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are there?
testing?" cables?
• What is "insulation resistance • If I touch the cable while testing can I get
testing?" hurt?
quality?
• With all the high voltage being 2) Understanding High Voltage Cable Testing
• Where is the high voltage Click Here to View Video 2 (2.4 Mb, Flash)
• Overcurrent
through an insulator?
• Dielectric Failure
What is "hipot" testing?
Many people are familiar with a continuity test. A continuity test checks for "good
connections." You do a continuity test by seeing if current will flow from one point to
another point. If current flows easily enough then the points are connected. Many
people aren't familiar with a hipot test. "Hipot" is short for high potential (high
voltage). A hipot test checks for "good isolation." You do a hipot test by making sure no
current will flow from one point to another point. In some ways a hipot test is the
opposite of a continuity test.
Continuity Test: "Make sure current flows easily from one point to another point."
Hipot Test: "Make sure current won't flow from one point to another point (and
turn up the voltage really high just make sure no current will flow)."
In the simple case a hipot test takes two conductors that should be isolated and
applies a very high voltage between the conductors. The current that flows is watched
carefully. Ideally not much current will flow. If too much current flows the points are
not well isolated and they should fail the test.
The Insulation Resistance test is typically done on every cable tested. It is usually
done at 300 to 500 Vdc with 100 to 500 Megahoms resistance. The test is a very
sensitive to contamination in the assembly process. Solder flux, oils, mold release
agents, and skin oil all can cause problems. This test excels at identifying insulation
that will conduct in the presence of moisture. Doing this test on every cable allows you
to detect contamination changes in the manufacturing process.
Products being designed today usually must comply with product safety
regulations. Some of these regulations work to reduce the chance of you receiving a
harmful electrical shock. Modern equipment is more likely to follow these regulations.
When it comes to hipot charge, energy, and voltage you should select the "safest"
machine that will still test your cables.
To minimize your risk of injury from electrical shock make sure your hipot
equipment follows these guidelines:
• The total charge you can receive in a shock should not exceed 45 uC.
• The total hipot energy should not exceed 350 mJ.
These guidelines come from the test standard EN61010-1, Safety requirements for
electrical equipment for measurement, control and laboratory use, April 1993, CENELEC.
Over the last decade many of the safety regulations have been harmonized
(standardized) and EN61010-1 is similar to UL 61010A-1 (formerly UL3101-1).
While you are testing cables there are several things you can do to reduce the risk
even more:
• Verify the correct operation of the safety circuits in the equipment every time you
calibrate it.
• Follow all of the manufacturer's instructions and safety guidelines.
• Don't touch the cable during hipot testing.
• Allow the hipot testing to complete before removing the cable.
• Wear insulating gloves.
• If you have any health condition that can be aggravated by being startled then
don't use the equipment.
• Don't allow children to use the equipment.
• If you have any electronic implants then don't use the equipment.
When you have more than two contacts to be hipot tested you connect one contact
to high voltage and connect all other contacts to ground. Testing a contact in this
fashion makes sure it is isolated from all other contacts.
What happens when you test something more complicated than just contacts? A
series of contacts that are connected with wires, resistors, capacitors, diodes, and other
components is called a "network" of connections (or "net"). To hipot test a net you
connect all of the contacts in the net to high voltage and connect all other contacts
in the device to ground. For example, if you have a wire that connects two pins, the
high voltage will be simultaneously apply to both of those pins and the entire wire will
be raised in voltage. All other wires and pins will be held at ground. If you have a
resistor that connects two pins, both pins are raised in voltage, the voltage drop across
the resistor is always zero. The entire resistor is raised in voltage. In short, all pins of a
component see the same voltage at all times. Applying the voltage in this fashion
makes sure the body of the component is isolated from the rest of the device.