APPARATUS AND METHOD TO DETECT AND LOCATE A FAULT IN A SHIELDED CONDUCTOR

An apparatus (30) and method (400) to detect and locate electrical faults in an insulated supply conductor (32) sheathed in a conductive screen (70) is disclosed. The apparatus (30) is positioned along the insulated supply conductor (32) between a power supply (36) and an electrical load (46). The conductive screen (70) is coupled to an electrical ground (55) via a first resistive element (41). A voltage (Vm) on the conductive screen (70) is sensed and compared to a threshold (Vr) to determine whether a fault condition exists. The apparatus (30) is configured to inject an incident signal (63) to the conductive screen (70) and detect a reflected signal (63a) therefrom. The location of the fault condition is determined based on an elapsed time between the injection of the incident signal (63) and the detection of the reflected signal (63a).