Tone tester capability

[Daveash123]

Will a tone tester be able to detect a break in electrical underfloor heating. I have used one in the past tracing comms cables but they were not under ceramic tiles. I am asking as a mate of mine has installed a bathroom with underfloor heating which was tested and left ready to use. Since then the homeowner has laid the tiling and is now reporting that the heating is not working. I have not seen the job myself, but have offered to visit with my mate to have a look. I will take my MFT to check continuity and insulation and was thinking that a tone tester may be able to locate the fault.
I don't have any info on the heating manufacturer or type at the moment.

Any advice appreciated

 

[R G]

I am doing a job at the moment with UFH , the tiler has gone and got 2 kits , the warm up loose wire type , If a customer or tiler is laying the floor I advise on the 3 stage testing , but I steer away from installing it if possible , that way if the tiler catches the cable its not down to you , above all though I tell the customer that care has to be taken ...

 

[Anthony S]

Its would take some doing to damage the cabling and if it did get damaged you wont be repairing it your be taking the lot up and re-doing it.

 

[plantpot]

Recently been called to faulty ufh job did all tests and found open circuit .did a bit of research and if you contact makers of mat they will send a engineer with test gear to test.
It seems they put a variable voltage through mats till break shows using thermal image camera on tiled area.
They then give you a report and the cost of repair can be argued between installers.if
it is found the mat is faulty or reason for fault is inconclusive its free.if not £460+vat.
Back to OP I never tried toner

 

[Tidy Max]

I doubt it mate. Tone testers are ideal for screened and twisted cabling but not for unscreened. Are you going to use it to try and track where the break is?

 

[R G]

Re post no2

When I went back to test the 2nd UFH the guy had a tone tester connected to it , and was switched on all weekend before i got there , its only battery driven so it could have run down , so it may be this tester has been left on and is now run down , I disregarded this and tested and all was O/K,

 

[PEG]

I can see finding the fault as being possible,but i would check with the mat manufacturer,if an "in situ" repair is acceptable,and what the procedure was.
I have seen plenty of repairs done in the past,to installed equipment of this nature,but only a small percentage were to OEM spec.