Will Your Cirris Tester Detect a Broken Strand?

Customers have asked over the years if a Cirris tester can detect broken strands in cables. Cirris decided to do an experiment to see if a resistance test could detect the broken strands of a wire.

In theory, broken strands would be found by a resistance test. Using 4-wire Kelvin testing to measure resistance down to 1/10,000^th of an ohm, Cirris carefully cut strands of a wire and recorded the results.

On a wire with seven strands, how many strands do you think were cut before the resistance changed enough that a tester would detect the defect? One strand? Three? Five?

The answer can be found in our Learning Center article, “Can I Test for Broken Strands.” Click the link below to find out if a Cirris Tester could detect a broken strand in a cable.

Further Reading:

Resistance Is NOT Futile

Can you tell how much wire is left on the spool?

4-Wire Kelvin Testing for Novices