What is Underground Cable Fault Locator?

A million miles of cable were stretched across the air between countries until recently. It is now, however, put underground, which is a bigger area than the old method.

Because harsh weather conditions, such as pollution, severe rainfall, snow, and storms, have no effect on subsurface lines. However, when a problem occurs in a cable, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the specific position of the defect due to a lack of knowledge about the cable’s particular location.

An underground cable fault distance locator, which is used to locate the site of a problem in an underground cable, was developed to tackle this issue.

What is An Underground Cable Fault Locator and How Does It Work?

The basic assumption of the underground cable fault locator is to determine the distance in kilometers between the underground cable fault and the base station.

Cable failures are a common occurrence in many urban areas.

When a problem develops for any cause, fault tracking is extremely difficult without knowing the position of that specific wire. Therefore, the system is built to pinpoint the exact location of the cable problem.

The ability of a person to track down and locate a fault in an underground cable is mostly dictated by his or her expertise, knowledge, and experience.

Although tracing the connection can be tough, it is very likely to get even more complex when the more underground plant is installed. It’s also crucial to understand how the machinery works.

It employs the Ohms Law idea, in which a low voltage DC is given to the feeder end via a series resistor, and the current varies depending on the position of the defect in the cable.

If a short circuit occurs from line to ground, the voltage across the series resistor changes correspondingly, and the data is supplied to an analog to digital converter to produce precise data, which the pre-programmed 8051 microcontrollers show in kilometers.

It is built with a collection of resistors to represent the length of a cable in kilometers. And the fault creation is built with a set of switches at every known kilometer (KM) to cross-check the accuracy of the same. An LCD interfaced to the 8051 microcontrollers displays the fault occurring at a certain distance and phase.

An Example of Underground Fault Locator

An example of underground fault locators that we can take a look at is the Tempo Communications PE2003-G Pulser Ground Fault Locator. Tempo is one of the brands that produce locator instruments such as underground wire cable locators, underground fault locators, visual fault locators, and many more. And this one, they have an underground fault locator.

  • The instrument sends out a high-voltage signal into the earth at the faults to pinpoint the exact location of even the tiniest cracks in the insulation. The path to the voltage source is directed by a visible analog meter mounted on the A-frame.
  • Multiple defects on a single wire can be found, indicating that replacement is required rather than repair.
  • Heavy-duty alligator clips on extra-long test leads allow for usage on a variety of cable types.
  • A rechargeable transmitter, receiver, A-frame, ground stake, 120V charger, and a 12V DC (cigarette lighter) adaptor are included. Powered by a battery (one 12V and one 9V battery are included)