Cable and Cable Fault Locating - Part 1

This is the first in a four part series on cable and fault locating technologies that are in common
use today. This months installment is on cable locating. The next three articles will be on three
methods of fault locating; the 'A-Frame' method, Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and high-
voltage 'thumpers'. Over these four articles, we will cover the theory and use of this equipment,
which type works best on different types of faults, and properties to look for in equipment used
for these situations.

When people talk about locating, often it is thought of as being related to metal detectors. It is
an understatement to say locating is poorly understood. Also poorly understood is why
sometimes the equipment works well and other times they don't. Occasionally signals go
nowhere, other times everywhere, and that is just as dangerous. Sometimes the most shallow
utility looks like the right one to mark and the desired line is left unmarked. In the past, training
of locate staff was largely ignored. As it was seen to be unimportant work, the new person on
the crew was given the task of locating, often with only minutes of training consisting of
identifying the leads and the controls. Light, gas, water, power and communications are the
lifeblood of the community and buried pipes and cables are the arteries that supply these
necessities for life to the community, business, and industry. No one can afford the cost of utility
failure or the danger a poor locate can pose.

There is good news, we all know how to make a light bulb work and locating works on a very
similar principle. We build a simple, complete circuit. The flow of current creates a
electromagnetic (EM) field. The flow of an alternating current (AC) makes an alternating
magnetic field that can be detected with what is basically a radio receiver. If we tune that
receiver to the frequency of the AC signal, we will get a response that increases in strength the
closer we get to the field. By finding the peak signal, we can find the position of the cable or
pipe. It is important to remember that in fact, we are locating EM fields, not cables.

If we look at the end view of a buried cable with a locate signal applied
to it, in a non-congested area, we would see an EM field
emanating around it in a circular shape. The field is
strongest where it is closest to the cable.
Above ground, the strongest field is directly
above the cable. The strength of the EM field is
directly proportional to the amount of current
creating the field. To achieve increased accuracy
and distance, we want to maximize the current on the
cable, not the power we are transmitting. (Power, as
we know, is voltage times current.) More voltage drives
more current through a constant resistance, but reducing
the resistance will also give us more current.

There are two main ways of getting our signal onto cables, either a direct connection with
alligator clips or inductively with a coupler or clamp. Like any electric circuit, we need a
complete path. When connecting with clips, the flow of current is out one of the clips, down the
cable and back through the conductivity of the earth through the ground stake to the return lead.

1
Keeping the ground stake away from the cable being located will increase distance as we
increase the resistance between the cable and the transmitter while close to the transmitter. This
results in more current available to travel further down the desired target. Also, keeping the
ground stake away from other utilities reduces the signal returning on them for the same reason.

Although the insulation on power cables is very good at the low frequency of electricity (50/60
Hz.) the higher frequencies of the AC locate signals (512 Hz - 400 kHz.) 'leak' through the
insulation due to the capacitive coupling to the earth. A higher frequency will result in higher
leakage current off of the cable.

The clip to the cable or sheath is a low resistance metal to metal connection. The return lead
connection is metal to dirt and usually the cause of a poor signal launch. Improving it will result
in more current and a better locate. If the target cable is grounded at the far end, that also
improves the current flow and gives us a strong signal right to the end. For ungrounded cables,
we rely on the leakage current to create enough draw to locate. Unfortunately, this current and
hence the signal decreases the closer we get to the open end.

With clips it is easy to understand the electrons coming out of the batteries getting pushed down
the cable. Think of the inductive clamp as a current pump, it pushes existing electrons along a
cable, but it needs a source and a destination for these electrons. For this
reason, any cable that we wish to use a clamp to locate must have a
ground behind and in front of the clamp. There is still a complete circuit,
along the cable, into the earth in front of the clamp, through the
earth, and back on to the cable behind the clamp. It is
still an AC signal so there is no direction
to the current flow. Hard grounds will
provide more current flow but sufficient signal
is possible with just the capacitive losses, especially
with longer runs of cable or higher frequencies. On a
concentric type cable, the neutral conductor is usually grounded at both ends and this is what
actually carries the locate signal. Make sure you clamp around the entire cable, not just the hot
conductor.

