What is cable/pipe connected to garage CU possible liquid inside?

[Fuzzy-Duck]

Hi all,
Hopefully not a stupid question, I've had a good search on this and other forums but as I don't know what I'm looking at it's difficult to use the right keywords.

I'm running a channel in the concrete floor of my garage and my cold chisel went clean though a ribbed pipe. Water or some sort of liquid seeped out for some time (not high pressure) but then stopped. It has dried brown/orange which makes me suspect rust is somewhere. There's no water or waste water in the garage BUT: the pipe looks identical to a pipe leading into the garage CU about 1m away and 1.5m up the wall.

I've no idea what it is, I could seal it up again but I'm unsure if I would then need to top up the liquid - saline maybe? My only guess is that it's some sort of auxiliary earth for the electrics in the garage, but the liquid is a mystery. Can anybody help with identifying what I've broken please?!

The first picture is of the pipe. It is buried 100mm down under the concrete floor and sits on the plastic liner. The tear made by my chisel is at the bottom of the pic. The second picture is of the base of the metal garage CU. The left, black cable is the supply from the house. The right stripey cable/pipe is the mystery (to me!)

 

[Taylortwocities]

It is important to know what is inside that pipe.
There should be a switch on the fusebaord marked main switch. Turn it off and remove the cover, and take a photo of the inside so we can see what is in the pipe and where it connects.

PS I'm sure that the fluid is not significant, but lets have a look see.
Any clue as to where the other end of the pipe comes out?

 

[AndyPRK]

condensation can form in these pipes, if one end is in a hot place and other cold.

Maybe the ends need sealing to prevent this ?

 

[Fuzzy-Duck]

Thank you both for you swift replies. Do you recognise 'these pipes' then? I've grubbed about under a fair few floorboards but the nearest thing I've seen is flexible conduit... this is much beefier.

Anyway, I shall break out my posh Wera set and get some photos of the inside. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

 

[Fuzzy-Duck]

Any clue as to where the other end of the pipe comes out?

The CU is on the garage wall nearest the house. The pipe must continue away from the house, it probably stays in the garage as the ground outside falls away and exposes the garage wall brickwork externally below the DPC. I had the ground at the far end of the garage dug out a few years ago for a lean-to greenhouse and there's no sign of any exit point on the external wall there, which is exposed for 4-5 courses below the DPC It really is a mystery to me!

 

[Fuzzy-Duck]

Right, things make a bit more sense now, I was probably panicking because of the unfamiliar piping and the water leak...

The "pipe" terminates at the base of the CU just like a normal conduit would and out pops a single T&E. This attaches to a single 10A MCB which is faintly hand-labelled "Power scribble scribble socket". All other sockets and lighting in the garage are accounted for as all other cables except this one go upwards and then travel round in plain sight pinned to the wall plate.

The garage has been completely rebuilt at least once in its life so best guess is that this leads to a dead end socket that was - I've discovered two cases of choc blocks buried in plaster in the house so I see no reason the garage should be any different! Unfortunately...

 

[Adam_151]

Pic of the "Power scribble scribble socket" writing to see if anyone else can make it out?

Anyway, given that it doesn't appear to do anythings thats needed anymore, then with the power to the garage CU turned off (preferably in the house) then disconnect live and neutral from that cable and put in connector blocks and fold them up out the way of everything else.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Maybe turn that MCB off for a week or three before disconnecting it. It would be embarrassing if you found that something obscure, but vital ( the pump for the septic tank,for instance) hadn’t been working for some time.

I’ve seen it done!

 

[SUNRAY]

Maybe turn that MCB off for a week or three before disconnecting it. It would be embarrassing if you found that something obscure, but vital ( the pump for the septic tank,for instance) hadn’t been working for some time.

I’ve seen it done!

And I dare say been blamed. I now I have on at least 2 occassions, neither failure was attributable to me but the site visit had to be made to prove it. One was loss of power to a CCTV camera which was easy to demonstrate as I could clearly be seen entering the building and beside the image was a quarter of the screen in black.

 

[SimonH2]

Do you recognise 'these pipes' then? I've grubbed about under a fair few floorboards but the nearest thing I've seen is flexible conduit... this is much beefier.

There are different types of flexible conduit - designed for different environments/damage resistance needed.
They will naturally fill with water - as already pointed out, due to condensation if nothing else. What you let out would have been old stagnant condensation.

 

[Fuzzy-Duck]

Maybe turn that MCB off for a week or three before disconnecting it.

Good advice, duly followed. It's been a few week now and nothing has flooded (a sump pump was a thought as we have one in the house) or not worked when it should have done. So panic over, thank you for your prompt and sound advice and comments!

Pic of the "Power scribble scribble socket" writing to see if anyone else can make it out?

FWIW here's a pic of the neat but faded labelling. Number 9 is the offending MCB.

 

[delmel]

There are so many different flex conduits available or sold in the past. This was a product called Veriflex, used to be sold in 10mt pack with glands or 25 mt reels its not the strongest and generally not buried in concrete, was one of the cheapest types offering minimal protection and has probably crushed and split. I am not sure that particular one is still available but it was the cheap option instead of Kopex or Adaptaflex