Armoured cable test

[tontonius]

Evening all. Could anybody help me on the subject of testing armoured mains cable. Are there any testers that do it? I've tried testing with neon pens and multi-meters. Appreciate any help

 

[londonboy]

Oh dear.

Testing it for what?

 

[oharaf]

You will need a tester or testers that carryout, Continuity, Isualtion Resistance, EFLI tests. What are you wanting to do exactly?


These testers are NOT cheap BTW

 

[electronicsuk]

I'm thinking that the OP may be referring to testing for presence of voltage without tempering with the cable, which will of course be difficult due to the screening provided by the armour.

 

[ericmark]

I seem to remember something like 25,000 volts are used to test insulation. It is referred to as pressure testing and it is a standard test done on supplies to road lights mainly after road works to see if workers have damaged the outer installation during the works.

However this is not a DIY test and if you want more information I would post on a professional forum.

I know someone you had this job in Birmingham area but never enquired to exactly what he used and what were pass and fail limits.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Don't Pat and Mick have those detectors to find buried pipes and cables?

Maybe that's what he means.

Pat & Mick still manage to dig through the cables though..

 

[julioarca]

Don't Pat and Mick have those detectors to find buried pipes and cables?

You mean a cat scan that will locate unbalanced live cable burried in the ground etc, use em all the time in streetlighting

 

[Guitarguy]

The insulation tester that i use has 500v or 1000v settings. The results must be above 100 meg ohms for plastic insulated (XLPE, PVC) cables and above 10 meg ohms for paper insulated cables. We use pressure testing on HV cables/joints. It is done at 18KV DC.