How much wire is left on my spool?

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How Much Wire is on the Spool?

There are a number of ways to determine how much wire is remaining on a spool of wire.

Counting Scale: Measure a sample length of wire then weigh the whole spool. (You must have an equivalent empty spool to know the tare weight that needs to be subtracted , but you can get a good 'guesstimate' using this method.)
Time-domain Reflectometry: For multi-conductor cable, and especially coax cable, the Harris TS100 Cable Fault Finder can measure distance to end of cable. (Google "Harris TS100" for more information on this product). It costs about $350. You do need to set a correct propagation velocity, which requires you to measure a known length of equivalent wire.
Volt Ohm Meter: If you have access to both ends of the wire on the spool, the low-cost solution is to simply measure the resistance of the wire with a volt-ohm-meter (VOM) and, based on wire gauge, calculate the length. This solution works on single conductor cable too! See our wire length calculator here.
Touch 1 or 1100 series testers: Using the optional scripting feature on any one of these 3 testers allows you to use your tester to do the wire length calculation for you in 2 or 3 seconds!

(For readers of this month's newsletter; order the scripting option for your 1100-R+, 1100-H+ or Touch 1 in the month of August 2008, and we will give you a FREE '4 wire adapter' (AWLA-01) to work with your test script (spool.evt), to measure the length of all your spooled wire.)

How Do I Setup My Touch 1?

Copy the script & test file to the Touch 1.

Download the event script, (spool.evt) and the test file, (spool.wir) from the Cirris FTP site. ftp://ftp.cirris.com/touch1/spoolscripts
Copy these 2 files to a floppy disk so you can transfer them to your Touch1. Please copy them to the main C: drive. (See notes at the bottom of this page on how to copy files in and out of your Touch 1)

NOTE: If you wish to locate the script & test file in a different location, you can do so. However, you must edit the address line in the test file (spool.wir) so it can find the script file in the new location.)
Install the special 4 wire adapter from Cirris (AWLA-01) into the J1 position on your tester and connect the 4 alligator clips to the two ends of the wire on the reel. (connect one pair of wires to one end of the wire and the 2nd pair of clips to the other end of the wire.)
Using the Test Setup Screen, follow the normal procedure to retrieve the spool.wir test file from the C: drive then push the test button (in the lower left corner). The bluish screen to the left is the script screen which will come up and overlay your normal screen.

Setting the proper wire size in the script.

You will note that on this script screen there is a CHANGE AWG button. Push this button so you can type in the correct wire gauge of the spool of wire you wish to determine the length of.
The second screen lets you select a wire size range between 12-36 gauge.
Select the proper gauge (which corresponds to the wire on your spool) and press OK.
Now you are prepared to measure your wire. Press the Measure Button. The script screen below shows you the results of the measurement. You can print the results or refresh the test or exit from the script. When you decide to exit, you must go back to the "test setup screen" on the Touch1 in order to activate the script for more testing.

How Do I Setup My 1100-R+ or 1100-H+?

Copy the script & test file to the 1100-R/H+ Tester.

In order to use the script to measure wire length on a spool you will need a 1100-H+ or 1100-R+ with the new USB feature installed and the scripting option enabled.

Download the event script, (spool.evt) and the test file, (spool.wir) from the Cirris FTP site. ftp://ftp.cirris.com/touch1/spoolscripts
Copy these 2 files to a thumb drive so you can transfer them to your 1100 tester. Copy the files from the thumb drive to the root drive of the tester.
In the 'Setup Test Program' screen, Click on the Load Test button.
In the 'Test to Load' screen, Select the spool.wir from the files listed
In the 'Test Retrieved' window, press the 'TEST' button

At this point the script kicks in and you will see screens as displayed on the right side of this page.
Review the images to the right to get a sense of how this script works.
Please Note: You will need to install the special 4 wire adapter (AWLA-01) and connect up all 4 wires to the spool you wish to measure BEFORE turning on the tester and running the script.

Instructions for Copying Touch1 Files.

These instructions are not only used for making backup copies of your wirelists but would be used for moving any files (report files, script files, wirelists files etc. etc.) during your daily use of the tester.

From the Touch 1 Main Menu, Click on System Setup.
In the System Setup window, Click on the Disk Utilities button.
In the Disk Utilities window, Click on the Copy Files button.
In the Select FROM LOC & FILES window, use the arrow keys to move the black bar up and down until you have selected the location where the wirelist files are found, then click on the Open Location button.
(The default location for the Touch 1 wirelists is the root directory on the hard drive or (C:\)
When you are in the new location, Mark the files you wish to copy by using the arrow keys to move the black bar over each file you wish to backup then press the MARK button. When you are finished selecting the files press the OK button.
(Note: When a file has been marked, there is a small right arrow > to the left of the file name. Also, you can select the MARK ALL button and mark all the files in this folder with one click!)

Cirris Systems - Technical Tips - Measuring Spooled Wire Length