has light. But during daytime they have to survey the lines. Sometimes a quick text or SMS to a friend will help.

Thanks.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

If you have strung two wires at different places, then it may not be necessary to have another wire. Check the voltage of both of the wires to ground. If there is 110 volts, then there is no need for more wires.

The circuit will act this way: if any 1 of the wires is cut, the alarm will go on. But if both of the wires lose power simultaneously, meaning a brown out, then the alarm will not go on.

If you have two old cellphone chargers, particularly auto volt ones, they will output around 7 volts. Plug each one into each of the 110 lines to ground. Use each of their outputs to power a relay, thus two relays (6 volt which can be bought at Deeco with a dropping resistor) powered by two battery chargers. Route the output of the emergency light to the normally open contacts of the relays, in parallel to the alarm.

Thus if any one of the line loses power, the emergency light voltage will still go through one of the relays to the alarm bell. But if both lines lose power, the voltage will be blocked as both relays will break the contact.

Re: Help! Power Supply Wires Always Stolen

Great idea 2diy4! I'll check the potential between line to ground when I visit the farm this weekend!

Ang galing!

Thanks!