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Earth Testing Techniques and Measurement Instruments
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A conducting connection, whether intentional or accidental, between an electrical circuit or equipment and the earth, or to some conducting body that serves in place of earth*
To protect people and equipment By dissipating stray energy from: Electrical faults (fuses, breakers etc.) Lightning strikes Radio Frequency Static discharges
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Real Examples
Why test? Catch the problem before it happens! Estimate: at least 15% of power quality problems are related to grounding Lightning strikes on equipment with poorly maintained protection systems destroy millions of dollars of equipment and lost production every year Using ground testing in a PDM protocol will help prevent possible dangerous situations and loss of downtime (= money)
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Cable or tape
Stake or rod
Earth material
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Potential gradients around the earth electrode can reduce the accuracy of measurements! The probe must always be placed outside this area! Typical distance: >20m
Distance a
Umeasure
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Ground rod
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Ground plate
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Ground mesh
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For the purposes of this presentation the grounding system will referred to as ground electrode.
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Resistivity
Fall of Potential Three and Four Pole Testing Selective Testing Stakeless Testing Two pole method
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E = 2 . a . RE
E RE a ...... mean value of soil resistivity (W.m) ...... measured resistance (W) ...... probe distance (m)
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The Fall of Potential method is the most commonly used method of testing.
Three or four pole method, this refers to the number of connections made to the ground tester. The forth pole of the connection is made if the wire to connect to the system under test is particularly long > 4 meters. The additional wire cancels out an error due to the extended length of wire used.
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The test spike C2 is placed in the ground some distance from electrode under test (typically 50 meter)
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A number of readings should be taken with the the P2 spike at different distances, say from 20 to 35 meters at 3 meter intervals.
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The distance of the P2 spike is varied to ensure that it is positioned outside of the sphere influence of the electrode under test.
When the P2 spike is close to the electrode under test the measured value appears to be lower and as it becomes influenced by the C2 spike the measured value rises. The optimal point of measurement is outside of the influence of the electrode and the C2 spike.
Taking a series of measurements and plotting these against distance produces the curve shown.
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Test Current
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Firstly the ground spikes are positioned according to the requirements of the system under test.
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Multiple electrodes can be tested quickly simply by moving the current clamp to individual electrodes
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The stakeless method is not available on all ground testers. However, it comes standard on the Fluke 1623 and 1625 earth ground testers. The temporary ground stakes are replaced by two current clamps. The first clamp generates a voltage on the ground condutor, the second clamp measures the current flowing due to the generated voltage.
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An abnormally low reading could indicate the instrument is measuring a loop of bonding conductors.
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Selective Method
Dont have to disconnect electrode Widely accepted When you see the characteristic curve you know youve got a good measurement. Convenience
The stakes may not be easy to drive There may not be space around the ground
Stakeless Method
Assumes a low-impedance parallel path Possible to get very low readings by mistakenly measuring on a hardwired loop
Impossible to judge the integrity of the auxiliary electrode. Cant be sure you are outside the area of influence
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Two-pole Method
Convenience
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PQ troubleshooting, quantify the effectiveness of grounding by measurement fall of potential, selective or stakeless
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Fluke 1623
Feature Summary
Conventional 3 - and 4 - pole earth/ground testing Selective method Stakeless method Two pole AC resistance measurement One button measurement press once to measure with simple GO/NOGO indicators Large easy to read display Rugged housing rated to IP56 2-Year Warranty
Customer
Electrical Consultants, Industrial
Application
Verification of earth resistance of electrical & communication systems.
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Measurement of complex earth-impedance at 55Hz which determines the real short circuit current
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Measurement of complex earthimpedance at 55Hz which determines the real short circuit current
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Customer
Residential, Commercial, Industrial Electricians
Application
Earth loop resistance testing for houses, commercial and industrial buildings
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I
Current amplifier
Voltage generator
Rn
Rx
The voltage U developed by the clamp is injected into the circuit. This causes a current I which flows in this measuring circuit. The second clamp measures this current I and the earth clamp displays the ground loop resistance Rx+Rn.
