Basic insulation testing

By ?
AVO

ABSTRACT: What does the measurement tell me? Fundamentally, how "good"
the insulation is, and by extension, the overall condition of the piece
of electrical... Use of Megger devices
URL: www.avointl.com/products/insulation/xtra/faq/theory1.html
Last modified 6-Oct-98 - page size 36K - in English [ Translate ]

What does the measurement tell me?

Fundamentally, how "good" the insulation is, and
by extension, the overall condition of the piece of
electrical equipment. Insulation is constantly
stressed over its life. Dirt, moisture, oil, corrosion,
vibration, electrical spikes and surges, mechanical
stresses from pulling and tugging, and many other
factors add up to deteriorate insulation. This can be
catastrophic, as by flooding, but is more likely to be
a slow, steady decline over time. The remaining life
of the equipment could be in years or decadesor it
could be about to break down at the next startup.
Brand-new electrical equipment will typically have
insulation resistance values in many millions of
Ohms, but by the time that gets down to a few Megohms, the item will be approaching a critical status.
Insulation measurements, especially if they've been
repeated and recorded over time, enable the operator to determine where the test item is on the resistance-time graph, and take appropriate action.
I have begun to perform a test, and the readings keep changing; what is the actual measurement?
The experienced operator barely notices this, but
it can be very confusing and frustrating to someone
who is used to working with common multimeters,
which tend to give a stable reading almost immediately. With an analog insulation tester, the pointer,
upon initiation of a test, will peg sharply toward the
low end, then begin to drift fairly steadily and
slowly back toward infinity, its rest position. Digital
models do also, but it's much harder to observe a
time trend on a digital, which produces only "dancing" numbers, than on an analog, where pointer
"travel" is nicely observable. This is the basic reason
why experienced operators tend to prefer, and often
insist upon, an analog meter. What is going on here?
The phenomenon being observed is the effect of
charging currents. Put simply, the test voltage pulls
not only the resistive ("leakage") current in which

the operator is most interested, but also a capacitive

and an absorptive current. Both of these are determined by the basic design of the test item, and are
not "problems" (except to the test measurement). A
large capacitance is found in cables with long runs
of parallel conductors, wire harnesses, items with
large windings, like motors, generators and transformers, and the like. The designer would like the
current to flow neatly in the direction of the circuit,
but if it lies next to another wire or another turn of
the same winding, the current would cut straight
across ("short circuit") if it were not prevented from
doing so by the insulation. This creates a kind of
"bias" in the direction of the voltage field and if, as
an example, there are a large number of turns in a
winding, it can take a considerable current to charge
the resultant capacitance. Absorption, on the other
hand, occurs in the insulating material rather than
the circuitry. It is also a charging current, but is
caused by the molecular realignment of the insulating material itself under the influence of the applied
voltage field, similar to the way iron filings will line
up on a surface when a field is created. But since insulation is a poor conductor, while circuitry is a
good conductor, absorption is slow and capacitance
is quick. The tester does not distinguish between
these components, but simply measures the total
current flow. As a result, the capacitive charging
briefly drives the resistance down and pegs the meter, then the much slower absorptive charging takes
over, and the pointer gradually rises as this diminishes.
So what is the correct reading? They all are, at
their particular point in time! But the operator's concern is with the leakage current, as it is this that is a
measurement of the equipment's relative condition,
while its capacitance and absorption are largely
fixed at the time of manufacture. How does the
skilled operator handle this? The easy case is where
the test item is small and of comparatively simple
design. Once the test item has become fully charged,
the measurement is essentially composed entirely of
the desired leakage current. The reading has stabilized. But the problem is that with large equipment,

this can take a prohibitively long timeeven hours.

