Fault locator

A fault locator operable to find faults within an electrical circuit having a plurality of termination points, the fault locator comprising:

• a testing unit having two test points and operable to take a resistance measurement and a capacitance measurement between the test points;
• a processing unit operable to compensate for internal characteristics while locating a short-circuit fault by performing calculations on the resistance measurement and an open-circuit fault by performing calculations on the capacitance measurement;
• and
• a switching unit operable to automatically reconfigure itself in order to connect the termination points to the test points in a sequence controlled by the processing unit.

A self-compensating fault locator operable to find faults within an electrical circuit having a plurality of termination points, the fault locator comprising:

• a testing unit having two test points and operable to take a resistance measurement and a capacitance measurement between the test points;
• a processing unit operable to locate a short-circuit fault by calculating a resistance ratio relating to a conductor length between the short-circuit fault and at least one termination point, the resistance ratio being based on the resistance measurement and an internal resistance;
• wherein the processing unit is further operable to locate an open-circuit fault by calculating a capacitance ratio relating to a conductor length between the open-circuit fault and at least one termination point, the capacitance ratio being based on the capacitance measurement and an internal capacitance;
• and
• a switching unit operable to automatically reconfigure itself in order to connect the termination points to the test points in a sequence controlled by the processing unit.