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Fluke 1653
Target Customer Professional Electrician / Testing Specialist Top Line Model with Unmatched performance Features Volts & Frequency to 500V Insulation Resistance Continuity Measurement Loop /PSC Measurement RCD Testing Earth resistance Tests Phase Sequence Indication On-Board Memory Interface for Downloading data
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Summary
Resistivity measurement provides important data regarding the earth material prior to system design Fall of Potential Test is the most widely accepted Four pole measurement compensates for voltage drop in measuring cable The 62% rule provides some guidance to the required distance for the temporary test spikes Selective testing allows testing without disconnection
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Summary
Selective test is based on fall of potential test that speeds measurement and provides additional safety Stakeless Testing is a fast method for multiple electrode systems Two pole ground testing provides minimal information and should be used very cautiously The Fluke 1623 provides the majority of the required functions for industrial users The Fluke 1625 is the advanced ground tester for utilities
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Who to target?
Earth Ground Market Segment
Elect Contractor Res & Comm Handy GEO GEO 30 Saturn GEO Plus Saturn GEO X Handy GEO GEO 30 Fluke 1623 Fluke 1625 X X Field Service X X Industrial Maint Technician X X Utilities - Power & Telecom X X
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Fluke 1623
Fluke 1625
Comment Handy GEO only performs the 3-Pole measurement which requires the service to be disconnected. Fluke 1623, Fluke 1625, and GEO 30 can perform measurements whether the service is connected (preferred by end users - safer) or disconnected. GEO 30 only performs a stakeless test. All other testers can perform these tests using stakes (Fall of Potential). Handy GEO cannot perform tests with clamps, necessary for measurements inside a building, lacking access to soil. The GEO 30 clamp has an inside diameter of 0.9". Fluke 1623 and 1625 have two sized clamps, 2" inside diameter (with kits) and 5" inside diameter clamp for busbar applications (accessory). For pylons, another accessory is the 12" inside diameter Split Core Transformer, affectionately called Big Norma. Necessary for new installations (buildings, substations) Utilities and other high end Industrial sites require the Fluke 1625, because of the Automatic Frequency Control (AFC). If there are influencing signals, the Fluke 1625 selects a different frequency to measure.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Do you want to perform 3-Pole or 4-Pole Fall of Potential tests using stakes? Are you performing tests inside a building? Are any test points inside the building larger than 0.9" diameter?
Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
Are you interested in soil resistivity? Are there high power systems close by that could influence measurements?
Yes
Yes
Yes
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Product line-up
Delivery content Fluke-1623: Basic GEO Earth Ground Tester Contains: Fluke-1623 tester, test leads, batteries, manual (GB, FR, IT, DE, ES, PT) Fluke-1625: Advanced GEO Earth Ground Tester Contains: Fluke-1625 tester, test leads, batteries, manual (GB, FR, IT, DE, ES, PT) Fluke-1623/1625 Kit: Advanced GEO Earth Ground Tester Kit Contains: (1) Fluke-1623 or 1625 tester, (4) stakes, (2) 25m cable reels, (1) 50m cable reel, (1) Sensing clamp, (1) Inducing clamp, all necessary connectors, test leads, batteries, manual, rugged carrying case
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Accessories
EI-1623: Selective/Stakeless Clamp Set for Fluke-1623.
Contains both the Inducing and Sensing clamp all necessary adapters Already in the Fluke-1623 Kit.
ES-162P3: 3-Pole Stake Kit. (used for both the Fluke-1623 and Fluke-1625)
Contains: (3) Stakes, (1) 50m cable reel of wire, (1) 25m cable reel of wire Already in the Fluke-1623 Kit/Fluke-1625 Kit.
ES-162P4: 4-Pole Stake Kit. (used for both the Fluke-1623 and Fluke-1625)
Contains: (4) Stakes, (1) 50m cable reel of wire, (2) 25m cable reel of wire Already in the Fluke-1623 Kit/Fluke-1625 Kit.
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Marcom material
Distributor product announcement Sales PPT Value selling tool
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Questions
and answers
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