The pointer may slow to where it appears to have
reached a "once-and-for-all" value, but this may not
be so. It may merely have slowed, like a clock hand,
to where it is no longer apparent to the eye. For
practical reasons, the operator may not want to wait
until the test goes to its fully charged condition. The
best way to deal with this depends on the goal of the
test.
The simpler case is that of an installation test,
where the operator only wants to "meet spec" or determine that the insulation is "good". In that case,
why wait for higher and higher readings? Once an
acceptable value is reached, terminate the test! If an
independent measurement has to be made, such as
for preventive maintenance records, and the equipment takes prohibitively long to charge, the solution
is to standardize. Select an appropriate time interval
(from initiation of the test), and stick to it. Wait until
the digits stabilize or the pointer appears to "stop",
then round off to a convenient test interval. Commonly, 30 seconds or a minute will do. Picture the
typical time-resistance curve, with insulation resistance rising steadily with test time. Good insulation
will commonly exceed critical breakdown values by
many powers of ten. In order to make an intelligent
judgment about the electrical condition of the test
item, it is not necessary to measure to the extreme
value, taking more and more time for smaller and
smaller increases. Rather, it is the relative information which can be gained from practical test methods
that provides the most effective diagnostic tool. A
decline from 5000 to 4000 M* can be just as informative as one from 50,000 to 40,000. Standardizing
on the time interval will assure that you are always
working from the same point on the time-resistance
curve.
Won't this voltage damage my equipment?
No. Insulation testing is specifically devised as a
convenient means of prolonging equipment life. The
common concern over high-voltage tests damaging
equipment arises primarily from a confusion with
AC proof testing that is performed on newlymanufactured equipment at the factory. This latter
type of testing is deliberately stressful, being done at
large over-voltages with AC testers that pull high
capacitive charging currents. The intent of this type
of testing is to expose poorly manufactured items or
faulty designs that could prove an embarrassment or
liability to the manufacturer. Once in service, however, equipment is not intended to be battered with
repeated AC high-pot testing. It is then that DC insulation testing, as provided by Megger Insulation
Testers, is brought into use.
The DC insulation tester is intended to be nondestructive so that it may be employed repeatedly on
the same test item, in order to track and trend the de-

cline of insulation values with normal use, without

contributing to that decline. The test item is capacitively charged only once, at the inception of the test,
not fully stressed over every half cycle as with an
AC tester. The test current is limited, so that even
shorted items do not experience a cascading rush of
current. The voltage output is designed so that it is
maintained at the selected value over the entire highresistance range, and does not "load down" to give
inaccurate readings of high resistance. But at the low
end, on deteriorated test items, voltage drops, commensurate with the lowered resistance and limited
available current. The Megger tester does not "cook"
the test item, as will an AC high-pot, but permits the
operator to recognize a problem, retrieve the equipment before it fails, and perform maintenance to put
it back into service.
How do I interpret my readings; is the test item
"good" or "bad"?
There are many sources of information, a good bit
of operator judgment, and to an extent the nature of
the test objectives, involved in the interpretation of
readings.
Evaluation is, in general, simpler for installation
or proof testing than for periodic maintenance. Installation checks are likely to be made against an
external pass/fail value imposed by a client or
agency, so that the operator need only meet that
value and the test can be terminated. In proof testing
a finished job, where equipment and wiring are
brand new, test values are likely to reach "infinity"
(*), or close to it. Skinned wires or faulty equipment
are likely to be shorted out, and read at the opposite
(near zero) end of the scale. Good/bad determinations are comparatively easy in these situations.
For maintenance testing, however, the task becomes more complicated. In such cases, actual resistance values have to be interpreted (and presumably recorded), and the operator will be called upon
to use experience and judgment. Probably the best
source of information in this application is the record of prior tests. It is more significant to look for
change in resistance readings than to rely on the actual numerical value. This is because insulation
tends to deteriorate steadily over time, and not necessarily to fail all at once. What constitutes a "good"
piece of equipment, therefore, is somewhat situational. The test item may run well if immediately
energized, but if it fails in a couple of weeks, or a
few months, it can hardly be said to have been
"good" at the time of test. Thorough interpretation of
readings will enable the operator to make such determinations. Prior test results are specific to that
particular item, and therefore the most reliable. A
piece of equipment may have widely distributed low
levels of leakage throughout the insulation that may
yield a relatively low value, but do not represent

