Low Voltage and High Voltage Cable Testing June 7, 2011 13 Comments Low Voltage and High Voltage

Cable Testing LOW VOLTAGE XLPE DISTRIB TIO! CABLES" Ins#lation Resistan$e" Cables shall be tested for insulation resistance with an insulation tester (i.e. Megger) at 1000 olts for 1 minute. !he minimum insulation resistance to earth or between "hases shall be 100 meg#ohms. !he instrument used for this measurement shall ha$e a minimum resolution of 10 meg#ohms on the 0 to %00 meg#ohm range. &t the conclusion of ' insulation resistance testing, the neutrals must be connected to the earth sta(es.

Phasing Test" !he correct "hasing of all ' circuits shall be chec(ed at all "ositions where the ' cables are terminated into fuse bases and where an) ' cable is run from "oint to "oint. !his test shall be "erformed with an instrument designed for the "ur"ose. Mains fre*uenc) $oltage of 2+0 olts is not acce"table for this test. !he neutral conductor shall be connected to the earth sta(e for this test.

Contin#it% Test &'esistan$e o( bolted $onne$tions)" ,or loo" ' s)stems, a continuit) test shall be carried out on each ' circuit to ensure that all bolted connections are com"lete and ade*uate. !he test shall be carried out as follows(1) &t the transformer firml) bond all + conductors together (2) .nderta(e a continuit) test at e$er) "oint where there is a ser$ice "ro$ision or o"en "oint. /n a fused ser$ice "illar the bottom row of fuses bases must be the "oint at which the test is underta(en as that is the furthest e0tent of the networ(. !he difference between the readings of each "hase conductor and the neutral for each indi$idual test shall not be greater than 101 of each other. &n) difference greater than this ma) indicate a loose or dirt) connection and will re*uire further in$estigation. !he instrument used for this measurement should ha$e a resolution to the second decimal "oint in the 0 to % ohm range. & t)"ical instrument would be the earth 2Megger3 t)"e and ta(ing into account the resistance $alues of the test leads.

Ea'th Resistan$e Test"

/n an) o$erhead or underground networ( the earth resistance at an) "oint along the length of a ' feeder is to ha$e a ma0imum resistance of 10 ohms "rior to connection to the e0isting networ(. /n an) o$erhead or underground networ( the o$erall resistance to earth 4hall be less than 1 ohm "rior to connection to the e0isting networ(.

** +V A!D ,, +V XLPE CABLES CABLE" Phasing Test !he correct "hasing of all 5 circuits shall be chec(ed at all "ositions where the 5 cables ha$e been terminated. !his test shall be "erformed with an instrument designed for the "ur"ose. 2+0 olt mains fre*uenc) is not acce"table for the "erformance of this test. !he test ma) be conducted on either the wire screens or the aluminum conductors. 6here the test is "erformed on the wire screens, the) shall be disconnected from earth.

O#te' Sheath Ins#lation Resistan$e &S$'een wi'e test) !he "ur"ose of the test is to determine soundness of the outer "ol)eth)lene sheath against water ingress, mechanical damage and termite attac(. alues below 0.% meg#ohms (%00 (7) can indicate sheath damage. alues between 1.0 and 10 meg#ohms ma) not indicate damage in a single location. ,ault finding can often be $er) difficult. /n new cables, $alues of greater than 100 mega ohms are re*uired. !he integrit) of the outer sheath shall be chec(ed after cables ha$e been buried b) an insulation tester (Megger) at 1000 olts. !he test shall be conducted for 1 minute between each wire screen and earth after the cable has been 8ointed and terminations installed. ,or cables after re"airs, the resistance must not be less than 10 meg#ohms. 6here 5 cable circuits are cut and 8oined to new circuits, sheath testing must be carried out on the e0isting old circuit "rior to 8oining to the new cable.

