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Breaker Testing


Circuit Breaker Time and Motion Testing

Determining mechanical condition of high-voltage circuit breakers BY JOZEF LEVI, Doble Engineering Company Life expectancy of a newly installed high-voltage circuit breaker is approximately 40 years. Throughout its life, under normal circuit conditions, the circuit breaker will operate less than...

Power Factor Testing of Circuit Breakers

Detecting contamination and deterioration in SF6 breakers to ensure longevity BY LINDA NOWAK, Doble Engineering Company The purpose of “Doble testing”, or power factor testing, SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride) circuit breakers is to detect the presence of contamination and/or deterioration of the...

Transformer Testing


Dielectric Voltage Testing – Standard Methods

There are two standard methods from ASTM International: D877, Standard Test Method for Dielectric Breakdown Voltage of Insulating Liquids Using Disk Electrodes, and D1816, Standard Test Method for Dielectric Breakdown Voltage of Insulating Oils of Petroleum Origin Using VDE Electrodes. VDE stands...

New York's Path to 8.5 GW of Grid Flexibility by 2040

New York State's transition to a clean, zero-emissions energy grid could include up to 8.5 gigawatts (GW) of grid flexibility by 2040, according to a new report from the Brattle Group. This projection, while contingent on achieving ambitious decarbonization goals, illustrates how the state could...

Cable Testing


Solving Underground Cable Problems with Partial Discharge Testing

How to prevent failure with partial discharge testing BY HENNING OETJEN, Megger Partial discharge (PD) measurements are increasingly used as a reliable and non-destructive diagnostic method to detect weak spots in the insulation of underground cables. Routinely, partial discharge measurements are...

HV Test Equipment

Partial Discharge & Circuit Breaker Asset Management

Detecting and avoiding preventable failures

BY JAY GARNETT, Doble Engineering Company

While metal clad switchgear can be very reliable, sometimes operating for over 50 years, throughout the aging process, this group of electrical disconnect switches, fuses and circuit breakers can experience issues such as moisture ingress, animal intrusion, enclosure rusting, and insulation deterioration. One efficient approach to detect incipient failures is partial discharge (PD), a leading indicator of various failure modes. Using both acoustic and...

HV Test Equipment Articles