Cable Tester

Cable Test Instruments: Fault Location, Diagnostics and Identification

Twenty-five instruments for power cable work — locating faults, testing cable insulation, identifying live cables and mapping the route underground. They cover both the diagnostic side (what is wrong with this cable) and the practical side (where exactly is it, and which cable is it).

What is in this section

• Fault location — the HF-CH-204 cable fault locator works in low-voltage pulse, pulse current and multiple pulse modes with 70 dB of gain, a 30 V low-voltage pulse, pulse width from 40 ns to 20.5 μs and 400 MHz real-time sampling at 0.1 m resolution, with a measurement error of ±(0.5 % × L + 1 m) for lengths of 20 m and above. The HF-CH-205 pinpointer, the HF-CH-208 cable sheath fault locator and the HF-CH-212 cable fault burn down system complete the fault location chain.
• Diagnostics — the HF-CH-202 OWTS oscillating wave test system for cables rated up to 35 kV and 400 mm² applies AC 55 kV in a damped oscillating wave from 30 to 300 Hz, measuring partial discharge from 10 pC to 20 nC and locating it to within 1 %. The HF-CH-203 cable damped oscillating wave test system works over 200 m to 20 km with a laser-triggered high voltage switch (1 μs conduction time, on-state resistance below 1 Ω) and measures partial discharge from 1 pC to 100 nC. Also the HF-CH-209 high voltage cable tan delta tester, the HF-CH-213 impedance spectrum analyzer and the HF-CH-210 transmission line parameter tester.
• Identification and route tracing — the HF-CH-201 power cable identifier, the live cable identification tester, the HF-CH-207 and HF-CH-223 utility locators, and the HF-CH-211 wireless high voltage phase detector.
• Test power and accessories — high voltage surge generators, signal generators, the HF-CH-217 power supply for cable testing, the HF-CH-219 cable spiking tool, the HF-CH-214 fault simulation system, the HF-CH-220 voltage detector, the HF-CH-221 phase sequence tester and mining cable instruments.

How to choose cable test equipment

Start with the cable: voltage class, length and whether it must be tested while energised. A cable over a few hundred metres needs a time-domain reflectometer with real-time sampling and a proper gain range; a diagnosis of insulation condition needs an oscillating wave or tan delta method rather than a simple insulation test. Then decide whether you need identification as well as fault location — on ducted networks that is often the harder half of the job.

Every instrument in this section is sourced from qualified partner factories in China, verified and tested against its datasheet before shipment and delivered with its test documentation. Houfeng is a trading company and supplier, not a manufacturer.