My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Your comments would be very useful before the diggers move in.

Thanks
Richard

Richard Ford wrote:
My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

How about his next but two neighbour? The three phase mains is usually
divided up as it goes along resulting in every third house being on the same
phase (I believe). If they've got no power then the problem is "upstream"
of your son's house.


It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Sorry, no idea. Good luck!

Tim

On 23/11/2012 15:21, Tim+ wrote:
Richard Ford wrote:
My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

How about his next but two neighbour? The three phase mains is usually
divided up as it goes along resulting in every third house being on the
same phase (I believe). If they've got no power then the problem is
"upstream" of your son's house.


It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Sorry, no idea. Good luck!

Tim


If they are certain it is the cable surely it will be easier just to lay
a new line. They can surely do that using mole, no need to dig a trench
at all. That was what they did to lay me a new gas main.

On 23/11/12 15:06, Richard Ford wrote:
My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Your comments would be very useful before the diggers move in.

Thanks
Richard

yes.

A reflectometer will tell them where the fault is to a meter or so.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

"Richard Ford" wrote in message
...

My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Your comments would be very useful before the diggers move in.

Thanks
Richard


If the cable has failed it is unlikely to be spontaneous but caused by some
external influence like subsidence due to traffic or whatever. Personally
even if located by TDR I'd be unhappy just having it jointed at the fault as
it will fail elsewhere. However the most likely point of failure is where
your branch cable leaves the main cable in the road.

AWEM

On Nov 23, 3:06*pm, Richard Ford wrote:
My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Your comments would be very useful before the diggers move in.

Thanks
Richard

They have supplied a generator to tide him over, so I guess it will
take some time to repair.

On Nov 23, 3:06*pm, Richard Ford wrote:
My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Your comments would be very useful before the diggers move in.

Thanks
Richard

Yes. There is a gadget sends a pulse down the cable, it is reflected
back when it gets to the end of the cable. It determines how far away
the break is by this means,
It will likely be in a joint box somewhere.

They will have a "cat and genny" To follow the route of the cable on
the surface.

On 23/11/12 16:39, Richard Ford wrote:
On Nov 23, 3:06 pm, Richard Ford wrote:
My son has a fault on the underground cable coming into his house and
has no power at all.

The engineer sent out to trace the fault says that there is power at
the sub-station and his neighbours have power.

It looks as though they will have to dig up the road and driveway to
repair the fault.

Is there a way of measuring from the house fuse to determine how far
along the cable the fault is, so that they do not have to dig up all
100m of driveway. Not by my son obviously.

Your comments would be very useful before the diggers move in.

Thanks
Richard

They have supplied a generator to tide him over, so I guess it will
take some time to repair.

took two weeks to dig up and fix the 11KV here when the tractor and
trucks rammed a stone through the underground

If its justs a single 250V link its probably a bit quicker.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.