HV test on XLPE $ables al'ead% in se'-i$e o' .'e-io#sl% ene'gi/ed E0$e.t (o' !ew Cables1 Testing at Voltage g'eate' than 234+V is not .e'5itted 4tudies carried out on 9C high $oltage testing of :';< cables now conclude that= 9C testing abo$e %( of field aged :';< cables generall) increases water tree growth and reduces ser$ice life. %( is not considered a 25igh oltage 9C !est3. !he test $oltages for tests on :';< cables is now limited to %( after in ser$ice re"airs and 10( for new installations. & %( Megger is suitable for a %( test on cables after re"airs.

!he changes to this section will also ma(e it "ossible for a re"aired cable to be tested b) re"air crews and made a$ailable for immediate return to ser$ice.

&""lication &fter re"airs > 4heath

!est 1(

oltage

Criteria 10 meg#ohms min.

Megger 1 minute Megger 1 minute 9C 1 minute

&fter re"airs > /nsulation

%(

1000 meg#ohms min.

&fter re"airs > /nsulation

%(

%.0 ?& (micro#am"s) ma0.

HV test on new XLPE $able" ;rior to the "erformance of this test, the screen wires must be connected to the "ermanent earth "osition. !he cable shall be tested at the test $oltage and the "ass criteria shall be in accordance with the following table-

&""lication @ew cables > 4heath

!est 1(

oltage

Criteria 100 meg#ohms min.

Megger 1 minute

@ew cables > /nsulation 10( @ew cables > /nsulation 10(

9C 1% minute 1.0 ?& (micro#am"s) ma0 1000 meg#ohms min. 9C 1% minute

/f further re"air wor(s are underta(en, and the) re*uire additional 8oints to be installed, the com"lete 5 testing "rocedure shall be re"eated.

Alte'nati-e HV Test Re6#i'e5ent on Ins#lation (o' **7V Cables 6here it is not "ractical to conduct a high $oltage test, the test re*uirements for insulation (core to screen wire) ma) be limited to testing for the condition of 2safe to energiAe3. !he following list of circumstances and conditions must be met as a minimum re*uirement!he cable circuit $oltage shall be 11( , !he circuit outage duration shall be not more than +B hours, !he wor( shall in$ol$e e0tending or re"airs to e0isting circuits, !he insulation test shall be a""lied for 1 minute between each "hase core and screen with a 1000 olt minimum insulation tester (Megger), !)"icall) the test result should be in the order of 1000 meg#ohms.

PAPER I!S LATED CABLES Tests on LV Cables &n insulation resistance test shall be conducted with a 1000 olt megger. !est results as low as 10 meg#ohms on old cable circuits are common and therefore considered safe to energies.

Test on **7V and ,,7V Cables between Co'es and Ea'th ,or three core belted cables, the test on an) core shall be conducted between the core and lead sheath with the remaining two cores connected to earth. !he test $oltages and "ass criteria shall be in accordance with the table below.

&""lication 11( new cables

!est %(

oltage

Criteria 100 meg#ohms.

Megger 1 minute Megger 1 minute Megger 1 minute Megger 1 minute

11(

after re"airs

%(

100 meg#ohms.

33(

> no !,Cs connected

%(

1000 meg#ohms.

33( > with !,Cs connected 887V XLPE CABLES

%(

1% meg#ohms.

Co'e to Sheath Test a(te' Re.ai's" &fter re"airs ha$e been carried out, the DD( :';< cable shall be energiAed at "ower fre*uenc) for 2+ hours without load. 9C testing is not "ermitted. !he cable sheath lin( bo0Ecross bonding s)stem shall be "ut into its normal condition.

O#te' Sheath Integ'it% Test" &n insulation resistance test between the metallic sheath and earth shall be conducted. !he anti#termite barrier must be connected to the metallic sheath and the insulation test "erformed to earth. !he test $oltage a""lied for 1 minute shall be %( 9C a""lied with either a high $oltage test set or insulation resistance tester (Megger).