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Know what you are testing – Insight on real world cable testing

CAMI Research, Testing, Wire & Cable Equipment

Do you really know what you are testing?

During a recent training session with a customer they reported that a given cable type was failing HiPot testing and they could not understand why.

Know What You Are Testing

The cable rating showed it was specified to be good to 600/1000V and the test parameters set to 600Vac/1000Vdc as this was the assumed meaning by the operators, and here is failing no.1

The cable rating of 600/1000V actually means 600V between conductor and shield and 1000V between adjacent conductors!

Failing no.2 is a classic and can be seen throughout the world of Test. Fundamentally the operator was not supposed to be testing the cable itself, this is handled by the cable producer and, at best, by their own goods-in process (though in this case it was not).

So what should they have been testing if not the cable specification? Well, quite simply, they should be testing what THEY have done to the cable which was to fit a connector at each end… nothing more!

Testing the specifications of cable stock on an assembled cable is like testing the grade of steel that a car is made of during an MoT or the strength of a rope when it has a knot in the middle.

This approach is likely to result in a high false-failure rate as it’s highly unlikely that the finished assembly will be the same as the cable specification and will definitely NOT be better.

As well as supplying the CableEye range of cable testers we can provide a consultative test service where you can benefit from the extensive test experience held here. Drop us a line for more details on either. Just use our Contact page or call us on 01243 582555.

Evaluating a cable tester

CAMI Research, Testing, Wire & Cable Equipment

How do you go about evaluating a cable tester?

Evaluating a cable tester can make the difference between buying a box to test cables and buying a system to provide test, traceability, documentation and even guided assembly.

The first thing to do is determine the need. Speak to your customers and find out what they are looking for from you today and for the next year or two:

Would they want a system where they can flag a concern over a cable or batch of cables and have assurances they were tested?
Would they be more likely to pay for testing if they knew the system could be calibrated in the UK to national standards?
How about graphically comparing the first-off with their diagrams?

Once you know the customer’s need look at what is involved in delivering this. It could be:

a new process
new equipment
new people

At Cimbian we offer advice as well as product. We can help with assessing the task and in finding a solution with out Consultative Test Service.

If it is new equipment we have demonstration equipment available that can be used to show you what is possible and how to get there.

So Many Options.

Demonstration equipment can be supplied on a loan basis for a week or two to help you assess how the equipment can, and likely will, help in your objective. If you would like to discuss a demo or a loan unit please call us on 01243 582555 or drop us a line through our contact page.

New CableEye Models

CAMI Research, Testing, Wire & Cable Equipment

CAMI Research has released two new CableEye models.

News from CAMI Research is that the two flagship models, the M3U in low voltage testing and the HVX in HiPot testing now have two higher specification siblings.

The new CableEye models are the M3UH and the HVX-21 and the specification increases are summarised here:

M3UH Item 821UH:

Resistance measurement range has been brought down to 0.1Ω to 5MΩ, +/- 0.1Ω, at the low end. The standard M3U is 0.3Ω to 10MΩ, +/- 0.15Ω at the low end with no loss of speed. [/tab]

HVX-21 Item 829A:

(HVX-21) HiPot range is now 2100 Vdc, 1200 Vac (HVX (Item 829) is 1500Vdc, 1000Vdc), both still in 1V steps.
Resistance thresholds are now 0.1Ω to 5GΩ on the HVX-21 whereas on the HVX they are 0.1Ω to 1GΩ.
In addition to this the Current Sensitivity has been improved by a factor of five on the HVX-21 at 0.2µA whereas the HVX Current Sensitivity is 1µA

To learn more or get a quotation please drop us a line through our Contact page.

Flexible System Checks Cables and Harnesses

CAMI Research, Testing, Wire & Cable Equipment

Flexible System Checks Cables and Harnesses

The July issue of US-Tech, One of America’s widest read electronics industry magazines, featured an interesting article by Margaret Bishop of CAMI Research, the subject of which was Cables And Harnesses Checking using a flexible system.

The article looks at the role of a modern-architecture test system and how it can be used across the entire process, from assembly to QA.

The US-Tech magazine is available as both a digital online version or as a download version.

Take a look here (page 53 – 55): US-Tech article link

flexible system checks cables and harnesses - us-tech

Cable And Harness Checking

Many CableEye customers settle into using their system and don’t realise the tremendous potential that their investment holds for them, be it data-logging, guided assembly or simply generating and printing barcodes and labels. This article seeks to explore this potential.

Cimbian UK is the UK’s authorised distributor for CAMI Research products and we are experienced in helping customers deploy CableEye in a range of roles and applications. Drop us a line through our contact page to see how CableEye can do even more for you.

Harness Testing… is it the same as cable testing?

CAMI Research, Testing, Wire & Cable Equipment

Harness Testing… is it the same as cable testing?

When someone mentions ‘cable testing’ the general impression is on of testing between two connectors on a single cable. Point A to Point B with a few crossovers; however, harness testing throws up quite a different image.

152 tp m3u - 575px<br />
harness testing

Wiring harnesses, or looms, are everywhere; from the washing machine to the family car and beyond. Connections are often between two, three or more connectors as well as some loop-back connections to the same connector.

[half]Sorting all this out in software is a challenge for most cable testers. CableEye, from CAMI Research; however, is very different. The PC-driven architecture means that it has the tremendous analytical and processing power to work out what is going on within the harness to provide a meaningful netlist table and graphical wiring schematic.

Where CableEye cannot fully resolve the connections a prompt and guide are raised automatically and the user can then, very simply, edit the netlist or click-and-drag the schematic to assign the connections to match the design drawing. Once done simply hit save and the complete harness is then in the database… Easy!

To find out more about the harness testing capabilities of CableEye drop us a line via our contact page. You can also download the free paper on PC Guided Harness Assembly here: Guided Harness Assembly

Use your Cirris adaptor boards on your new CableEye

CAMI Research, Military, News, Testing

We are often asked to replace old (or not so old in some cases) Cirris cable testers with our CableEye system, often due to improved flexibility through the Windows PC control that it has.

One stumbling block is the number of interface adaptors that have been produced by the customer over the years; clearly not something they would like to do again.

What is needed is a Cirris converter…

CAMI Research has developed the CB34 Cirris converter board-set; a direct interface replacement that means it is normally a plug-and-go operation to reuse the old interface adaptors but with the benefit of using an up-to-date, PC-controlled system that self-learns cables, provides easy reports, data logs to a network and remote use of the data via internet… a true 21^st century Windows application.

The CB34 (Item #764 – Set of two boards) will accept one 64-point Cirris Adapter board or two 32-point Cirris adapter boards, and show results as a 64-pin header numbered 1-64 on each bank.

The CableEye software does not compute the board or cable signature or automatically identify which Cirris board is connected but it is a simple and quick task to use the PinMap software (Item #708), to obtain a proper graphic and pin numbering.

Most Cirris-made boards are numbered so that the test point number corresponds with the connector’s pin number, so the pin numbering shown on the 64-pin header will be correct even if the graphic is not.

You may use the CB34 Cirris converter with CableEye HVX systems. It has been certified to operate at test voltages of up to 1500vDC and 1000vAC, assuming that a suitably-rated Cirris board is also used.

It is now a simple and low-cost option for you to get a new, modern and very fast cable tester without the worry of losing your investment in all those adaptors. Drop us a line and we’ll do the rest.

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Know what you are testing – Insight on real world cable testing

Do you really know what you are testing?

Related content

Evaluating a cable tester

How do you go about evaluating a cable tester?

New CableEye Models