Doble Testing Oil

Circuit Breakers

Doble Engineering Company

Dead-Tank Oil Circuit Breaker

Recommended Tests:

Power-Factor
Time & Travel
Contact Resistance

CGE, 253 kV
type FKG
2

Oil Circuit Breaker Tests

In Simplified Terms:
Two Bushings Per Phase
Contact Assembly (Interrupter)
Operating Rod (Vertical or Rotary)
Insulated Guide Assembly (Operating Rod)
A Volume of Oil
Tank Liner
3

Doble Engineering C

Dead Tank Oil

Circuit Breaker

Bushings

Guide Assembly
Tank Liner
Lift Rod Guide
Contact Assembly
(Interrupter)

Lift Rod

Oil

Doble Engineering C

Oil Circuit Breakers

Doble Recommended Tests
(Minimum)
1) Overall Circuit Breaker Test
a. Six Open Breaker (GST)
b. Three Closed Breaker (GST)
2) Tank Loss Index
3) Bushing Tests
4) Oil Sample Test
5) Miscellaneous
6) Diagnostic

Doble Engineering C

Recommended Doble Test Voltages

for Oil Circuit Breakers
Breaker Voltage Rating
15-kV and Above
7.2 and 7.5 kV
5-kV and Below

Doble Engineering C

Test Voltage
10
5
2

Overall Test Procedure

for Oil Circuit Breakers
Test Breaker
No. Position
1
OPEN

Test
Mode
GST

Bushing
Energized
1

Bushing
Floating
2

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

CLOSED

GST

1&2

CLOSED

GST

3&4

CLOSED

GST

5&6

Doble Engineering C

HV Lead

Open Breaker Test

Stresses: 1) 1 Bushing
2) 1 Interrupter
3) Lift Rod Guide
4) Top of Lift Rod

GST Ground
I&W Meter
No LVL Required

GND Lead

Doble Engineering C

Open Breaker Test

Major Contribution of Watts-Loss:
Bushing
Contact Assembly (Interrupter)
Lift-Rod Guide
Upper Lift-Rod

Lesser Contribution of Watts-Loss:

Tank Liner
Oil

Doble Engineering C

HV Lead

Closed Breaker Test

Stresses: 1) 2 Bushing
2) Lower Lift Rod
3) Oil
4) Tank Liner

GST Ground
I&W Meter

Oil
GND Lead

10

Doble Engineering C

Closed Breaker Test

Major Contribution of Watts-Loss:
Bushing (2)
Oil
Lift-Rod
Tank Liner

Lesser Contribution of Watts-Loss:

Contact Assembly (Interrupter)
Lift-Rod Guide

11

Doble Engineering C

Tank Loss Index

Bushings comprise the largest portion of the Insulation System. A bad
bushing will show up in the open and closed tests. To analyze the condition
of the other part of the OCB, the TLI was developed

TLI = Closed Breaker Watts - ( Open Breaker Watts (For Each Phase))
TLI = 2 Bushings + Lower Lift Rod + Oil + Tank Liner
-(2 Bushings + 2 Lift Rod Guides + 2 Top of Lift Rods +2 Interrupters)
= Lower Lift Rod Guide+ Oil +Tank Liner - 2 Interrupters - Lift Rod
Guides - 2 Top of Lift Rods
As a General Rule: TLI Tends to Be Negative

12

Doble Engineering C

Guideline for Investigating Abnormal Tank-Loss Indexes (TLI)

of Oil Circuit Breakers
Tank Loss Index
2.5 kV

Above
-15 mW

Between -10 mW
and -15 mV

-10 mW to +7.5 mW

Between +7.5 mW
and +15 mW

Above
+15 mW

10 kV

Above
-0.20 W

Between -0.10 W
and -0.20 W

-0.10 W to +0.05 W

Between +0.05 W
and +0.10 W

Above
+0.10 W

Normal for most

breaker types. Place
on a normal routine
test schedule.

Retest
on a more
frequent basis.

Investigate
Immediately

Investigate Retest
Immediately on a more
frequent basis.
Lift-Rod guide assembly, contact
assembly (Interrupter), and upper
portion of lift rod.

14

Lift rod, Tank Oil, tank

liner, and auxiliary contact
support insulation.

