To find a short in a cord, how do I lookup the standard capacitance per length unit for the wires in it.?

Question

I have a Sperry SP-152A Multimeter & do not know how to use it.

Answer 1

To pinpoint the location of a short in a cable you need a time domain reflectometer. A multimeter will tell you if a cable is shorted or not but will not tell you where a short might be. The resistance of the wires is usually not enough to tell you by measuring the resistance of the cable. Unless the cable has been abused in some way, such as being pinched in a door, something heavy rolled ove it, etc, the short is more than likely at one of the ends. Closely examine each end and see if there is any sign of a problem. Often a bad spot will feel softer than the rest of the cable if you gently squeeze or roll the cable between your fingers.