Megger MIT1020-2, MIT510-2 Application Note
APPLICATION NOTE
5 kV and 10 k Insulation testing
BE ON GUARD FOR EFFECTIVE TESTING
What does a GUARD terminal do?
How does it work?
Why does Megger specify GUARD performance?
Where does this fit in with other instrument specifications?
Testing transformers?
Testing Cables?
Testing bushings on outdoor oil circuit breaker?
What are the real benefits of using the GUARD terminal?
Introduction:
The development of the insulation tester by Evershed &
Vignoles is part of our electrical history. Insulation testers
produced by Megger Instruments in Dover dates back to
before to 1897.
Voltage outputs are now available up to 10 kV to suit all
industrial and commercial applications. On the higher
voltage testers (2.5 – 10 kV), which incorporate very high
insulation ranges, is where the GUARD TERMINAL
becomes a major benefit, when testing various devices
that have long surface leakage areas of insulation.
What does a GUARD terminal do?
During insulation testing we are often so preoccupied with
the resistance of the actual insulator we forget the
resistance path on the outer surface of the insulation
material. However this resistance path is very much a part
of our measurement and can dramatically effect our
measurements. For example if dirt is present on the outer
surface of a bush the surface leakage current can be up to
ten times that flowing through the actual insulation.
The surface leakage is essentially a resistance in parallel
with the true insulation resistance of the material being
tested. By using the guard terminal, performing a so-called
three terminal test, the surface leakage current is ignored.
This may be important when high values of resistance are
expected such as when testing high voltage components
like insulators, bushings and cable. These tend to have
large surface areas that get exposed to contamination
resulting in high surface leakage currents across them.
These include:
Larger diameter cables
Porcelain bushings
Power transformers
H.V. circuit breakers
Such products exhibit long creepage paths across their
insulation by the nature of their size. This will cause the
unwanted surface leakage resistance to introduce errors, and is
the reason the Guard terminal is used to enhance the accuracy
of the measurement.
The total current that flows during an insulation resistance
test is made up of three main components:
1. The charging current, which is charging up the
objects capacitance.
2. An absorption current is the current which is
being drawn into the insulation by the polarising of
the electrons, initially high but drops over time, but
at a slower rate than the charging current
3. The conduction or leakage current which is the
small steady state current which divides into two
parts:
a. The conduction path through the
insulation
b. The current flowing over the surface* of
the insulation.
*Surface leakage is the component of the insulation we do
not want to measure if we just want to measure the
insulation resistance of the material. By using the guard
terminal, which is available on most HV insulation testers,
the surface leakage can be excluded from the measurement.
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Guard Terminal Application Note
5_kV_and_10_kV_IR_ap_en_v01
In applications with lower insulation resistance values
(<100MW), such as in L.V. building wiring applications,
this is not necessary, but with values of insulation above
How does it work?
Here we have a typical application for the GUARD
terminal, testing an HV bushing. Without the GUARD
terminal means that the leakage current flowing though
HV BUSHING UNDE R T EST
Leakage
Current
Through
Bushing
Surface
Leakage
Current
the 100MW as found in H.V. insulation applications the use
of the guard terminal is often very important.
the bushing and across the surface is combined and therefore
measured together by the instrument.
Now with the GUARD terminal now in use:
HV BUSHI NG UNDER TEST
Leakage
Current
Through
Bushing
Surface
Leakage
Current
Wire has been wrapped around the bushing and
connected to the GUARD terminal, now the surface
leakage flows to the GUARD terminal. Current flowing
into the GUARD terminal is NOT measured by the
instrument and so is ignored by the insulation resistance
measurement.
Surface
Leakage
Current n ow
not being
measured
To better understand what is actually happening within the
instrument we can look at the following diagram. Put simply
the insulation tester has three main elements; the H.V. d.c.
current source, the H.V. voltmeter and the current meter. The
insulation resistance measurement is simply ohms law,
measured voltage divided by the measured current. The
GUARD terminal allows leakage current to bypass the current
measurement, and so be ignored in the measurement.
Guard Terminal Application Note
2
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INST RUM ENT CIR CUIT SIM P LIFIED
Instrument
Terminal
BUSHING EQ UIVALENT CIRCUI T
Through Bushing Measured
-
0
.
2
CURRENT ME TER – ONLY
MEASURES C URRENT
THROUGH INSULATION
HV DC
CURRENT
SOURCE
Instrument
Terminal
G
Surface
Leakage
Current
Ignored
5
M
o
h
m
0
.
2
5
M
o
h
m
+
Instrument
Terminal
However the story doesn’t end there, as you can see we
have added example values to the above diagram. In this
circumstance any instrument in the Megger MIT or S1
range of insulation testers will provide measurements
with no more than 2% additional error. This is an
important part of the comprehensive specification these
MIT and S1 5 kV and 10 kV range specify the GUARD
terminal performance as:
2% Error guarding 500 kW leakage with 100 MW load
instruments provide.
Why does Megger specify GUARD performance?
To put it simply it is part of the uncertainty of the
measurement. The more leakage current bypassing the
current measurement means less left to measure. This
then becomes a real test of the instruments ability to
accurately measure this remaining test current and
therefore give an accurate measurement of the insulation
resistance.
The Megger specification reassures the user of its ability to
cope under these conditions and provide meaningful results,
and therefore properly diagnose the true condition of the
insulation. Remember effective predictive maintenance relies
on reliable trending of test results to provide early indication
of failure. Time taken to carefully compensate for temperature
variation can easily be wasted by poor results due to surface
leakage not being correctly guarded.
Where does this fit in with other instrument specifications?
Safety?
These days we are more and more recognising the
importance of test instrument safety. Insulation testers
are not an exception. The complete range of Megger
MIT and S1 5 kV and 10 kV insulation testers are
CATIV 600 V to give the user maximum confidence.
So how does this relate to the performance of the GUARD
terminal? Well, to be able to meet the stringent requirement of
CATIV 600 V set out in IEC1010-1: 2001 the instrument has
to be protected against 8 kV high-energy impulses on ALL
terminals. The challenge is to maintain both impulse
protection and the test performance of the instrument.
MAX ERROR 2 %
Leakage Curre nt
100M ohm
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Guard Terminal Application Note
5_kV_and_10_kV_IR_ap_en_v01
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