deterioration or damage. If the item has been functioning adequately since its last scheduled test, and
the readings are consistent, there is no cause for
alarm. On the other hand, a dramatic or marked decrease from a very high value, even though the present reading is still quite high, indicates that something is effecting the insulation negatively. If not
halted, continued decline and the eventual failure of
the equipment well ahead of normal life can be expected.
The availability of prior records, unfortunately, is
a luxury. Frequently, one must function without
them. In such cases, other, more general, sources
must be used as resources. Manufacturer's specifications, of course, would be a prime example, but they
are often difficult to obtain, and still require interpretation of change unless testing brand new equipment. For more general applicability, independent
standards agencies are excellent sources, and always
available in some manner or other. Familiar organizations like IEEE, UL, ANSI, IEC, and so on, issue
written standards for testing various categories of
equipment and materials. If you are testing motors,
you may consult IEEE; for wire and cable, IEEE or
IPCEA (Insulated Power Cable Engineers Association); for materials, ANSI; for electrical consumer
goods, UL. Many others exist in addition to the few
mentioned. Often, there are formulas available by
which you may calculate minimum acceptable resistance values for different types of insulation and
equipment.
A convenient and simple method of interpreting a
test is to employ an industry-accepted standard test
method that includes a built-in result determination.
Such widely-known methods as the PI (Polarization
Index) and Step Voltage tests can be evaluated independently of any external standard or previous data.
They work by taking advantage of the difference in
behaviors exhibited by healthy and deteriorated insulation during the time of the test. By comparing
readings at different times or stages of a single test
and reducing the comparison to a ratio or number,
the operator is provided with a ready reference upon
which to base a judgment about the insulation's condition.
At the very least, and in the absence of any other
recourse, the industry has gotten reasonable success
from using the so-called "One Megohm Rule",
which states than a minimum acceptable insulation
resistance value should be equivalent to one M* per
kV of rated operating voltage, not to be less than one
M* (that is to say, familiar 120 & 240 V equipment
should exhibit at least 1 M*). If the test item reads
less than this, it's time for maintenance and/or repair!
If higher, it will probably run, but unless there's a
history to predict a trend, the question remains as to
how long.
What is a PI (Polarization Index)?

This is a popular standard test procedure. It is recognized throughout the industry, and was not devised by Megger Instruments merely for the use of
our models. It is a specialized version of the more
general testing technique called the "dielectric absorption ratio". In this technique, insulation resistance readings are taken at two fixed times during
the progress of a single test, with the first reading
being divided into the second to yield a ratio. A Polarization Index is specifically a 1-minute reading
divided into a 10-minute reading. Other time intervals can be used for convenience, in which case the
test becomes a more generic dielectric absorption
ratio, but not a PI.
The PI test works because of the notable difference in ratios of leakage and charging currents between "good" and "bad" insulation. When in good
condition, insulation passes very little leakage current in comparison to the charging currents that are
pulled as a result of basic design. When insulation
deteriorates, however, this relationship inverts.
Leakage becomes large compared to charging, and
masks the charging effect. Deteriorated insulation
maintains a relatively constant current, much like a
circuit, as the applied test voltage pulls current
through the imperfections in the insulation. Charging
current is small by comparison, and so a reading
taken at 10 minutes is nearly the same as one taken
at 1 minute, and the ratio tends to approach "1".
Pristine insulation, on the other hand, will exhibit a
rising resistance throughout a test, as the charging
currents go to completion and the leakage remains
small. Such a PI, therefore, will be calculated from a
second reading that is much higher than the first, and
the ratio will be large.
The PI test has a number of advantages: it is independent of extraneous influences like temperature,
and is self-contained; it does not rely on actual values, and does not need any external reference; because it is standardized and universally recognized,
results can easily be compared, even if performed by
different persons at different times; the calculated
ratio provides a ready means of evaluation, independent of any reference sources; the test can be performed on large equipment relatively quickly and
easily.
Because it merely takes advantage of readings at
two different times within a single test, there is no
need to correct to a common temperature. The actual
values of the readings are of lesser significance,
since 50 Megohms into a hundred will yield the
same interpretation as five hundred into a thousand.
Large, complex equipment, like generators, can require prohibitive test times by other methods, because the large windings will have lots of capacitance and can charge for hours. Again, because it is
looking only for difference and does not rely on actual numbers, a PI can perform a reliable test in a

