Megger TPT420 LCD/LED Two-Pole Voltage Tester

Product Information

The Megger TPT420 voltage tester is designed to provideelectricians and electrical engineers with an easy-to-use voltage indicating instrument. The meter will continue to warn the operator of dangerous test voltages even when the batteries are exhausted. With both LCD and LED displays, the TPT420provides both AC and DC voltage measurement from 12 to 1000 V AC and up to 1500 V DC. In addition, a continuity function within the range 0 to 500 kΩ, is included and for added safety, continuity, and voltage measurements are also accompanied by an acoustic sounder. As mentioned in the previous article, there are many options for testing insulation, and Megger supplies an extensive range of testers for such applications, from 50 V to 15 kV insulation testers, through VLF and AC Tan Delta test sets to diagnostic Dielectric Frequency Response instruments and, under the Baker brand, specialist motor testing equipment up to 40 kV.

When the probes of a voltage tester are connected to two points in an electrical circuit (commonly one end to a suspected live conductor and the other to a ground source), a closed circuit or loop is formed. This allows electrical current to flow from the higher potential to the lower potential.

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Continuity function: detects continuity between 0 and 500kΩ and alerts the user by issuing an audible and visual alert Works below the tipping thresholds of RCDs, RCBOs and safety breakers when testing circuits between phase and earth

For a motor in normal operation, which has not endured significant electro-mechanical thinning of the insulation, the surge-test voltage is far below the dielectric strength of the insulation. The Megger TPT420 LCD/LED Two-Pole Voltage Tester is an AC/DC voltage indicator. It can detect and measure voltages between 12 and 1000V AC and 12 and 1500V DC. The detected voltage range is indicated on the LED scale while the numerical reading is displayed on the LCD.

When testing motors, it’s important to keep in mind that they are complex electro-mechanical devices with a complex set of failure modes and related diagnostic options. We will look at the failures of motor electrical/insulation systems, how to manage the life of motors by adopting an appropriate test regime and the concerns that are sometimes voiced about the ‘high’ voltages used for surge testing. The basic insulation tests just described can be usefully augmented by adding PF measurements at different frequencies and a tip-up test. A PF test at 1 Hz specifically, provides a better indicator of developing issues, facilitating early detection. 1 Hz PF is particularly sensitive to moisture contamination, a commonplace CCVT failure mode. Narrowband DFR tests include power factor tests at several discrete frequencies, including 1 Hz up to 505 Hz.

A basic ratio test can be carried out by exciting the primary side of the CCVT with a 10 kV source and measuring the secondary voltage with a digital multimeter. However, this supplies no measurement of phase deviation, which is required to validate the accuracy of the CCVT. CCVTs are devices capable of dual function. One function they can perform is to provide highly accurate voltage conversion for measuring devices, protection relays, and automatic control systems, while the other is to couple high-frequency power-line carrier (PLC) signals onto the transmission system for communication and control purposes. To answer these questions, let’s look at an example. When a 415 V motor is assembled, the insulation applied to the wire used to wind the stator has a dielectric strength of approximately 8000 V. During its lifetime, this insulation will degrade primarily due to heat in the motor, but also as a result of environmental conditions and the coil movements which arise from starting, stopping and load changes. And it’s the same with a surge test generated by a Baker DX tester. It applies a voltage and rise-time to enable you to see the inter-coil response, but with a signal controlled in voltage, time and energy, so that the impact on the motor is similar to the spikes that the motor receives as a result of typical power-system variations during everyday operation.

What’s Included?

At its core, a voltage tester is a simple device designed to indicate the presence of electrical voltage in a system or a component. The underlying principle lies in Ohm's Law. This states that the current passing through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points.

When testing between phase and earth on any circuit protected by an RCD, RCBO, and Safety Breaker, the TPT420 is designed to work below the tripping threshold of these devices to help avoid unintentional disconnection. The phase rotation indication test has been simplified, which now avoids the crossing of the test probes. The TPT420 can also perform a single-pole voltage indication test. The EMU, in addition to an inductive voltage transformer, contains a tuning circuit and protection against ferroresonance (Figure 1). The tuning circuit is a reactor that compensates for magnitude errors and phase shift caused by the CVD, making it possible to have the CCVT with a characteristic on the secondary side that is similar, in terms of error and phase deviation, to that of a purely inductive voltage transformer. Basic insulation testing, PF tests at 1 Hz, and tip-up testing can be performed with the Megger Delta4000 test set and, with the addition of a DMM, a basic ratio test can be carried out. Ratio validation to an accuracy of ±0.1 % can be carried out with the Delta4000 test set and an accessory. The Megger MRCT test set can also perform basic insulation testing and ratio validation to an accuracy of ±0.1 %, with the added benefit of being able measure the overall burden of the CCVT, thus ensuring that the burden rating has not been exceeded.

CCVT construction varies between manufacturers, models and year of fabrication. Knowledge of the construction is critical when deciding what and how to test. As mentioned previously, some CCVTs are equipped with a potential grounding switch located below C1, at the intermediate voltage terminal (IVT), and a carrier grounding switch below C2 at the low voltage terminal (LVT), as shown in Figure 3. In some CCVTs, however - mainly modern types - the low voltage terminal may not accessible. Understanding the construction characteristics and location of the IVT and LVT is therefore important when determining appropriate connections for testing and deciding whether the ground switches need to be open or closed for the required measurements to be made. On-Line testing – that is, testing while the motor is running – can also be carried out on an as-needed basis with a portable on-line monitor like the Baker EXP4000. Inside the voltage tester, this current passes through a known resistance. The voltage drop across this internal resistance is then measured and displayed on the tester's meter or screen. This provides the user with a reading of the voltage present. In some cases, for basic testers, this voltage may simply trigger a light or a sound to indicate the presence of voltage rather than providing a precise numerical value. In some circumstances, the CVD capacitive reactance can resonate with the magnetizing reactance of the inductive voltage transformer and the compensating reactor cores. This unwanted effect is called ferro-resonance and can give rise to large and damaging voltages across the inductive and capacitive elements. To avoid this, a ferroresonance damping circuit is installed in parallel with one of the secondary windings. But what overall voltage is necessary to show up these turn-to-turn faults, and will this voltage be harmful if applied to a fault-free motor? How do the test voltages relate to the dielectric strength of the windings?