The least preferred method of signal application is the inductive operation also known as
spillage. Many transmitters have an internal antenna which is active when there are no clips or
clamp plugged into the operating transmitter. This is to be avoided for two main reasons: a) we
have no control over where the signal flows and it can light up the wrong or multiple utilities;
and b) it results in a weaker signal, usually by an order of magnitude or more.

The EM fields we are locating sometimes go places the cable or pipe doesn't. Magnets pull and
push each other and so do electromagnetic fields. A pipe may go straight but under certain
circumstances, the field can get pushed to one side or the other and the paint gets put down in the
wrong place, leading to utility damage when the excavation starts. There are several key ways
we can reduce this field distortion and work around it.

Connection Method - As previously discussed, use clips and clamp as first choice.

2
Grounding has two considerations, the transmitter return lead ground and providing a good
ground for the locate signal at the far end. Use larger rather than smaller ground stakes at the
transmitter. Add water to improve soil conductivity, use other existing but isolated structures for
a ground, such as a stop sign (but not a streetlight). Current will be substantially reduced when
locating into an ungrounded circuit so clamping around the hot conductors does not work as well
as around a ground or neutral.

Peak or Null Response. Some locators give a maximum or 'peak' signal as the receiver goes over
the cable. Another response becomes quiet over the conductor. This is what we call a 'null'
response. Any distortion in the shape of the EM field will affect a null response more than it
would a peak. Null can be described as finding the center of the field. If we have a distorted or
egg shaped field due to the field pushing away from an adjacent utility, the locator will indicate
an erroneous conductor path.

Congestion - Other utilities create other paths for current to travel. Current always takes the path
of least resistance. If it has the choice of travelling 2000 feet through earth or travel 100 feet
over to an adjacent copper wire and 1900 feet down the copper, it is obvious why we can get
signal on the wrong utility. We can't reduce congestion but the frequency choices and ground
stake positions can reduce the conflicting signals.

Frequency, the higher the frequency, the more it induces on and off of cables and the more it
capacitively bleeds on and off of cables. For these reasons, the distance that we can locate
decreases and there is a higher chance of it coupling onto unwanted conductors, both of which
can add to the time we spend locating while we figure it out. Lower frequencies are more widely
used as they are more reliable.

Automatic Gain Control or AGC in an uncongested area can be a nice feature, but in more
difficult locate situations, the locate device can see weak return currents, increase its gain
automatically and lead the operator down an incorrect path. For this reason, locators should have
the ability for the operator to control the gain / sensitivity. With more and more utilities going
underground, many more areas qualify as congested than ever before.

Current Measurement is another useful ability. Our locate signal decreases with the square of the
depth of the conductor. That is to say, if we have 10 mA of locate signal on our target conductor
which happens to be at 3', only 1.25 mA of current returning on a shallow (1') cable will show as
being equally strong. Above ground, there is no way to tell these signals apart. With the
advanced processing power in modern equipment we can determine how much current is on each
conductor. We can also be more sure that the one with more current is our target even though it
sounds 'weaker' than other conductors.

Some locators will indicate the direction of the current flow on the underground cable being
traced. This becomes valuable in congested areas where signal is coming back to the transmitter
ground down other, undesired conductors. With Current Direction, any signal flowing away
from the transmitter is one we are connected to. Current flow towards the transmitter is
returning down non-target pipes and cables and these can be safely ignored.

3
Training, Training and more Training. Choose a vendor and a manufacturer that will support the
users of the equipment with training in the theory of locating and in the operation of the
particular equipment. Any equipment is worthless and even dangerous if the operator does not
completely understand the task being accomplished with it.

Next month we will be covering cable earth fault locating using a transmitter, receiver and 'A-
frame' system.

If anyone has cable or cable fault locating questions, please e-mail them to me at the address
below and I will answer them. I will also try and use them in future articles as a case study.

Gord Parker, C.E.T. is employed by Radiodetection as the western Canada Applications Specialist. Radiodetection
and divisions Pearpoint, TeleSpec, RiserBond, BicoTest, Dielectric, and Amprobe manufacture pipe and cable
locators, cable fault locating instruments, cable test and pressurization products, specialty Cathodic Protection
troubleshooting equipment and video camera inspection systems. He can be contacted at 403-281-1808 or
gord.parker@radiodetection.spx.com

4
 Cable and Cable Fault Locating - Part 2

This is the second of a four part series on cable and fault locating technologies that are in
common use today. This month’s installment is on the 'A-Frame' method of cable fault location.
Future issues will cover Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and high-voltage 'thumpers'. (Part I
was on basic cable locating).

