® TS 90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide PN 2448335 October 2005 Rev. 1 5/09 ©2005, 2009 Fluke Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in China. All product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
LIMITED WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY Each Fluke Networks product is warranted to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service. The warranty period for the mainframe is 18 months and begins on the date of purchase. Parts, accessories, product repairs and services are warranted for 90 days, unless otherwise stated. Ni-Cad, Ni-MH and Li-Ion batteries, cables or other peripherals are all considered parts or accessories.
Table of Contents Title Page Introduction ....................................................................1 Registration .....................................................................1 Contacting Fluke Networks ............................................1 Safety Information ..........................................................2 Design Features ...............................................................3 Physical Characteristics ...................................................
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide ii
TS®90 Cable Fault Finder Introduction The TS90 Cable Fault Finder is a portable handheld device used by installers, repair technicians and other authorized personnel for locating problems on installed cable pairs and for managing cable inventory. Registration Registering your product with Fluke Networks gives you access to valuable information on product updates, troubleshooting tips, and other support services. To register, fill out the online registration form on the Fluke Networks website at www.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Safety Information The following IEC symbols are used either on the tester or in the manual: W Warning: Risk of personal injury. See the manual for details. Caution: Risk of damage or destruction to equipment or software. See the manual for details. X Warning: Risk of electric shock. . Earth ground P Conformité Européenne. Conforms to relevant European Union directives. ) CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 60950-1-03 CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 1010.1-92 + CSA-C22.2 No. 1010.
Design Features Design Features Design features of the TS90 Cable Fault Finder include: • • • Easy to use • • • • Single button operation • • • Bright 0.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Physical Characteristics See Figure 1. cab01.eps Figure 1. Physical Characteristics A Power button, which turns the tester on and off. B Low battery LED. C Female BNC (British Naval Connector). D LCD display with units indication (feet).
Line Cords and Accessories E The battery compartment is on the back of the tester. The battery cover includes a label showing some common velocity of propagation (VOP) values. F The two smaller buttons are used to adjust the tester’s VOP up or down. See “Velocity of Propagation” on page 10. Line Cords and Accessories Use only line cords (test leads) approved by Fluke Networks. Other cords may cause incorrect measurements.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Always handle the clip leads and the cables by their insulation, NEVER directly by the conductive wire. Use only the insulated clips provided to connect to any wire or cable. WCaution Use only line cords approved by Fluke Networks. Other cords may cause incorrect measurements. Legal requirements may exist regarding permission to connect equipment to a Telecom network operated by a public network operator. Installing Batteries The tester uses 4 AA batteries (included).
Operation Turning on the Tester Turn the tester on by pressing the ON/STANDBY button. The tester performs a self test each time it is turned on. During the self test, the tester displays 8.8.8.8. Automatic Power-Down To save battery power, the tester automatically turns off after five minutes if it is not connected to anything, or one hour after you connect to a cable. Also, if the ON/STANDBY button is held down for more than 20 seconds, the tester turns off.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Table 1. Display and Beeper Indications Display1 Beeper Open cable2 LLLL Off Shorted cable LLLL Continuous On Cable is too long to measure –Err Staggered A dc load (light bulb, TV, etc.) is detected –Err Staggered 8888 Flashing Rapid Low battery, open cable L.LLL Off Failed self test 8888 Off Cable cannot be measured –Err Staggered Condition >15 Vac is detected 1. LLLL = the length to the fault. 2.
Operation To use the SmartTone System: 1 Connect the tester to a wire pair; then turn on the tester. 2 At the other end of the cable, use your tone probe to find the wire pair by probing for the pair with the loudest tone. 3 Short the wire pair together, then release the short. • • If you DO NOT hear a change in the tone, then you have not found the correct pair. If you DO hear a change, then you have POSITIVE CONFIRMATION that you have found the correct pair.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Velocity of Propagation (VOP) VOP is a cable specification indicating the speed at which a signal travels down the cable. A VOP of 66 means the signal travels at 66 % of the speed of light. The tester uses VOP to calculate cable length. See “Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) Technology” on page 19 for details. Here are some important points about VOP: • Different cables have different VOP settings.
Operation To determine the VOP of a known length of cable: 1 Connect a known length of cable to the tester. The cable must be 200 feet (60 meters) or longer (such as an unopened box of wire). 2 Turn the tester on while holding down the UP or DOWN button. In this mode, the display alternately shows the VOP setting (-VV-) and the calculated length (LLLL). 3 When the length setting is displayed, press the UP or DOWN button. This keeps the length value on the display for adjustment.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Applications See Figure 3. The tester locates opens, short circuits, and crosses in any two metallic conductors (twisted, untwisted, coax, copper, aluminum, and steel). It identifies conductors using the SmartTone feature and an inductive probe (not included) (see Figure 2). Tone can be sent between two technicians to ID multiple pairs. Because the tester beeps when it detects a short circuit, it also serves as a continuity tester.
Applications cab03.eps Figure 3.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Testing Wire in Conduit There are two methods for testing wire in conduit. You can test a wire pair or a single wire. Testing a Wire Pair in a Conduit To test a wire pair, connect the two test leads to the pair. If one wire separates from the other for 1 ft or more, the tester indicates an open at the separation. For example, if the wires separate after exiting the conduit, the tester indicates an open at the end of the conduit.