relatively few minutes. Large test items may also

have high operating voltages which would require
excessive or undesired test voltages to be applied if
the standard rules for "high-potting" were to be followed. If pervasive problems like moisture or contamination are suspected, an effective PI can be performed at a test voltage less than the rating of the
test item. And because, by definition, everyone does
a PI in the same way (you do have to make sure of
consistent test voltage, however), reports from separate sources can readily be compared, even by third
parties.
PI values of less than 1 indicate the equipment is
about to fail. Between 1 and 2 indicates that the
equipment is due for maintenance. Retesting would
then be expected to improve the PI. The basic design
of the equipment has to be considered, however.
Short runs of wiring or small items without much
capacitance will exhibit low PI values merely because they have reached full charge before 10 minutes, limiting the amount of resistance rise over the
course of the test. Values of 2 to 4 generally indicate
good equipment for which no immediate action is
necessary. Preventive maintenance can be scheduled
at some convenient time, based on the overall work
load. Values above 4 indicate excellent equipment
for which no action is likely to be necessary within
the immediate maintenance schedule. Again, the operator may be called upon to make critical judgments, however. A sudden increase in PI greater
than 20%, without any maintenance having been
performed, should serve as a warning. Insulation
may hold its value for long periods, but is not likely
to dramatically improve all by itself! Rather, certain
types of equipment, such as motor windings, can become dry and brittle with age. These tend to show
high resistance until stressed, when they will break
down much more readily than healthy equipment.
Again, a closer examination is called for in cases
where a PI increases sharply from previous values
(unless, of course, maintenance has been performed
which will account for the improvement).
A PI test is a particularly effective and convenient
way of revealing moisture and contamination in insulation, because such widely-dispersed defects will
hold down the normal resistance rise with time upon
which the test is based. It is important for the insulation tester to have a high measurement range, as new
equipment in good condition will give very high resistance readings. In order to perform the PI calculation, you want to have a second measurement at 10
minutes, and not just an overrange symbol. Select
the type of power supply judiciously, as a batterypowered model may be much preferable to operating
a hand-crank for the duration of the test! Easiest of
all is to use a model BM25, which offers an automatic, voltage-selectable Polarization Index test. All
you need do is select, choose test voltage, energize,
and you are free to perform other work! The BM25