Buried cables do occasionally fail, for a variety of reasons and in many different ways.
Lightening strikes, overloads or surges, installation problems, shovel and rodent damage are
some of the common causes of damage that can lead to cable failure. Any discontinuity in the
cable jacket which allows moisture in over time corrodes the conductors. Cables fail either open
circuit, short circuit or somewhere in between, to earth and/or to another conductor in the cable.

The type of fault should be determined as different faults require different approaches. A
persistent fault to earth (a ground fault) is usually most accurately and most easily found with an
A-frame. Open and short circuits are best found with a TDR, and a 'flashing' fault that only
happens at high voltages usually requires a high voltage surge generator or 'thumper'. Most
transmitters in a fault finding system will have some way to indicate if there is a path to ground
such as an ammeter or ohmmeter and some have both. If there is a path to earth, the a-frame is
still one of the most popular and most recommended methods when the conductor is not
enclosed in duct.

We can build on the methods of basic locating to detect persistent earth faults. We showed that
cable locating is achieved by creating an alternating current (AC) on a cable and tracing the
resulting AC electromagnetic (EM) field with a tuned receiver. A-frame systems differ in that in
addition to the locate signal, we add a pulsed DC current (for ground fault locating) to the cable
under test (CUT). The use of
DC allows the detection of
current direction and will lead the
user towards a fault. Where there
is contact with the earth, this
current will flow out of the CUT
at the fault and back to the
ground stake of the transmitter.
The current will be concentrated
near the fault(s) and the ground
stake but from those points will
travel very wide and deep in
search of the path of least
resistance. Current through a resistance makes a voltage. The flow of the pulsed DC through the
impedance of the earth will create a slight DC voltage and that is how we find faults. The
addition of an A-frame to a locator basically turns the locator into a very sensitive voltmeter and
following the pulsing DC through the earth with the A-frame gives a direction to and magnitude
of the fault(s).

Because we are following the path of current through the earth, cables in duct cause us problems.
Even if we have fault find signal flow, it doesn't necessarily lead us to the fault. If the cable
problem happens to be at the point of duct damage, we may have sufficient current flow through
the earth from that location. Quite possible though is that there is moisture inside the duct and
we are getting some current flow through that path as well, limiting our signal that leads us to the
fault. If the cable problem is entirely within a good duct (such as happens when a jacket gets
skinned while pulling it into the duct) all of our current flow can be inside the duct until a path to
ground is reached, (such as at a defective duct joint) and we can't find the fault. At best we can
find where the moisture inside the duct is coming into contact with the earth such as at a bad
joint.

Proper set up and use of an A-frame system requires that we prevent the fault locate current from
getting to earth anywhere other than at the fault(s). This insures there is a maximum amount of
signal to follow and it will lead us to the right position. As such, all other paths to ground,
including neutrals and ground wires, have to be disconnected. This may require that power
cables be taken completely out of service before testing for faults.

Use of a good earth ground is even more important when fault finding than it is with regular
cable locating. An extra spool of ground wire with a large clip on the end is a valuable tool,
allowing the use of distant, independent ground stakes. Stop signs, insulated anchors and
existing but isolated ground stakes will often improve the performance of locate equipment.

The practical limits of fault detection are around 0.5-2 MΩ of DC resistance depending on
ground conditions. Since the A-frame is measuring voltage, it needs to have an electrical contact
with the earth under it. Concrete, asphalt, dry or sandy soil are all high resistance paths to
ground and can limit the voltage we can detect through the ground. Sometimes, wetting down the
ground and even the pavement in the path of the target conductor will assist fault detection.
Better yet, if there is access to unpaved ground running parallel to the target conductor, the A-
frame may be used even if it is several meters off to one side.

After we have determined it is an earth fault and there is sufficiently low resistance to detect its
position, we can start walking the path of the cable with the a-frame. There are two indications
on most a-frame systems; signal strength and fault direction. The signal strength is best shown
as a logarithmic value as there is a huge range
of signal that can be detected. Close to the
ground stake where there is a concentration of
current, the receiver should indicate a large
fault magnitude. It is a good idea to
remember this value as a ‘reference number’.
The value of the detected current (reference
number) should be indicated at the fault
location as well. Most manufacturers
recommend that the A-frame be placed in the
ground approximately the same distance away
from the ground stake (in the direction
opposite of the actual cable path) as the cable is deep, to get this initial fault magnitude
reference.

