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HeyBub HeyBub is offline
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Default Homebrew underground wire break locator.

Bob F wrote:
My father has a underground wire to a panel in his garage from his
house. One lead of the 220V service has apparently "opened" somewhere
underground. It is probably about 100 feet long.

I'd love to trace the break so I can dig it up next time I visit. We
suspect that a splice was made in the wire someplace that may have
failed.
Can anyone offer any good ideas for a way to locate the break without
digging the whole thing up? Maybe something using a transister radio
as a locator and a relay buzzer or something as a signal source.


There are cheap voltage proximity detectors (I've got one about the size of
a pen); they cost about $10.

You can do a binary sort. Dig down to the cable at the 50' point. Any
voltage? If not, the break is between the 50' mark and the source. Move
toward the source to the 25' mark and dig down to the cable again.

Rinse. Lather. Repeat.