Detecting faults in long runs of underground cable 1

[Sn00ze]

In a windfarm scenario, where each collector run is (sometimes) up to 10kMs. Does anyone have any experience with setting up fault detecting check points throughout these that does not involve splicing the run's midway and setting up fault detecting equipment? or perhaps somethign that would reduce the distance of these.

 

[davidbeach]

Faulted circuit indicators that go around the cable. I know SEL makes some, there are others as well.

 

[Supertester]

A TDR with surge pulse can find the fault for you. Or a cable fault Bridge, assuming you have a good phase still.

 

[Sn00ze]

Thank you, those are good ideas. i'll look into them. Any examples of project's you've seen them being used?

 

[Skogsgurra]

One example is locating bad splices in signalling cables. It works just as well on power cables, the wave speed is similar (around 2/3 of speed of light in vacuum). Pictures below from impromptu set-up with a Tek THS scope and pulses injected from a simple battery driven CMOS square pulse generator with settable Z_out.

We tried a commercial TDR, but mains noise made measurements difficult. With scope and pulse generator battery-driven, we laughed at the noise and got very good readings.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[Skogsgurra]

This was on ED Ideas for design around twenty years ago. The links are dead now, but the text can still be read in this link:

https://www.electronicdesign.com/displays/build-your-own-cable-radar

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.