Between the fault and transmitter the magnitude will drop, often substantially, as the current has
spread out so far as thus become 'diluted'. The behavior of the arrows may also change. Near
the fault and the ground stake they will exhibit a good hard 'lock' on the fault direction but in the
middle of the cable span, the weaker signal can result in fluctuations or no direction indication.
The proper technique is to keep walking through the weak area and as we approach the fault, the
signal will increase and normal operation will resume.

A fault is detected when two things happen; the signal strength increases due to the increased
concentration of current as we approach the fault and the arrows suddenly reverse as we cross
over the fault. Turning the a-frame 90 degrees and crossing the cable path will add more
accuracy to the fault location. A final test of the fault location is to perform a 'pothole' or circle
of the fault. Leave the front leg of the a-frame in the ground, directly over where the fault is
believed to be and circle that point, placing the back leg in the ground in several points on the
circle. If all signal indications point towards the stationary leg, we have found the best location.
If the number in the receiver at this location does not reflect the reference number you saw back
at the transmitter’s ground stake, you have an indication there may be more faults on this cable
(or the cable depth is different than you expected).

If possible, excavate the fault, fix it or at least remove its contact with the earth and retest the
cable with the ohmmeter function. Removing all contact includes drying the outside of the cable
to prevent a current path through the moisture. If the cable now tests good, we can be confident
there are no other faults on the cable.

Unjacketed concentric neutrals can pose a problem as our fault location current sometimes finds
the neutral an easier path back to the area of the ground stake than the earth. This effect can be
minimized by placing the ground stake as far away from the cable as possible and using a very
good (low resistance) ground.

The A-frame is the most accurate but not necessarily the fastest tool to use as the operator has to
walk the length of the cable from the transmitter to the ground fault. Often an earth fault has let
in water and the conductors have also corroded open or short circuit. Using a Time Domain
Reflectometer to estimate the rough location of a fault prior to the A-frame to find the exact
point will often give the most efficient use of technicians' time.

Next month we will cover cable fault locating using a Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR).

If you have any cable or cable fault locating questions, please send your e-mail to me at the
address below and I will answer them. I will also try and use them in future articles as a case
study.

Gord Parker, C.E.T. is employed by Radiodetection as the western Canada Applications Specialist. Radiodetection
and divisions Pearpoint, TeleSpec, RiserBond, BicoTest, Dielectric, and Amprobe manufacture pipe and cable
locators, cable fault locating instruments, cable test and pressurization products, specialty Cathodic Protection
troubleshooting equipment and video camera inspection systems. He can be contacted at 403-281-1808 or
gord.parker@radiodetection.spx.com
 Cable and Cable Fault Locating - Part 3

This is the third of a four part series on cable and fault locating technologies that are in common
use today. This installment is on using Time Domain Reflectometers (TDRs).

TDRs have been used in the CATV and Telecommunications industries for many years and are
now growing in popularity for troubleshooting a wide variety of cable problems. They also have
several other uses that can benefit the operations of utility companies. Heat tracing cables can be
inspected with this method, theft of service can be detected, cable lengths can be determined for
inventory purposes. Even metal loss on exposed neutrals can be located!

A TDR is the most convenient tool to find short circuits between conductors and open circuits in
the tested cable where there is no associated path to ground that can be used for 'A-frame' type
ground fault locating. A TDR is usually more accurate for cables in duct where the path to
ground may not be at the point of the fault but rather at an unrelated duct damage (i.e. crack or
joint).

A basic TDR consists of a pulse generator circuit connected to a display similar to an

oscilloscope and both of these are connected to an external connection with test leads. Most
TDRs include circuitry to adjust the amplification of the outgoing and returning pulses, cursors
to measure pulse timing and width, internal batteries and other controls we will cover further on.

The theory of a TDR is that it transmits a pulse of energy that travels or propagates along a cable.
A portion of the energy will reflect back to the sending end whenever it passes a relative change
in the impedance of the cable. The time the reflections take to return is proportional to the
distance. If we know the approximate speed of the pulse in the cable and multiply it by the time
the reflection takes to return, the distance to the anomaly is easily calculated. Most TDR

instruments automatically do the math, displaying the distance in feet or meters.

