Cable Fault Location Measuring Methods
Cable Tracing
A successful cable fault location relies on knowing the position of the cable and other lines laid in the soil. Magnetic frequency procedures can be used to establish the position and depth of the cable using the minimum or maximum method. The exact position of a joint can be established using the Twist Field Method.
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Cable Tracing Diagrams (click image to enlarge)
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Cable Sheath Fault Location
The cable sheath is usually insulated with PVC or PE synthetic, in order to prevent ingress into the insulation. To detect faults at the earliest possible stage, DC sources are used to test sheath insulation and DC impulse signals for locating sheath faults.
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Cable Sheath Fault Location Diagram (click image to enlarge)
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Cable Identification
Reliable readout is a safety-specific activity prior to cutting a cable. The computer-supported APT (Amplitude – Phase – Time) procedure developed by BAUR is the most reliable method of reading out one core the other.
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Cable Identification Diagram (click image to enlarge)
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Twist Field Location
The Twist Field Location Method patented by BAUR is successfully employed in signal and multi-core cable installations. If conventional location of saturated short circuits fails in locating sleeves, the magne¬tic frequency twist field location method provides a simple solution.
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Twist Method Diagram (click image to enlarge)
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Voltage Drop Method
Voltmetric methods are used to locate the sheath fault and establish faults on illumination cables or low-voltage cable installations from the voltage drop.
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Acoustic Fault Location
The acoustic method is applied for precise pin-pointing of the cable fault. The filter that can be selected in the receiver and the propagation time measurement supports the user in field applications and permits a reliable, precise location of the fault even in difficult soil conditions.
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Acoustic Fault Location Diagram (click image to enlarge)
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Decay Method and Differential Decay Method
The Decay Methods are used to locate cable faults with high break down voltage > 32 kV. A VLF or DC high-voltage source ignites the high-resistance fault and the transient wave recorded in the echometer is used to measure the fault distance.
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Decay Method Diagram and Example (click image to enlarge)
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Surge Current Differential Method DICM
The simultaneous measurement of two cable cores using the differential method enables the fault distance to be determined, even with cable faults that are difficult to locate. This measuring method is applied particularly for long cables, e.g. >10 km, in the T-branch network and overhead transmission line faults.
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Surge Current Differential Method Diagram
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Impulse Current Method ICM
ICM is the conventional location method for high-resistance cable faults, especially on long cables.
A surge voltage generator up to 32 kV is coupled to an echometer via a current converter. The breakdown in the fault generates a current impulse, which is recorded by the echometer.
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Impulse Current Method Diagram (click image to enlarge)
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Secondary Impulse Method SIM, Multiple Impuls Method MIM
The SIM/MIM is the latest and most efficient measuring method for pre-locating cable faults. The particular benefits of this method is the simple handling, universal application and extremely simple interpretation of the echograms.
High-resistance faults are ignited by a surge voltage impulse, the fault distance is measured repeatedly by the IRG Echometer within a single discharge, automatically stored and displayed on the screen. The fault distance evaluation runs fully-automatically.
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Fault Burn Down Technology
High-resistance cable faults are treated using powerful high-voltage burner units. The emerging fault is low-resistance and can therefore easily be measured using the TDR method. This application is employed for conventional PILC (paper insulated lead covered) cables.
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Time Domain Reflection Method TDR
The TDR method is the most established and widely used measuring method for establishing the total length of a cable and the distance of cable faults and interruptions.
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Time Domain Reflection Method Diagram (click image to enlarge)
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