A novel method to test the quality of ADSS fiber optic cables installed in transmission lines

Dry-band arc resistance determines the quality of fiber optic cable insulation materials. Three different brands of ADSS fiber optic cable qualities are determined with IEEE 1222 standard test method. Results give a ranking of the cables. During the experiment, it is noticed that randomly spread water droplets are a factor for the results. Therefore, the same cables are tested with another standard method, the well-known ASTM D2303 standard inclined plane test method. The duration of the test is shorter than IEEE 1222 standard test method and results show the same high ranked cable. However, this method does not represent the actual filed conditions. A new test method is proposed, which is the combination of the two standard test methods. Test uses the circuit parameters of IEEE 1222 standard and it uses the test environment of ASTM D2303 standard. After testing one type of cable, the test is interrupted since the duration of the test is much longer than the other two methods. All the three test methods show that the wetting process of the samples is not the point of determination for dry-band arc resistance. Major determination is the current limitation.