The polarity of the reflection also tells you more about the fault. A reflected pulse that increases
in amplitude (as in the above example) tells the user it is an open circuit at the problem. If the
pulse comes back pointing downward, this indicates a lowering of impedance or short circuit.

The speed of the pulse in the cable is not at the speed of light as we might expect but typically
closer to half that value. This speed measurement is usually called either 'Velocity of
Propagation' (VOP) or 'Propagation Velocity Factor (PVF). There are different methods of
expressing the speed, the two most common are as a percentage of the speed of light, the other is
in meters per microsecond. The impedance of a cable limits the speed or velocity of the pulse so
we need to review this topic. Cable impedance is different from resistance; it includes the sum
of all of the reactive resistance we encounter in a cable. The source of this reactance is from four
sources:

- the DC resistance of the wire

- the resistance between the conductors through the insulation
- the capacitance created by the insulated conductors
- the inductance of the cable.

The single biggest factor affecting the impedance, and hence speed, is insulation material. For
example, signals in coaxial cable propagate at close to 85% of the speed of light, polyethylene
(PE) results in a speed of around 65%, and cross-linked PE (XLPE) is a little slower yet at
around 54%.

A TDR does require that there are at least two individual conductors in the cable under test,
insulated from each other. Multiple single conductors, not in a common jacket often can’t be
tested as there is too many impedance changes due to changes in the spacing. This may be
overcome by capturing a copy of the traces when the system is new and comparing it to future
results after the cable has failed.

TDRs do have a couple of limitations. The impedance of the fault must be quite different from
the normal impedance. Series faults have to be close to an open circuit, a corroded or 'green'
high-resistance area is often missed. Similarly, a fault to earth or another conductor must be
below approximately 300 ohms. Another is that the accuracy of the distance is very dependent
on the accuracy of the VOP selected. 1% inaccuracy means potentially digging a 5' hole to find
the fault if we are 500' away from the test point. Still another consideration is that a TDR gives a
distance to the fault but it does not locate the cable. For this reason, TDRs may be used in
conjunction with a cable locator and a measuring wheel to find the true path of the cable. Any
cable in slack loops and pole bases, including the 1 meter of depth, must also be accounted for.
Finally, the fault must be 'persistent', that is the fault must be there at low voltages. Arcing faults
that short only when high voltage is applied require the use of a high voltage surge generator also
known as a 'thumper'. Some modern thumpers have the equivalent of a TDR built into them to
reduce the number of surges required and thus reduce the electrical over-voltage stress on the
cables. Their use are covered next month.

Advanced control of a TDR usually includes several functions.

Pulse Width is usually adjustable for a couple of reasons. A wider pulse will have more energy
and be able to test longer distances and show up smaller faults. The trade-off is that faults can be
difficult to detect if they are close to the normally occurring reflection caused by the test lead to
cable connection or close behind another fault. Narrow pulses give more useable resolution but
no more accuracy. An additional but less known use of this is that a narrower pulse has a higher
fundamental frequency. A cable that may pass a test with a wider pulse may have problems that
show up when a narrower pulse is used. These problems may affect the performance of upper
channel signal strength on CATV applications but be completely invisible at power frequencies.
Another advanced control is amplification. Control over the vertical amplification of the
displayed trace allows smaller faults with weak reflections to still be detected. Faults can be as
small as a pinch on coax and still show up.

A screen zoom function is desirable to allow more accurate placement of a cursor when
measuring distances. The resolution of the LCD screen will affect the accuracy of cursor
placement and the ability to zoom in to improve the resolution will give greater accuracy.

Two channels and/or memory settings give additional trouble-shooting ability. Due to their

design, or environment (temperature and moisture for example), some cables may show a 'noisy'
trace that is difficult to interpret. Comparing a trace on a bad phase to the equally difficult trace
on a phase known to be operational will often allow the fault to be detected. TDRs that can show
both traces at the same time or even better, mathematically subtracting one trace from the other,
make many faults show up very well.

Training. The best equipment manufactured can still not give the needed information if the
operators don't understand how to effectively use it. Make sure training and applications support
is available, included, and utilized when purchasing test equipment.

The uses of a TDR are just about limitless. Technicians and engineers in any industry using
cables can usually find ways of detecting and locating their problems. This includes fire
suppression and detection systems; aircraft, shipboard power and communications cables,
underground primary and secondary cable, street lighting, mine cables, heat tracing cable and
more.

