10 meter power cable with broken earth strand.

Utterly amazing how many post on a DIY group who have obviously never done any DIY. ;-)

Very odd how I've managed it, then. ;-) Unlike many on here I answer based on experience.

I think 2 inches is the limit, but can concur I've been able to do the same, or at least from the 'give' in the conductor managed to conclude which end of the cable the break is.

I did manage to keep a straight face when I saw 15m of speaker wire wrapped around a gas CH boiler.

Customer claimed that having exactly the same length of cable to both speakers gave a better sound.

If you want the volt stick to detect a broken earth, then for the purposes of testing, you will need to make the earth wire live in the flex (obviously isolated from anything else!)

"The internal wiring of the PowerBlock has also been upgraded. PowerBlocks now feature an innovative power distribution arrangement, providing an even supply of power to all outlets.

This is accomplished with a new, custom-designed internal distribution circuit board. Wiring to the individual sockets is with Kimber?s high capacity TCX internal wire, using twin runs of wire per double socket, and twin runs are also used to the internal distribution board and outlets.

Higher performance TCX earth wire is also used than in the older PowerBlocks, and in total over 6m of TCX wire is used per PowerBlock. TCX is a heavy gauge copper cable, of the same quality as the individual wires woven together in our Evolution PowerKords?, but capable of handling higher currents."

Mmmm. 8 socket outlets providing 'high power' but all fed from a single plug with a 13 amp fuse :-)

I've had conductor failures in power cords near the strain relief fixings perhaps ten times in sixty years. Not necessarily earths, not necessarily extension leads. Electric irons seem particularly prone. I've had a couple in vacuum cleaners and in mains power tools. I'm not sure if I have ever had an earth conductor fail, in many cases they are sensibly arranged with more slack. Nevertheless, I feel my experience is directly relevent to the OP with an earth conductor failure in an extension lead; If you want to argue otherwise, fine.

Read the reviews.

I thought my music system was about as good as it could get but I was wrong. Very wrong!! I have a top of the range 4 1Linn system powered by a balanced ring main and silver signature superkords all connected by Kimber select 1036 interconnects with all the filters and other enhancements that Russ Andrews sell. It was with surprise and delight when I connected my new Signature Powerblock with double silver internal wiring upgrade. From the very first note the improvement in quality was so obvious. My wife Donna (who loves music but has no interest in the equipment)thought I was mad until she heard it. This fabulous piece of kit also enhanced the picture from my Epson 4K laser projector. Just like the music the picture was more dynamic with darker blacks and brighter colours and sharper clearer images) deeper crisper bass, clearer vocals and instruments with soaring clear highs with less distortion, bouncing rhythm and realistic wide soundstage

I hope this was a spoof or fraudulent review; if someone really believes this bolleaux there is no hope for humanity. On reflection, considering the QAnon and other numpties out there, those of us who have more than one brain cell owe it to the world to start breeding like rabbits in order to prevent the gene pool from further decline. I propose that intelligent middle-aged men should be required to breed with as many attractive and intelligent young women as possible to achieve this noble end.

You have to have a grudging admiration for Russ for realising that there really are fools ready to throw money at this sort of thing.

Tim

Do the women need to be intelligent? Two arms two legs and one vagina is more than enough. Missing arms and legs would not put me off.

And what is young these days? Lou is in her 30's.

and one'hifi' magazine thought that a gold plated mains plug enhanced the stereo separation on his FM tuner .

Those simple component testers you can buy on eBay would guide you.

I've just tried it out with a number of IEC mains extensions in series - simulating the break by not plugging in one of the joints fully.

I'm seeing just over 100pF per metre, earth to either neutral or line, so you should get a pretty good idea of where the break is - particularly if you do the test at both ends of your cable. Once you've narrowed it down, curving and manipulating the section of cable indicated might reveal exactly where the break is.

Non-destructive, too.

PA

And that power input connector (IEC C14) will presumably be rated at only 10 amps.

Looked like a 16A C19/C20 connector to me, presumably all audiophiles have a commando outlet on a dedicated radial for their hifi?

Yes - you're right. C19/C20.

It will pull out. Also, if you apply a bit of pull and also wiggle the cable will ease out even if the break is a foot or so from the end. I've done this many times.

Bill

The insulation has little strength compared to the conductor. It will snap when you pull. It's easy with cables that have fine dust (talc etc) inside them to assist flexibility, which most have.

Bill