Doble Engineering C

Tank-Loss Index
Example #1 I(mA)

Watts

%PF

1(OPEN)
1.150
2(OPEN)
1.150
7(CLOSED) 2.300

0.07
0.07
0.11

0.61
0.61
0.50

TLI = 0.11 - (0.07 + 0.07) = -.03

Comments: Test results are normal

15

Doble Engineering C

Tank-Loss Index
Example #2 I(mA)

Watts

%PF

1(OPEN)
1.150
2(OPEN)
1.200
7(CLOSED) 2.300

0.07
0.22
0.13

0.61
1.83
0.56

TLI = 0.13 - (0.07 + 0.22) = -0.16

Comments: High Negative TLI
Wet Interrupter on Bushing No. 2??
High %PF on Bushing No. 2??
Test Bushing to Confirm
16

Tank-Loss Index
Example #3 I(mA)

Watts

%PF

1(OPEN)
1.150
2(OPEN)
1.200
7(CLOSED) 2.350

0.07
0.22
0.26

0.61
1.83
1.11

TLI = 0.26 - (0.07 + 0.22) = -0.03

Comments: Normal TLI
Bushing No. 2 can be contaminated
Test Bushing to Confirm
17

Tank-Loss Index
Example #4
1(OPEN)
2(OPEN)
7(CLOSED)

I(mA)
1.200
1.200
2.300

Watts
0.15
0.15
0.11

%PF
1.25
1.25
0.48

TLI = 0.11-(0.15 + 0.15) = -0.19

18

Comments: High negative TLI

Bushing can be OK. Test to confirm
Possible problems:
deteriorated operating-rod guide
upper portion of lift rod
contaminated interrupters

Tank-Loss Index
Example #5

I(mA) Watts

%PF

1(OPEN)
2(OPEN)
7(CLOSED)

1.150 0.07
1.150 0.07
2.400 0.25

0.61
0.61
1.04

TLI = 0.25 - (0.07 + 0.07) = +0.11 watts

Comments: High Positive TLI
Bushing are OK. Test to Confirm
Possible Problems:
deteriorated operating (lift) rod
contaminated tank liner
contaminated oil
abnormally high contact resistance

19

Tank-Loss Index
Example #6

I(mA)

Watts

%PF

1(OPEN)
2(OPEN)
7(CLOSED)

1.200
1.200
2.400

0.18
0.18
0.40

1.50
1.50
1.67

TLI = 0.40 - (0.18 + 0.18) = +0.04 Watts

Comments: normal positive TLI
Bushings are OK. Test to confirm
Possibly Responsible:
general internal contamination
bushings, test to confirm
contaminated oil, test to confirm
General Maintenance Recommended

20

OCB Test Data Shows Improper Breaker Closing

Open Breaker mA
Test
1
2
3
4
5
6

.282
.294
.283
.303
.279
.303

Watts

% Power
Factor

.035
.038
.029
.041
.035
.040

1.2
1.3
1.0
1.4
1.2
1.3

Closed Breaker Test

Tank 1 .715
Tank 2 .722
Tank 3 .455

21

.081
.076
.42

1.1
1.0
9.2

Application of Surface Guard for Overall Test on Bushings/Breakers

HV Lead

Guard Collar Jumper

Or in GST -Ground with a

Jumper to the Guard Ring

GST Guard
I&W Meter

Oil
GND Lead

22

Doble Engineering C

Investigative tests on Interrupters

Bushing
Power Factors for Interrupters
(a General Guideline)
Good:
10-30%
Questionable/Grey area:
30-50%
Bad:
>50%
Bare Wire
To Hold Foil
in Place

An Alternate Method would be to also

wrap the bottom of the Interrupter with
the breaker in the open position

Household
Tin-Foil
Breaker Closed

23

LV Lead(UST)

Moveable Contact: Energize for Test

Doble Engineering C

OCB Testing Summary

Measure I, W and calculate %PF

Calculate Tank-Loss Index (TLI)

TLI = Closed OCB Watts - Sum 2 Open OCB Watts

%PF corrected using the bushing type and ambient

temperature

Interpret test results on a per phase basis.

