I need a cable harness tester, CableEye does both.

I need a cable harness tester, CableEye does both.

I need a cable harness tester,  not a cable tester!

During a recent discussion with a customer, he declared that he started out looking for a cable harness tester but was put-off by the price and complexity so he decided to opt for a cable tester to handle the ‘simple’ cables.

As the discussion moved ahead we went through some of the hundreds of applications currently running on CAMI Research CableEye systems around the world when the penny dropped for him… CableEye IS a cable harness tester!

CableEye also self-learns, tests, logs the test result data, and generates a test result record.

customer specific interface harness tester

He laid one of his cable harnesses on the table. the cable harness, which had seven connectors sections, was from a “mission-critical” project, where ‘near-enough’ was not ‘good enough’. Three connectors could clearly be seen as ‘one end’ of the harness whilst the other four were along the rest of the cable harness. This was, simply, no problem for CableEye.

As soon as the connectors had been selected/created in the PC’s library and added to a CableEye ‘fixture‘ it was a simple case of learning the cable harness, checking the learn against the design drawing, and saving. CableEye was now ready to test these harnesses. Development time around 10 minutes… test time, less than three seconds, including generating a PDF report!

cable harnes tester report

It is the power of the PC-based architecture that enables CableEye to be so versatile. Capturing continuity is one thing, using the captured results in a meaningful and useful way takes a PC and very special software.

FAQ

What is cable harness tester?

A cable harness tester is a precision electronic instrument that will verify that a cable or wiring harness is connected correctly between the different connectors fitted. For example, CableEye is an automated tester that will also learn the correct connections from a known-good cable or wiring harness.

What is the difference between a cable and a harness?

A cable is typically made ‘end-to-end’. It may have multiple connectors on either end but don’t, generally split-out to additional connectors. a wire harness, on the other hand, may have one or multiple connectors at one end and may split out across several connectors along its length

How is testing a cable harness different from testing a cable?

The principle difference is in the software. Testing a harness requires advanced algorithms, such as in CableEye, to make sense of the interconnections between the terminal connectors. Most cheap cable testers struggle with this.

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

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.

military connectors - know what you are testing

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.

Kevlar braid is no problem for our brushing machines

Kevlar braid is no problem for our brushing machines

Kevlar braid – A first for us!

Another Boewe cable brushing machine ordered but this is for one very special application. A Kevlar braid cable that hangs out of the back of a helicopter!

This process generally takes upwards of TWENTY hours per cable end when done manually. The unbraiding must be done to a very high standard as its purpose is to support a large mass from the back of a helicopter in flight and its associated drag.

bsb 1005b with autostart sensor used for kevlar braid

Bsb 1005B With Autostart Sensor

Switching across to using the BSB1005 we were able to reduce this time to the point where ≈ 95% of the work was done in 25 five minutes!

kevlar braid - before

Kevlar Braid – Before

kevlar braid - after

Kevlar Braid – After

Boewe Elektrik constructed a special support plate but the brushes are standard, as is the rest of the machine.

You can see this in action in our YouTube video here:

kevlar brushing

And you can learn more about the BSB1005 braid brushing machine by clicking here.