Applications At the job-site, you can determine if the cable remaining on your spool or in your box will be sufficient for the job at hand. This will save you an unnecessary trip to the warehouse for more cable, and help you avoid running out of cable in the middle of an installation. There are two points to remember when measuring the length of wire on a spool: • The wire length must be within the range of the tester (see Table 2).
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Table 2.
Applications Table 2.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Table 3.
Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) Technology In Case of Unstable or Unusual Readings Sometimes, devices connected to the cable you are testing can prevent the TS90 from making a valid reading. Such devices include telephones, fax machines, modems, speakers, transformers, light bulbs, televisions, and dc loads. The software makes the best decisions it can when faced with unusual conditions, but may not always be able to ignore connected devices.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide For example, if one or both wires of the pair are broken (open), or they are shorted to each other, or they become sufficiently separated from each other, their impedance will change. The tester looks for these changes in impedance. If the impedance change is large enough, (e.g., such as that caused by a break in one of the wires of the pair), the tester will detect the impedance change and will display the length of the wire up to the impedance change.
Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) Technology TDR technology examines this TDR waveform (see Figure 4), looking at the sizes of the flat sections and the bumps. The software decides which of the elements of the waveform is most representative of the common problems encountered in the wiring industries and reports the distance to that element.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide The actual formula used is as follows: Time in billionths of a second Length = ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 VOP × ----------------0.9835 The time is divided by two because the signal traveled the length of the cable twice. Once when it left the tester and went to the failure point, and again when it reflected back to the tester to be detected. The speed of light expressed in billionths of a second per foot is 0.
Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) Technology Depending on the cable construction (shielded, twisted, etc.), insulating material (foam, air, fiber, etc.), and conductors tested (wire-to-wire, wire-to-shield), coiling the cable on a spool or in a box may alter its VOP. Additionally, other conductors in close proximity to the conductors being tested can affect the VOP.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Frequently Asked Questions Q: How do I calibrate the tester or perform a self test? A: There are no adjustments inside the tester, and the internal coating protects the critical components from moisture and contaminants. There is nothing to calibrate. A self test is performed by the tester every time you turn it on. Since there is no loss of any settings when the tester is off, there is no penalty to just turning it off and on if you wish to perform a self test.
Frequently Asked Questions A: No. The accuracy of the reading is dependent on the setting of the VOP. While the nominal setting for general testing is -66-, the VOP for that kind of cable is -56-. To improve the accuracy of length measurements for that or any cable, change the VOP as shown in the instructions in the Velocity of Propagation section. Q: Why does the length reading sometimes change a small amount when I open and short the far end of a test cable? A: There are two causes.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Q: I accidentally cracked the plastic housing, does this affect the moisture protection of the components? A: Not at all. The component protection is provided by a coating on the components and Printed Circuit Board (PCB). However, if sufficient plastic is missing then a possible shock hazard exists. You should not use the tester until the plastic is repaired or replaced. Q: Can this tester measure the length of single conductor wires like THHN? A: No.
Frequently Asked Questions Q: When testing a set of wires that go into a conduit, I sometimes get a reading of 0 or 1. Why? A: If there is more than a foot or so of wires that are physically separated before they enter the close confinement of the conduit, this will look to the tester like an open at the start of the cable. Remember that the tester reports the FIRST failure that it finds. Try bringing the two wires of the pair closer together for the path from the tester to the entry to the conduit.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide If Something Seems Wrong with the Tester The display remains at 8.8.8.8. after power on. The self test has failed. The batteries may be weak or the tester has water inside. Try changing the batteries or drying the tester. The tester reads less than 10 feet regardless of the length of the cable. The connection to the cable is broken. Check your connection to the cable for dirt or insulation. Also, test the clip leads by shorting them and listening for the beeper.
Maintenance Maintenance WXWarning These servicing instructions are for use by qualified personnel only. To avoid electric shock, do not perform any servicing other than that contained in the operating instructions unless you are qualified to do so. Disconnect clips from any metallic connections before performing any maintenance. WCaution Do not use CRC Cable Clean® or any similar chlorinated solvent on the tester. Doing so will damage the tester.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Specifications Power 4 AA alkaline batteries, provide 50 hours of operation Reverse Battery Protection No damage to the tester will occur if the batteries are installed backwards. Input Protection 250 V rms ac, continuous or intermittent Moisture If the tester is exposed to water, some may get inside, but it will suffer NO DAMAGE. See the moisture notes in the Maintenance section. Impedance Range 35 Ω to 330 Ω with auto-compensation within this range.
Specifications Specifications (continued) Length Accuracy ±2 feet for cables less than 10 feet ±5 feet for cables longer than 10 feet and shorter than 200 feet ±3 % and ±5 feet for cables longer than 200 feet High Voltage Detection An ac voltage of more than 5 V rms will trigger the High Voltage Warning. Measurement Rate Maximum of 4 complete measurements per second, decreasing to 2 seconds per measurement based on cable size and uniformity.
TS90 Cable Fault Finder Users Guide Specifications (continued) Temperature Range Operating Storage Humidity Operating Storage 32 °F to 131 °F (0 °C to 55 °C) -40 °F to 158 °F (-40 °C to 70 °C) 0 % to 80 % 0 % to 100 % Weight 1 lb with batteries and clip leads Operating Altitude 10,000 ft max Certifications and Compliance Conformité Européenne. Conforms to relevant European Union directives. CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 60950-1-03 CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 1010.1-92 + CSA-C22.2 No. 1010.
