6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?

|EEP

Menu
Searchforarticles,software&guides

Home
Technical Articles
Engineering Guides
Electrical Software
PLC Video Training
Sitemap

WhatisHIPOTTesting(Dielectric
StrengthTest)?

Hi-Pot test is a contraction for high

potential HV testing.

Hipot Test is short name of high potential (high voltage) Test and it is also known as Dielectric
Withstand Test. A hipot test checks for good isolation.

Hipot test makes surety of no current will flow from one point to another point.

Hipot test is the opposite of a continuity test.

Continuity Test checks surety of current flows easily from one point to another point while Hipot Test
checks surety of current would not flow from one point to another point (and turn up the voltage really
high just to make sure no current will flow).

ImportanceofHIPOTTesting
http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 1/7
6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?|EEP

The hipot test is a nondestructive test that determines the adequacy of electrical insulation for the
normally occurring over voltage transient. This is a high-voltage test that is applied to all devices for a
specific time in order to ensure that the insulation is not marginal.

Hipot tests are helpful in finding nicked or crushed insulation, stray wire strands or braided shielding,
conductive or corrosive contaminants around the conductors, terminal spacing problems, and tolerance
errors in cables. Inadequate creepage and clearance distances introduced during the manufacturing process.

The production-line hipot test, however, is a test of the manufacturing process to determine whether the
construction of a production unit is about the same as the construction of the unit that was subjected to
type testing. Some of the process failures that can be detected by a production-line hipot test include, for
example, a transformer wound in such a way that creepage and clearance have been reduced.

Such a failure could result from a new operator in the winding department.

HIPOT test is applied after tests such as fault condition, humidity, and vibration to determine whether any
degradation has taken place.

Other examples include identifying a pinhole defect in insulation or finding an enlarged solder footprint.
As per IEC 60950, The Basic test Voltage for Hipot test is the 2X (Operating Voltage) + 1000 V
The reason for using 1000 V as part of the basic formula is that the insulation in any product can be
subjected to normal day-to-day transient over voltages.

Experiments and research have shown that these over voltages can be as high as 1000 V.

Video:HIPOTTestAfterRepairGenerator

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 2/7
6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?|EEP

HIPOT Test After Repair Generator Two

TestmethodforHIPOTTest
Hipot testers usually connect one side of the supply to safety ground (Earth ground). The other side of
the supply is connected to the conductor being tested. With the supply connected like this there are two
places a given conductor can be connected: high voltage or ground.

When you have more than two contacts to be hipot tested you connect one contact to high voltage and
connect all other contacts to ground. Testing a contact in this fashion makes sure it is isolated from all
other contacts.

If the insulation between the two is adequate, then the application of a large voltage difference between the
two conductors separated by the insulator would result in the flow of a very small current. Although this
small current is acceptable, no breakdown of either the air insulation or the solid insulation should take
place. Therefore, the current of interest is the current that is the result of a partial discharge or breakdown,
rather than the current due to capacitive coupling.

TimeDurationforHIPOTTest

The test duration must be in accordance with the safety standard being used. The test time for most
standards, including products covered under IEC 60950, is 1 minute.

A typical rule of thumb is 110 to 120% of 2U + 1000 V for 12 seconds.

CurrentSettingforHIPOTTest
http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 3/7
6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?|EEP

Most modern hipot testers allow the user to set the current limit. However, if the actual leakage current of
the product is known, then the hipot test current can be predicted.

The best way to identify the trip level is to test some product samples and establish an average hipot
current. Once this has been achieved, then the leakage current trip level should be set to a slightly higher
value than the average figure.

Another method of establishing the current trip level would be to use the following mathematical formula:
E(Hipot) / E(Leakage) = I(Hipot) / 2XI(Leakage)

The hipot tester current trip level should be set high enough to avoid nuisance failure related to leakage
current and, at the same time, low enough not to overlook a true breakdown in insulation.

TestVoltageforHIPOTTest

The majority of safety standards allow the use of either ac or dc voltage for a hipot test.

When using ac test voltage, the insulation in question is being stressed most when the voltage is at its
peak, i.e., either at the positive or negative peak of the sine wave.

Therefore, if we use dc test voltage, we ensure that the dc test voltage is under root 2 (or 1.414) times
the ac test voltage, so the value of the dc voltage is equal to the ac voltage peaks.

For example, for a 1500-V-ac voltage, the equivalent dc voltage to produce the same amount of stress on
the insulation would be 1500 x 1.414 or 2121 V dc.

AdvantagesandDisadvantagesofuseDCVoltageforHipotTest

One of the advantages of using a dc test voltage is that the leakage current trip can be set to a much lower
value than that of an ac test voltage. This would allow a manufacturer to filter those products that have
marginal insulation, which would have been passed by an ac tester.

When using a dc hipot tester, the capacitors in the circuit could be highly charged and, therefore, a safe-
discharge device or setup is needed. However, it is a good practice to always ensure that a product is
discharged, regardless of the test voltage or its nature, before it is handled.

It applies the voltage gradually. By monitoring the current flow as voltages increase, an operator can detect
a potential insulation breakdown before it occurs. A minor disadvantage of the dc hipot tester is that
because dc test voltages are more difficult to generate, the cost of a dc tester may be slightly higher than
that of an ac tester.

The main advantage of the dc test is DC Voltage does not produce harmful discharge as readily occur in
AC.

It can be applied at higher levels without risk or injuring good insulation. This higher potential can literally
sweep-out far more local defects.