will run the entire test automatically, calculate the

PI, and exhibit all the relevant test data in scroll
fashion (until the sleeper circuit finally shuts down
the display).
What is a step-voltage test?
Like the Polarization Index, a Step-Voltage test is
an industry-recognized standard test procedure, devised to facilitate insulation testing. It has similar
advantages to the PI: free of temperature effect, no
need for resistance value references or previous test
records, a self-contained test with repeatability that
can serve as its own common point of reference
when comparing results. Unlike the PI and most
common methods, Step Voltage takes advantage of
variances in test voltage rather than duration or interval. It is a reliable method for spotting pervasive
damage due to moisture or contamination, but will
also reveal localized physical damage like pinholes,
cracks, skinned wires, and tracking, along with dried
out and brittle windings. These latter problems may
pass a single-voltage test without notice, but tend to
break down under stress of increasing voltage.
As any self-contained test, the Step Voltage takes
advantage of the differences exhibited by healthy
and deteriorated insulation under a standard test
condition. Healthy insulation will stand up under increases in voltage (within the specified limits of the
piece of equipment), and yield fairly consistent
readings. Poor insulation, however, will pass more
and more leakage current as voltage is raised,
stressing more and more imperfections in the insulating material. Contrast this behavior with timeresistance methods, which tend to increase in resistance if insulation is "good", but remain "flat" if it is
deteriorated. Under Step Voltage, "good" insulation
will remain relatively flat if graphed, while "bad" insulation will show a marked downward trend.
The actual details of the method may be limited
by the available voltages on the tester. Megger Insulation Testers do have the advantage of offering
discrete voltage selections, so that the operator need
only engage the voltages in succession and enjoy the
assurance that the same voltages are being applied
each time the test is repeated. Continuouslyadjustable insulation testers ("megohmmeters") can
certainly be used to perform Step Voltage, but they
do suffer from the need to be manually set by the
operator, which can be tedious and time-consuming,
and a source of possible inconsistency or error.
There is nothing wrong with tailoring a Step Voltage
test to the realities of available time and test equipment, so long as that "tailoring" is documented for
consistency in subsequent testing. General industry
procedure, however, calls for a one-to-five ratio in
voltage steps (say, 500 to 2500), applied at oneminute intervals. Time must be allowed for readings
to "stabilize", as new charging currents will be

pulled with each successive increase in voltage. The

readings are then recorded at each voltage, and
evaluated for trend. In general, if a deviation of 25%
in resistance measurements is observed over the
range of successive voltages, it is an indication of
the presence of moisture or other contamination. Localized physical damage may be further revealed by
breakdown or arcing. This condition can be anticipated by a "stuttering" or "jittery" pointer movement
as the breakdown voltage is neared. It may be desirable to terminate the test at such point, before insulation breakdown further deteriorates the condition
of the test item.
Step Voltage testing is another method that can be
used effectively on equipment of very high operating
voltage, where another method may require a tester
of inappropriately high output. Step Voltage testing
at voltages below rated will still reveal pervasive
problems like moisture. Localized mechanical damage is better revealed by stress voltages ("highpotting"). The choice between these two levels of
test voltage may be based on the expectations of the
test, and the anticipated problems in the test item.
The Model BM25 also makes Step Voltage testing
easy, with an automatic test selection. Either a 2.5
kV or 5 kV test can be selected, with the tester
automatically ramping up to the voltage maximum
in five one-minute intervals. The data will be taken
at each interval, and all displayed in succession at
the termination of the test.
Can I just take a single reading?
Yes, but exercise caution! Naturally, almost anyone's first inclination is to take an instrument from
the box, hook it up, test and read. This simple practice is reinforced by the use of common multimeters,
which, generally speaking, can be utilized in many
applications in essentially that manner. But it can be
a self-defeating habit with an insulation tester because, unlike the use of most other types of instrumentation, an insulation test is a dynamic test. The
readings change during the course of the test, because the test item changes under the influence of
the test voltage. It charges. As the test item charges,
the resistance in this circuit increases. The tester and
test item are in a dynamic relationship, one influencing the other, so that a typical graph of the resistance readings against time from the initiation of the
test, for healthy insulation, would be a rising curve.
This change may eventually slow to the point that it
is no longer visible to the eye, but may still be behaving much like a clock hand. You cannot see the
movement, but if you were to go away, then return,
the reading would be higher than when you last
looked. Doing no more than hooking the tester up
and taking a spot reading puts the measurement at an
arbitrary point on the time-resistance curve. Two
operators independently performing the same test on

