Portable and for use in small vehicles

Compact fault location system

for low and medium voltage
cables

E
ven prior to the regulation of
the market for electricity, the
electricity supply companies
carried out comprehensive restruc-
turing and cost-reduction mea-
sures. In the process, the existing
equipment for cable testing and
fault location was largely decen-
tralised, older test equipment was
disposed of and not replaced with
new equipment. In particular, new
investment in cable measurement
vehicles was significantly reduced.
Network operators now require
small, very flexible measurement
systems, which can be used in
inner city areas with narrow pedes-
trian zones and minimal parking
spaces and which can even be used
in poorly accessible locations in
underground car parks.
SEBAKMT's response to this was to
develop a compact, universally
useable test and fault location sys-
tem - the SPG 40.
The technical challenge
The classical high voltage technolo-
gy in cable test and fault location
systems is based on 50 Hz, high
voltage generators with corre-
sponding rectification units. The
disadvantages of this technology
are, apart from the high weight,
above all the secondary technology,
to implement automated operation
and control.
Various fault location tasks such
as locating sheathing faults, should
be carried out without damaging
the cable, if possible. This requires
control of the output current,
which is not possible with 50 Hz
technology.
The technology should also be
implemented with minimal weight
and should need little space.
On the basis of a powerful, elec-
tronic, switching power-supply and
an optimised cascading circuit, a
high voltage generator was devel-
oped which feeds all measurement
processes via specially developed
system switches.
The parameters for a universal
fault location system are dimen-
sioned to suit the supply voltages of
the cable network concerned.
Working together with a
European manufacturer of high
voltage impulse capacitors, partic-
ularly compact impulse capacitors
have been developed with a high
energy density. These enable the
new measurement system to be
universally configurable.
They allow particular customer
requests to be met for an optimal
modification of the system to the
characteristics of network con-
cerned.
The SPG40 can be built as
portable equipment with an inte-
grated VGA display or, it can be pro-
duced to be built-in with a separate
control unit (Fig. 1, fig. 2).
For safe operation of the SPG 40,
all safety features in the »large«
cable test vehicle have been further
Fig. 1. SPG 40 – a compact &
powerful test and fault location
system
developed with modern technology
and provide the user with an easy to
use system and absolute safety
when using it.
The ease of use extends to the
safe to touch, high voltage, coaxial
plugs in the system (Fig. 3).
In the SPG 40, on the basis of a
graphical display, all known mea-
surement processes have been
implemented with intuitive opera-
tion. The Easy Go operating philos-
ophy of SEBAKMT equipment and
systems enables even inexperi-
enced users to safely and efficiently
carry out cable checks and fault
location.

Dr.-Ing. Frank Petzold , Technical general

manager, SebaKMT Mess- und Ortungstechnik
GmbH, Baunach. Fig. 2. Control units for the SPG 40 and for the reflectometer T 30-E

Offprint 6065 published in ew vol.104 (2005), issue 11

 In the main menu (Fig. 4) the SPG
40 measurement processes can be
selected.
In the Test operational mode (Fig.
5) both an insulation measurement
as well as the evaluation of the
cable under test are possible via
measurement of the leakage cur-
rent.
Under the Prelocation menu, the
ARM (arc reflection measurement),
ICE (current coupling) and Decay
(voltage coupling) processes can be
selected.
The mostly used ARM process is
implemented in the proven ARM
choke technology, to couple the
impulse process to the object under
test. With this, even with faults at
large distances or for cables with
faults which are hard to ignite, suc-
cessful location using an arc is pos-
sible After selecting the desired
impulse voltage level, the charging
voltage and single shot trigger are
entered (Fig. 6).
As already mentioned, the SPG 40
is made into a complete fault loca-
tion system with the addition of the
modern, portable T 30-E reflec-
tometer. In this combination, the
user has access to an extensive
Fig. 4. Main menu for the measurement
process
Fig. 6. ARM prelocation in the SPG 40
automation of the measurement
procedure. For example in the
»ARM Quickstep« mode, only 3
steps are necessary from the opera-
tor to get the prelocation result.
Cable faults are then pinpointed
classically with the acoustic field
method or, if the fault situation
warrants it, with the step voltage
process (Fig. 7). For the step voltage
method, the SPG 40 feeds a pulsed
dc voltage with controllable output
current to the object under test.
This avoids the possibility of the
fault location drying out and the Fig. 3. SPG 40 with a cable
damage of adjacent cables, as well reel module, built into a Renault
as a significant safety aspect, the Berlingo
step voltages resulting are con-
trolled. Apart from the very flexible
Due to the modular impulse volt- impulse voltage levels, the most
age levels the SPG 40 can be opti- important parameters are:
mally configured to the voltage lev- • Insulation measurements
els of the customer's network. The 1 000 V/5 000 V
following impulse voltage levels are • DC testing up to 40 kV
each available with a pulse energy • Breakdowns automatically
of 2 000 Ws: determined
• 12.5 kV/25 kV • Arcs 0 ... 8 kV with 700 mA
• 16 kV/32 kV • Arcs 0 ... 20 kV with 100 mA
• 8 kV/12.5 kV/25 kV • Location of cable sheath faults
• 8 kV/16 kV/32 kV 0 ... 5 kV
• 4 kV/12.5 kV/25 kV • Prelocation process ARM, ICE,
• 4 kV/16 kV/32 kV. Decay.
Summary
The SPG 40 is a univer-
sally useable, compact,
low weight and modu-
lar system. The system
can be used portably
and can be built in very
ergonomically, even
into small vehicles.
When designed the
compact City test van,
particular emphasis
Fig. 5. Insulation measurement up to 5 kV was placed on the eco-
or cable test up to 40 kV DC nomical use of space
and on producing an
ergonomic space to
work in.
Phone 02 9972 9244
Fax 02 9972 9433
Unit 1, 176 South Creek Road,
Cromer NSW 2099
Fig. 7. Acoustic field method to pinpoint Email sales@sebakmtaus.com
the location of cable faults www.sebakmtaus.com