Sunday, January 20, 2019

Useful Information Regarding Hipot Tester

By Diane Bailey


High voltage or high potential test is what the phrase hipot test means. Dielectric withstand test is the other name for this test. It is an analysis of electrical parts. It is done purposely to check for suitability of the electrical insulation. Ensuring current leakage from one place to another within electrical devices does not exist is the goal the analysis is meant to achieve. This analysis is the exact contrary of continuity test. This is what Hipot tester are all about.

Hipot testing is supposed to be nondestructive to determine the adequacy of electrical insulation. The testing is high-voltage and it is applied to all electrical devices for a given period of time so as to ensure that the insulation is not marginal. The process involves the application of high amounts of voltage to the insulation.

The purpose of the process is to determine if there is crushed or nicked insulation in a component. It also helps in identifying conductive or corrosive contaminants, braided shielding, and stray wire strands around conductors. Tolerance errors in cables and terminal spacing problems can also be identified easily using hipot testing. The voltage that is used in this process is usually two times greater than operating voltage.

Hipot testing is usually conducted using hipot analyzers. A typical tester usually connects one side of the supply to safety ground. The second side of the supply gets connected to the conductor that need to be tested. In this arrangement, there are only two kinds of contact to which conductors can be connected, that is, the ground and voltage.

In the situation there exist two contacts for which connection is needed, then a person must connect one to the ground while the other one to the voltage. This type of connection is vital. It makes sure that contacts are isolated from other forms of contacts. A small current will flow from one conductor to the other when a massive voltage is applied when the insulation placed between the two conductors is not adequate.

While the flow of a small current is normally acceptable, a breakdown of air or solid insulation is not expected in whatever case. Excessive voltage is generally used in these assessments due to the fact that any electrical product is subjected to regular day-to-day transient over voltages. In the event that such variations in voltages take place at some point of the day, the product should be able to remain safe and working.

While doing this analysis, varying standards are normally observed. The voltage should be applied for varying amounts of time as required by different standards. The test needs to be continued for a one-minute duration. This requirement is under IEC 06950. A typical rule of thumb requires applying 110 to 120 percent of operational voltage of the product. This is plus 1000 volts for 1 to 2 seconds.

There are also specifications for the amount of current that need to be applied. Currently, there are several different kinds of testers in the market that one can buy. Different testers are meant for different classes of products. As such, it is important to know which tester to use for certain applications.




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