the same piece of equipment may get considerably

different readings for no other reason than that the
readings were taken at different time intervals from
the initiation of the test. This is a superimposed effect upon the basic measurement of the item's condition. It can lead to erroneous interpretations that
one piece of equipment is "not as good" as another,
when in fact all that was observed was the time effect.
This type of measurement is referred to as a
"Spot-Reading" test. It can be effectively used, so
long as the extraneous factors are understood and
controlled. Obviously, foremost is the time factor.
Spot-reading tests must always be adjusted to a constant time interval. Don't just wait until the reading
"stabilizes" to record it, because different operators
will have different concepts of a "stabilized" reading, and so will enter test results from different
points on the same time-resistance curve. Rather,
observe the time from the initiation of the test, wait
until the reading stabilizes, but then round off to the
nearest convenient time interval before recording the
result, and make this the standard for all subsequent
tests. Intervals of 30 seconds or a minute are commonly employed. This should then be recorded in
the test data, and become part of the standard operating procedure (S.O.P.) for that piece of equipment.
Other test items may need different test intervals
because they may take longer to stabilize. But so
long as a constant time interval is observed, SpotReading tests can be effective and useful. If the application is an installation check, once the pass/fail
requirement has been achieved, the test need no
longer be continued. Time interval is not significant
in this instance. If the required value is not going to
be reached, this can be determined by continuing the
test for another standard time interval and observing
that there has been no change. If the application is a
maintenance test, then correct procedure and recording of data are critical. For maintenance purposes, it is the change in resistance values from one
test to the next that is significant. So long as the time
interval is properly observed, readings can be safely
compared. A decline in resistance at the 30-second
point will be equally reflected by a decline at the 1minute point, so the conclusions are valid. Just don't
let carelessness provoke a situation where 30-second
readings are unknowingly being compared to 1minute readings.
Also, don't overlook temperature (and to a lesser
extent humidity) conditions. These can have superimposed effects upon the values being sought, much
like the time interval. Readings taken at different
temperatures will be different simply because of
temperature effect, even if the insulation is the same.
They should be corrected to a common temperature
base before being evaluated and compared. This is
done quite simply by use of a multiplier, readily
available from engineering tables and handbooks.

Our convenient and popular insulation-testing manual, "A Stitch In Time", contains a table. Remember
that it isn't just ambient temperature that must be
taken into account, but operating temperature as
well. A piece of equipment that has been up and
running prior to the performance of an insulation test
will yield a much lower reading than the same piece
of equipment had it been tested while idle. Operating
temperatures may be found with the specifications of
the test item, or may be measured at the time of test,
such as with an infrared heat-sensing gun. In the absence of any specifications or testing instruments, an
experienced judgment of a piece of equipment's running temperature can serve nearly as well. Humidity
cannot be quantized in its effects as can temperature,
because different types and conditions of insulation
will take up moisture to varying extents. But it may
prove worthwhile to record an estimate of relative
humidity at test time, because it may help to explain
deviations from the expected measurements.
Spot-reading tests may be all that are necessary
for small equipment, because such items can reach
their fully-charged condition shortly after initiation
of the test, and therefore exhibit little time-resistance
effect. A reading taken 30 seconds into the test may
be all that the test item will ever show. Standard test
procedures must still be observed, however, to prevent assumption from leading to error. Spot-Reading
tests are facilitated on Megger Models BM11D,
BM21, and BM25, by a digital clock right on the
display, which starts from zero upon initiation of the
test. The latter two models also have a control function permitting pre-setting of the time interval up to
90 minutes. The tester will automatically terminate
the test at the prescribed time and retain the data on
the display until shut down by the sleeper circuit.
The Spot-Reading test is generally the quickest
and easiest to utilize, and if properly performed, can
be a reliable and useful method.
What about the humidity?
Humidity has an effect upon insulation resistance,
but it cannot be quantified as neatly as can temperature effect. This is because different types of insulation will absorb moisture to varying degrees, as will
varying ages and conditions of the same type. So the
best that can be said is that humidity is a factor that
should not be overlooked when evaluating test results. Unlike temperature, humidity's effect is not a
constant gradient. So long as the temperature remains above the dew point, humidity will not appreciably effect insulation readings. However, at the
dew point, microscopic condensation can form in the
cracks and crevices in the insulation surface without
being noticeable to the touch, and this accumulation
will accommodate leakage current and bring down
readings. Aged and dirty insulation may aggravate
this effect because certain lints, acids, and salts are