A typical TDR application can be to locate an open circuit in a three conductor power cable in
duct. Because of the duct, there is no path to ground to use an a-frame. The graph below shows
two traces; one channel on the known good phase shows an open circuit at approximately 1200
meters, the other wire is open circuit at 629.6 meters thus easily showing the fault. Up to the
point of the fault the cable exhibit several reflections that when laid on top of one another are
easily diagnosed as being normal.

Next month we will be covering cable fault locating using a high voltage surge generator.

If anyone has cable or cable fault locating questions, please e-mail me at the address below and I
will send you a reply. With your permission, I would like to share some of these situations in
future articles.

Gord Parker, C.E.T. is employed by Radiodetection as the western Canada Applications Specialist. Radiodetection
and divisions Pearpoint, TeleSpec, RiserBond, BicoTest, Dielectric, and Amprobe manufacture pipe and cable
locators, cable fault locating instruments, cable test and pressurization products, specialty Cathodic Protection
troubleshooting equipment and video camera inspection systems. He can be contacted at 403-281-1808 or
gord.parker@radiodetection.spx.com
 High Voltage 'Non-Persistent' Fault Finding

Cable and Cable Fault Locating - Part 4

This is the last of a four part series on cable and fault locating technologies that are in common
use today. This installment addresses using high voltage surge generators also known as
'Thumpers'. The previous articles have centered on what are basically low voltage test methods,
cable locators, a-frames, and TDRs are all limited to between 5 and 50 volts. This means the
faults must be 'persistent' or always in a faulted state. In the electrical industry, there are some
faults that just don't show up under these conditions.

We often need thousands or tens of thousands of volts to make the fault fail. This is where the
thumper comes in. It is a portable source of high voltage. Common models put out 32 kV or
more but equally important to this specification is the amount of power that is available. More
power will make a louder noise and make certain faults show up. The need to build up and store
this power means most thumpers put out a DC voltage.

Thumpers have been around for the better part of the 20th century but as with all technology,
features and methods have improved for greater accuracy, easier use and interpretation of results.
The original thumpers were just that, they repeatedly connected the high voltage to the cable
under test (CUT). Linemen would walk along the path of the cable listening for the 'whumph'
(or sometimes a 'dtik' or a 'plunk') under ground. Different ground conditions, vehicle traffic
patterns and fault types can make these sounds hard to discern.

Faults aren't always the same, sometimes they happen with relatively little voltage, perhaps only
500v if the splice was wet. But when the water vaporizes because of the resulting arc, it now
may take 10 kV for that same breakdown to fail. To find the fault the voltage usually gets turned
up and up until the fault appears

Repeated thumping can have some unfortunate side effects to the CUT. Faults that require a
higher voltage to break down often subject the cable to voltages above the design voltage. While
the existing fault was located, other areas of the cable may have been weakened. Statistically,
thumped cables fail sooner. For this reason, thumping should be a last resort. Another
consideration of thumpers is that they are potentially very dangerous if used by unqualified
personnel. The entire CUT must be isolated and protected from contact with apparatus and
personnel.

Advancements in thumper systems started with better listening devices. Mechanical methods
like a stethoscope were the first techniques. Antennas and meters were added as the flow of
current makes an electro-magnetic (EM) field. In theory, most of the current is dissipated at the
fault and the current (and hence the EM field) is reduced past the fault. The effectiveness of this
technique is reduced when the fault is a short to another conductor in the same cable. The
current returns on the other conductor in the same magnitude and opposite direction and the EM
fields effectively cancel one another. Listening is still a good choice and all modern products
employ a mechanical microphone or geophone that is placed directly on the ground over the
cable. The amplifier and headphones connected to the microphone minimize the external noise
and make the thump easier to hear.
Safety systems were quickly integrated into thumpers. Self-discharge systems, grounding,
manual discharge hot-sticks, key switch lock outs and other techniques are implemented to
minimize the chances of injury. Like most aspects of line work though, there are still many ways
to get hurt. Get full training and follow all of the manufacturers and your companies' guidelines.

The next advancement was a visual 'pre-locator', making the thumper more like a high voltage
TDR. The pre-locator will usually show the fault with an accuracy better than 10% - 15%. This
will cut the distance the lineman needs to walk by 80-90%, allowing more attention to be paid to
the suspected area and the faults to be more easily located.

