Monday, September 10, 2018

Useful Facts About Hipot Tester

By Paul Olson


The abbreviation used in place of the word high potential is hipot. This term is used in reference to a given group of instruments used for testing electrical safety in electric products. Hipot tester is used to verify the electrical insulation in various wired assemblies including appliances and finished cables. Some of these wired assemblies are printed circuit boards, transformers, and electric motors.

After a product/appliance has been manufactured or assembled, it is usually normal that there will be some level of current leakage. The amount of current leakage experienced is usually minimal and is caused by voltages and internal capacitance within the product. This leakage is normal and should be expected in every device. However, there are certain cases where excessive leakage current flow can occur due to various reasons.

Excess leakage may be caused by break down of insulation in the product, design flaws or many other causes. Such flaws usually lead to excessive current leaking and may cause electrical shock to anyone that comes in contact with the faulty product. The importance of a hipot test is to verify and ensure that the product is sufficiently insulated so as not to cause shock to the operator.

Dielectric Withstanding Voltage (DWV) is another term used in place of the term hipot test. This process involves application of a high voltage between the earth ground shielding and the conductor in the product that carry current. Exposure to excessive voltage causes resultant current flow through the product. A high potential tester is the gadget used in monitoring of this resultant current, which is also called leakage current.

One major assumption is made in hipot testing. The assumption is that by applying excessive voltage, the insulation of the product should break, and if it does not, then the device should work fine under normal conditions. The appliance is supposed to be resilient against normal voltage, which is often applied in ordinary everyday use of most devices. It is this assumption that gives rise to the name Dielectric Withstanding Voltage.

The aim of the test is to stress the insulation used in the product. However, besides stressing the insulation, the test is also used to detect defects in workmanship. The most important aspects of workmanship that are monitored are the small gap spacings that occur between current-carrying conductors and earth ground. Under normal operating environment, these small gaps can be closed by contaminants, shock, vibration, humidity, and dirt.

When these small gaps close, the flow of current is enabled. This flow of current can be a major electrical hazard. Prior to product release into the market, it must be tested verify that such hazards cannot occur. The only applicable method that can be used in the detection of this type of defects is DWV. This is true in spite of there being other viable methods.

A high potential tester is simply and electric device that manufacturers use to verify electrical insulation. It is comprised of a high-voltage source, current meter, and a switching matrix. The matrix is used to connect current meter and voltage source to all contact points in a cable. The testing process may be automated by the inclusion of a microcontroller and display.




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