what is known as "hygroscopic" or "deliquescent"

materials which have the property of absorbing
moisture. And while this effect cannot practically be
measured, its possible presence should be noted,
even if no more than the operator's judgment of the
ambient condition. It is for this purpose that some
thorough operating procedures call for the inclusion
of an actual dew-point measurement, in order to assess the possibility of such an adverse condition prevailing. All information can be put to good use, and
having some indication of the ambient humidity
conditions can help in making a determination when
some question of interpretation remains after all
other data has been considered.
Are all the models DC?
Emphatically! A complete review of the differences between testing with AC and with DC are beyond the scope of this tutorial, and are not entirely
agreed upon by the "experts". But for the practical
purposes of maintenance testing, it can be said that
DC provides a non-destructive test, while AC can be
potentially damaging. A Megger Insulation Tester
provides a highly-regulated, stable test voltage, free
of the spikes and sine wave irregularities characteristic of AC. It has the dual advantages of providing a
capable measurement parameter for maximum accuracy in the resistance measurement, while permitting
the specimen to be tested without damage. Since we
promote the concept of predictive maintenance
based on regularly scheduled testing to "head off"
potential breakdown, it would be self-defeating, and
indeed virtually hypocritical, if the tester were at the
same time diminishing the life of the equipment it is
supposed to protect!
By contrast, AC testing is a "hammer", done primarily to "weed out" defective product. An AC test,
commonly referred to as a "high-pot" or "dielectric
withstand" test, is better suited to stress insulation
than to measure it. AC voltage, with its spikes, sine
wave distortions, and constantly reversing polarity,
will reveal weak spots in design or production by
breaking them down, or arcing to ground. It is for
this reason that quality-specifying and safety-testing
agencies, such as UL, did not necessarily specify
pass/fail values for leakage current. If the test item
survived, it passed. This type of test is valuable in
preventing an embarrassing or liable specimen of
product from reaching customers, and so is used as a
one-time QC test by manufacturers.
Whereas a DC insulation tester supplies the operator with a resistance value, from which the operator makes a decision on the course of action, an
AC high-pot makes the "decision" itself, by means
of a pass/fail trip. Failed items are then recycled
through the manufacturing or repair processes, or
discarded. An AC high-pot does have limited use in
troubleshooting situations, but generally requires a

well-trained and knowledgeable operator. It is clear

that for routine preventive maintenance, installation
checks, proofing a job, repairing faulted equipment,
and most troubleshooting applications, a DC test is
the only way to go.
What is a Teraohm? Gigohm?
These terms weren't commonly found not so many
years back, but they're rapidly creeping into the lexicon. The familiar unit of measurement in insulation
testing is, of course, the MegOhm (M*). For those
just starting work today, this is a million Ohms. Because its function is to contain electric flow, keeping
it within a defined circuit and nowhere else, insulation must exhibit a very high resistancein millions of
Ohms (or more). With the advancement of technology, demands for the capability to measure higher
and higher resistance values have necessitated the
use of Gigohms (G*) and Teraohms (T*). These are
not such familiar symbols, and may leave the uninitiated scratching their heads, or thinking "misprint".
Actually, their integration into common usage is
quite easy; they are merely powers of a thousand: a
"Gig" is a thousand "Meg", and a Teraohm is a thousand "Gig" (a million "Meg"). They are the "macro"
counterparts of "nano" and "pico", respectively.
Do you provide information on testing in general and preventive maintenance in particular?
Certainly! Just ask for "A Stitch In Time" This
popular little manual (Cat. No. AVTM21-P8b) has
been around for decades, but is periodically reissued
to keep it up-to-date. It provides a handy reference
(72 pp.) covering the basics of insulation testing.
Topics include fundamentals of insulation and how
to test it, basics of instrumentation, interpretation of
readings and factors that effect them, testing parameters and standard test procedures, safety precautions, test setups, and valuable tables and graphs.
It is readily available from our factory location, or
through your preferred distributor.