Cable Fault Locator

LAN Network and telephone line service technicians and contractors use cable fault locators every day.  These testers find faults such as opens, shorts, damage to insulation, water ingress, etc.  Such meters can be used to test cables in buildings and underground.

You can find meters with two different technologies: capacitance and time domain reflectometer (TDR).  Both will do the job but TDRs are much more accurate.

TDRs are divided into digital and graphical.  Digital TDRs come with a simple LCD display showing the type of fault and distance to it in a numerical format, and works only with shorts and opens.  Here are some examples of good quality instruments in that grouping: SS200, CT50, TSS200.

Graphical TDRs find all faults and show their signatures, as well as distance to them on a screen.  Opens are represented as a peak, and shorts are shown as valleys.  Each manufacturer supplies those signatures in the instrument’s manual.  Here are examples of not overly expensive graphical TDRs: Pro400, CA7027, TX2002.

Valuetesters.com is an authorized distributor of many quality brands, including AEMC, Armada, Greenlee, Platinum Tools and T3 Innovation.

Our support personnel can help you select the proper tester for your job, so please call us at 602-795-8292, chat with us online, or send us an email to [email protected].