The simple series circuit path of a local defect is more easily carbonized or reduced in resistance by the dc
leakage current than by ac, and the lower the fault path resistance becomes, the more the leakage current
increased, thus producing a snow balling effect which leads to the small visible dielectric puncture usually
http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 4/7
6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?|EEP

observed. Since the dc is free of capacitive division, it is more effective in picking out mechanical damage
as well as inclusions or areas in the dielectric which have lower resistance.

AdvantagesandDisadvantagesofuseACVoltageforHipotTest

One of the advantages of an ac hipot test is that it can check both voltage polarities, whereas a dc test
charges the insulation in only one polarity. This may become a concern for products that actually use ac
voltage for their normal operation. The test setup and procedures are identical for both ac and dc hipot
tests.

A minor disadvantage of the ac hipot tester is that if the circuit under test has large values of Y capacitors,
then, depending on the current trip setting of the hipot tester, the ac tester could indicate a failure. Most
safety standards allow the user to disconnect the Y capacitors prior to testing or, alternatively, to use a dc
hipot tester.

The dc hipot tester would not indicate the failure of a unit even with high Y capacitors because the Y
capacitors see the voltage but dont pass any current.

StepforHIPOTTesting

Only electrically qualified workers may perform this testing.

Open circuit breakers or switches to isolate the circuit or Cable that will be hi-pot tested.
Confirm that all equipment or Cable that is not to be tested is isolated from the circuit under test.
The limited approach boundary for this hi-pot procedure at 1000 volts is 5 ft. (1.53m) so place
barriers around the terminations of cables and equipment under test to prevent unqualified persons
from crossing this boundary.
Connect the ground lead of the HIPOT Tester to a suitable building ground or grounding electrode
conductor. Attach the high voltage lead to one of the isolated circuit phase conductors.
Switch on the HIPOT Tester. Set the meter to 1000 Volts or pre decide DC Voltage. Push the
Test button on the meter and after one minute observe the resistance reading. Record the reading
for reference.
At the end of the one minute test, switch the HIPOT Tester from the high potential test mode to
the voltage measuring mode to confirm that the circuit phase conductor and voltage of HIPOT
Tester are now reading zero volts.
Repeat this test procedure for all circuit phase conductors testing each phase to ground and each
phase to each phase.
When testing is completed disconnect the HIPOT Tester from the circuits under test and confirm
that the circuits are clear to be re-connected and re-energized.
To PASS the unit or Cable under Test must be exposed to a minimum Stress of pre decide Voltage
for 1 minute without any Indication of Breakdown. For Equipments with total area less than 0.1 m2,
the insulation resistance shall not be less than 400 M. For Equipment with total area larger than 0.1
m2 the measured insulation resistance times the area of the module shall not be less than 40 Mm2.

SafetyprecautionsduringHIPOTTest

During a HIPOT Test, There may be at some risk so to minimize risk of injury from electrical shock make
sure HIPOT equipment follows these guidelines:

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 5/7
6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?|EEP

1. The total charge you can receive in a shock should not exceed 45 uC.
2. The total hipot energy should not exceed 350 mJ.
3. The total current should not exceed 5 mA peak (3.5 mA rms)
4. The fault current should not stay on longer than 10 mS.
5. If the tester doesnt meet these requirements then make sure it has a safety interlock system that
guarantees you cannot contact the cable while it is being hipot tested.

For Cable:

1. Verify the correct operation of the safety circuits in the equipment every time you calibrate it.
2. Dont touch the cable during hipot testing.
3. Allow the hipot testing to complete before removing the cable.
4. Wear insulating gloves.
5. Dont allow children to use the equipment.
6. If you have any electronic implants then dont use the equipment.

RecommendedEEstuff//

Sharewithengineers//

AboutAuthor//
Jignesh Parmar

jiguparmar - Jignesh Parmar has completed M.Tech (Power System Control)

,B.E(Electrical). He is member of Institution of Engineers (MIE),India.
Membership No:M-1473586.He has more than 13 years experience in Transmission
-Distribution-Electrical Energy theft detection-Electrical Maintenance-Electrical
Projects (Planning-Designing-Technical Review-coordination -Execution). He is
Presently associate with one of the leading business group as a Deputy Manager at
Ahmedabad,India. He has published numbers of Technical Articles in "Electrical
Mirror", "Electrical India", "Lighting India", "Industrial Electrix"(Australian Power Publications) Magazines.
He is Freelancer Programmer of Advance Excel and design useful Excel base Electrical Programs as per IS,
NEC, IEC,IEEE codes. He is Technical Blogger and Familiar with English, Hindi, Gujarati, French
languages. He wants to Share his experience & Knowledge and help technical enthusiasts to find suitable
solutions and updating themselves on various Engineering Topics.

2016 EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal. All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | 68
queries in 0.291 seconds.
Powered by CsanyiGroup

SHARE

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 6/7
6/15/2016 WhatisHIPOTTesting(DielectricStrengthTest)?|EEP

TOP
Get PDF

Electrical Tools
Excel Spreadsheets
Windows Software
Android App
Electrical Guides
Electrical Engineering
Power Substations
Control & Protection
Industry Automation
Schneider Electric CTs
ABB Drives Guides
ABB Protection Books
Siemens EE Basics
Alternative Energy
Researches & Projects
Electrical Design Docs
Video Trainings
Electrical Engineering
PLC Programming
Testing & Commiss.

Home
Technical Articles
Article Categories (38)
EE Resources
Sitemap
Contact
Advertisement

Subscriptions
Complete Technical Articles
Articles Alert
Download Updates

Facebook Linkedin Google Plus Twitter

http://electricalengineeringportal.com/whatishipottestingdielectricstrengthtest 7/7