24

Doble Engineering C

Doble Testing Gas,

Vacuum and Air Breakers

25

Doble Engineering Company

Grounded Tank SF6 Circuit Breaker

Overall Test Procedure:
Disconnect Buswork
Record: I, W, & C
%PF if I > 300 A
Test results should
compare:

26

ABB 169-PM-40-20

Between phases
Previous tests
Similar units
Tabulated data (TDRB)

Grounded Tank SF6 Circuit

Breaker
Test Procedure

27

Overall tests

Bushing Hot-Collar Tests

Capacitor

Miscellaneous

Diagnostic
Doble Engineering C

Grounded-Tank SF6 Circuit Breakers

Test Voltage
Rated 15 kV and above: 10 kV for all overall tests
Rated <15 kV:
Initial Test:
1. 2 kV: To analyze for low Voltage corona inception
2. Rated L-G Voltage
3. 10% and 25% above rated L-G voltage (A look ahead to future corona
activity)
Routine Follow-Up Tests:
1. 10% and 25% above rated L-G voltage (A look ahead to future corona
activity)
NOTE: Once the voltage at which corona is detected is found, routine tests
should be performed at the voltage at a point below the inception voltage
for future routine tests

28

Overall Test Procedure for

Grounded Tank SF6 Breakers
Test Breaker
No. Position
1
OPEN

Test
Bushing Bushing
Mode Energized Floating
GST
1
2

Bushing
UST
-

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

UST

OPEN

UST

OPEN

UST

Certain Breakers by ABB, Gould, ITE, Westinghouse, and High Voltage Breakers, Inc,
have internal insulators and supports that are not stressed in the open breaker position
and test 7,8,9 need to be repeated in the GST-Ground Mode with the breaker closed

29

Supplementary Tests on
Grounded Tank SF6 Circuit Breakers
with Internal Support Insulator Columns
Test Breaker
No. Position
1
CLOSED

Test
Bushing Bushing
Mode Energized Floating
GST
1&2
-

Bushing
UST
-

CLOSED

GST

3&4

CLOSED

GST

5&6

30

Doble Engineering C

Dead Tank SF6 Breaker Testing GST-Mode

HV Lead

Stresses
1) Bushings
2) Support Insulators
Ground Lead

31

Doble Engineering C

Dead Tank SF6: Open Breaker UST Test

LV Lead

HV Lead

Stresses
1) Gas
2) Grading Capacitors
and Resistors

32

Doble Engineering C

Ground Lead

Testing a Ground-Tank SF6 Breaker in the Closed position GST

to measure intermediate Supports

HV Lead

To test this insulator

the breaker needs
to be tested in the
closed position by
the GST-Ground
Circuit

33

Ground Lead

Doble Engineering C

Analysis of Test Results: Grounded-Tank SF6

Open Breaker Tests

I, W, %PF
Depending on the magnitude of the charging current Power Factor may or may
not be important. A small charging current would tend to skew the Power Factor
results and more emphasis should be given to watts-loss
Due to the wide range of contacts, grading capacitors, grading resistors that
are available in SF6 breakers, data should be compared to the Test-DataReference-Book, similar units and previous results

Closed Breaker Tests

I, W, and %PF
Results are compared with the Test-Data Reference Book and Previous Results
on a per phase basis.

34

Doble Engineering C

Additional Tests on Grounded-Tank SF6

Breakers

If moisture is suspect due to high watts/%PF, cycling the breaker several times
might improve the reading. Conduct a DEW POINT analysis to confirm the
presence of moisture

If bushings are equipped with Potential Taps/Test Taps, conduct the normal
battery of bushing tests

SF6 filled bushings should be tested by the Single-Hot Collar Method or by the
Multiple-Hot Collar Method. The presence of contamination or cracks along
the inside weathershed could be detected. Compare these results to similar
units but a SHC test should yield less than 0.1 Watts in favorable atmospheric
conditions

Consider performing the test at multiple voltages to see if the problem is

voltage sensitive.

35

Doble Engineering C

Test Data BBC 121-PM-40-20B

36

Doble Engineering C

Vacuum Breaker (AEG 13.2 kV )

37

Doble Engineering C

Vacuum Breakers and Reclosers

Test Voltage
Rated 15 kV and above: 10 kV for all overall tests
Rated <15 kV:
Initial Test
1. Low Voltage (2 kV). To analyze for low voltage corona inception
2. Rated L-G Voltage
3. 10% and 25% above rated. L-G voltage (A look ahead to future corona
activity)
Routine Follow-Up Tests
1. 10% and 25% above rated L-G voltage (A look ahead to future corona
activity)
NOTE: For 15 kV vacuum breakers operating at 13.8 kV, the initial series of tests should
be conducted at 2, 8, 8.8, to 10 kV.
The highest voltage were there is no appreciable Corona should be used for future testing.

