Homebrew underground wire break locator.

Bob F · 2007-11-06T01:56:58+00:00

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.Bob

Nov 06, 2007 23 Replies

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Bob F 18 years ago

Hey! This is getting fun.

Thanks for the references. It looks like I might need to throw together a pulse generator for very short pulses.

Bob

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Bob F 18 years ago

Another great resource. Thanks!

Bob

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Bob M. 18 years ago

Not exactly homebrew, but a "time domain reflectometer" will do the job. It's a piece of highly specialized equipment.

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Bob F 18 years ago

Thanks everyone for all the ideas. I did some experimentation today with my signal generator and an AM radio. I'm hopeful this will work, and hopefully will get over to try it for real this weekend.

Bob

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