Tech Quiz #92
by Jim White, Shermco Industries
This edition of TechQuiz covers medium-voltage circuit breakers. These are very
common devices, at least to NETA technicians. Probably very few “normal” people
would even recognize them as circuit breakers. Test your circuit breaker IQ.
1. When is the danger of an arc flash the greatest for
drawout circuit breakers?
a. When opening the circuit breaker
b. When closing the circuit breaker
c. When racking the circuit breaker in
d. When racking the circuit breaker out
e. Both C and D
2. What electrical test can help determine the condition of
the contact pivot’s lubrication state?
a. Insulation power factor
b. Contact resistance
c. Insulation resistance
d. Vacuum bottle integrity test
e. DC overpotential
tests measures the insulation quality across the arc chute.
ity from each pole unit to ground and the ungrounded-specimen
5. a. The guarded-specimen tests measure the insulation qual-
yourself and the bottle being tested.
small and can be blocked by putting the circuit breaker between
ing the vacuum bottle integrity test. The amount of radiation is
4. c. X-rays could be released if a vacuum bottle fails dur-
is used when the device being tested is mostly resistive.
3. c. According to Doble® Engineering, insulation watts-loss
can be seen to increase each year the circuit breaker is in service.
the resistance of the pivot increases. If this is trended the resistance
heat created by current passing through the contact structures),
vision. As the lubricants in the contact pivot dry out (from the
2. b. The contact resistance test is almost like having x-ray
there is an increased hazard from arc flash.
is made or broken (and there are no arc chutes or extinguishers),
ing out, presents the greatest hazard. Whenever a bus connection
1. e. Racking the circuit breaker, whether racking in or rack-
Answers
www.netaworld.org Summer 2010 NETA WORLD
3. When evaluating insulation-resistance test results on
a medium-voltage, air-magnetic circuit breaker, what
quantity is evaluated?
a. Percent power factor
b. Capacitance
c. Insulation watts-loss
d. Megohms
4. What dangerous energy could be released during a
vacuum bottle integrity test?
a. Gamma rays
b. Nuclear radiation
c. X-rays
d. None
e. Both A and C
5. What are the insulation power-factor tests typically
performed on a medium-voltage, air-magnetic circuit
breaker?
a. Six guarded-specimen tests and three
ungrounded-specimen tests
b. Three ungrounded-specimen tests and six
grounded-specimen tests
c. Three guarded-specimen tests and six
grounded-specimen tests
d. Six ungrounded-specimen tests and three
guarded-specimen tests
Jim White is the Training director for Shermco
Industries and the principal Shermco representative
on the NFPA 70B committee. Jim is the alternate
NETA representative on the NFPA 70E com-
mittee and serves as the NETA representative on
the IEEE/NFPA Arc-Flash Hazard Work Group
(RTPC) Ad Hoc Committee. He served as the
Chairman of the 2008 IEEE Electrical Safety
Workshop. Jim is a NETA Certified Level IV Elec-
trical Testing Technician and a member of the NETA Safety Committee.
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