38

Overall Test Procedure for

Vacuum Breakers/Reclosers

39

Test
No.

Breaker
Position

Test
Mode

Bushing
Bushing
Energized Floating

Bushing
UST

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

GST
GST
GST
GST
GST
GST
UST
UST
UST

1
2
3
4
5
6
1
3
5

2
4
6

Doble Engineering C

2
1
4
3
6
5
-

Analysis of Test Results: Vacuum Breakers

Open Breaker Tests

I, W (Charging Current is expected to be small so Power Factor is

not calculated)
The current and watts for Tests 1-6 are compared with each other,
with previous results, and other similar breakers on the system
The Watts-Loss should be compared to the Test Data Reference
Book
Under Dry Conditions Vacuum Bottles should have losses
approaching zero for tests 7-9. Compare phases to each other
If High UST losses are present, a defective bottle or surface
conditions

Troubleshooting steps

40

Clean the surface of the bottle

Apply Heat to the bottle
Use a guard collar

Doble Engineering C

Overall Test Procedure for Air

Magnetic Breakers

41

Test
No.

Breaker
Position

Test
Mode

Bushing
Bushing
Energized Guarded

Bushing
UST

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN
OPEN

GST
GST
GST
GST
GST
GST
UST
UST
UST

1
2
3
4
5
6
1
3
5

2
4
6

Doble Engineering C

2
1
4
3
6
5
-

Test Procedure for Low-Voltage

Air-Blast Breakers
Test

Breaker

Test

Bushing

Bushing

No.

Position

Mode

Energized Floating

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

OPEN

GST

Test Voltage 15 kV Class and Below (Above 15 kV use 10 kV as Test Voltage)

42

OPEN

Initial Test
1. Some Low voltage below Corona inception
7
CLSD
2. L-to-G
3. 10% and 25% above rated L-to-G

CLSD

GST
GST
GST

1,2

3,4

Routine Test
1. 10% and 25% above Rated L-to-G

Live-Tank Circuit Breakers

Overall Test Procedure:
Disconnect Bus-work
Record: I, W, & C
%PF if I > 300 A
Test results should
compare:

43

Between phases
Previous tests
Similar units
Tabulated data (TDRB)

Doble Engineering C

Live-Tank Breakers with

Multiple Columns
Each individual contact
should be tested
(UST method)
Each support column
should be tested
(GST-Guard)

CGE
AT, 250 kV

44

Live-Tank T and Y Module Breakers (Air and SF6 Types)

R1

S1

C1

C3
C4

C2

I3

45

R2

S2

R3

C1 and C3 = Entrance Bushings

C2 and C4 = Grading Capacitors (across
interrupters contacts)
S1 and S2 = Pre-insertion resistors switches
R1 and R2 = Pre-insertion resistors
I3
= Vertical Insulator Column
R3
= Gas or air-supply tube, operating
Rod, and other column

Testing T and Y Modules

Test Voltage: 10 kV
Test Procedure

46

Test
No.

Test
Mode

Energize

Ground Guard UST

Measure

UST

----

C1+C2+(R1+S1)

UST

----

C3+C4+(R2+S2)

GST

---

A,B

----

I3+R3

Doble Engineering C

Test Procedure T Live Tank Breaker: Test No. 1 and No. 2

For Tests 1 and 2 the position of the LV Lead
and the GRD Lead are simply swapped

R1

HV Lead

S1

R2

S2

C1

C3

C2

C4

HV Lead

LV Lead

GRD Lead

UST Mode
LV Lead

I3

R3
GRD Lead

47

Doble Engineering C

Test Procedure T Live Tank Breaker: Test No. 3

By switching both LV Leads to Guard mode, only the
leakage path to ground is measured: I3 and R3
HV Lead
R1

R2

S2

C1

C3

C2

C4

LV Lead (Blue)

48

HV Lead

S1

I3

R3

LV Lead (Blue)
LV Lead (RED)

Doble Engineering C

LV Lead (Red)

GST-Guard
Mode

Analysis of Results: T and Y Module

Breakers

49

The effects of the preinsertion resisters (R1 and R2) and the
switches (S1 and S2) are negligible
Entrance Bushings/grading capacitors are rated on the basis
of capacitance and power factor
High Losses indicate deterioration or contamination of the
grading capacitors but may be the result of surface leakage
on the bushings
High losses on the column indicate moisture which may have
condensed on the internal tube and rods. Operate several
times and retest

Doble Engineering C