On Feb 25, 4:54*am, mm wrote:
How do I find a broken wire?

I have a 100 foot orange extension cord that doesn't work.

Usually when I cut one in half with a hedge trimmer, it's fairly easy
to find the defect. *And then I fix it.

Other times I use pins to check continuity near the plug or socket,
where cords usually break.

But this time the problem is somewhere in the middle! *If I worked for
the electric compnay, or the cable company, or even probably the gas
company, I'd have some clever tool that find open circuits in the
middle of wires, even underground. *

Is there something I have around the house or can buy cheaply that
will do this?

I found for only 45 dollars an Armada Tone Probe, that works with a
tone gneerator, but I guess I want some method that is cheaper!

I measure the capacitance of the cable using the C function of my VOM.
Measure from each end. Add these two together to get the total
capacitance of the cable. Smallest cap value will indicate the short
side largest the longest. percent of total capacitance will correspond
directly to to percent of total length of the cable.

Now you know everything you need to know to locate the break. Breaks
immediately at either end (the usual case) will be very obvious.

Jimmie