Remember that the theory of a TDR is that it transmits a pulse of energy that travels or
propagates along a cable. A portion of the energy will reflect back to the sending end whenever
it passes a relative change in the impedance of the cable. The time the reflections take to return
is proportional to the distance. If we know the approximate speed of the pulse in the cable and
multiply it by the time the reflection takes to return, the distance to the anomaly is easily
calculated. Most TDR instruments automatically do the math, displaying the distance in feet or
meters.

With thumpers there is a

large difference, that
being the impedance
change causing the
reflection is the arc of
electricity. The arc
doesn't happen the instant
the pulse gets to the fault,
it requires the air between
the conductors to ionize
and become conductive
and this can add several
milliseconds onto the
time. As you can see in
the picture to the right,
there is a long dead space
between the left cursor on
the launch pulse and the
first reflection. The actual distance to the fault from the launch end is the distance between any
two of the large successive peaks. The peaks are the one pulse bouncing back and forth from
launch to fault and back.
The next advancement in thumper technique and technology is commonly called the Secondary
Impulse Method (SIM). This was developed primarily to make trace interpretation easier. With
the high voltage pulses, the dynamics of the pulse and cable create many reflections that are part
of the cable and the fault may be difficult to detect. Using a low voltage TDR and the thumper
together in an integrated system, a low voltage TDR pulse is taken of the cable and stored in a
display memory. Then the thumper is triggered to send a HV pulse and while the arc is burning,
the TDR sends the same low voltage pulse which is overlaid upon the first trace. The arc is a
very low impedance point that causes the TDR pulse to reflect as it would with a short circuit
(which it is). The picture below shows the two traces displayed on top of one another with the
dashed cursor at the launch point and the solid cursor on the short indication. Now the distance
to the fault is easily read off as 134 meters.

Earlier we talked about the voltage and power available for the test. The formula for power is P
= C * V2 (power in Joules, C = capacitance and V = voltage) and the metric units are Joules.
This shows using lower voltage will result in the power decreasing by the square, so less is
available to ionize the air and support the thump arc. Newer thumpers have variable capacitance
that can be increased at lower voltages to maintain the same available power. It is entirely
possible that a fault that isn't apparent at a particular voltage will be detectable at a lower voltage
when there is more stored charge to sustain the arc. This has the advantage of less voltage stress
on the CUT.

Since the thumper has all this voltage generation, control and safety interlocks, most can be used
as a high voltage proof-tester or Hi-Pot as well. The system can be connected to an installed
cable or one undergoing a proactive reliability test. The output is enabled and stepped up to a
voltage above the normal working voltage of the cable and held for a set amount of time.
Success of this test usually means it is fit for service.

Advanced controls include amplification. Control over the vertical amplification of the
displayed trace allows smaller faults with weak reflections to be detected.

A screen zoom function is desirable to allow more accurate placement of a cursor when
measuring distances. The resolution of the screen will affect the accuracy of cursor placement
and the ability to zoom in to improve the resolution will give greater accuracy.

Two channels and/or memory settings give additional trouble-shooting ability. Due to their
design, or environment (temperature and moisture for example), some cables may show a 'noisy'
trace that is difficult to interpret. Comparing a trace from a non-arcing pulse to an arcing pulse
will often allow the fault to be detected.

Training. The best equipment manufactured will not give the required information if the
operators don't understand how to effectively use it. Make sure training and applications support
is available, included, and utilized when purchasing test equipment.

I would be very remiss if I ended this series without thanking Nick Garrioch of Eecol Electric in
Winnipeg for his help. I get along much better with the laws of physics than the laws of English.
If anyone has cable or cable fault locating questions, please e-mail me at the address below and I
will send you a reply. With your permission, I would like to share some of these situations in
future articles.

Gord Parker, C.E.T. is employed by Radiodetection as the western Canada Applications Specialist. Radiodetection
and divisions Pearpoint, TeleSpec, RiserBond, BicoTest, Dielectric, and Amprobe manufacture pipe and cable
locators, cable fault locating instruments, cable test and pressurization products, specialty Cathodic Protection
troubleshooting equipment and video camera inspection systems. He can be contacted at 403-281-1808 or
gord.parker@radiodetection.spx.com