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Testing and Troubleshooting of Low to Medium Voltage Circuit Breakers

RobertFoster/BretHammonds
Applications Engineers Technical Support Group
Megger Dallas, Tx

Agenda
I. Introduction II. Circuit Breakers III Maintenance III. a) Conducting Path b) Insulation c) Operating Mechanism d) Tripping Device (LVCB) e) Time and Travel Analysis (MVCB) IV Special Considerations IV. a) Current Limiting Fuses b) DC Offset V. Conclusion

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Introduction LowVoltageCircuitBreakers
CircuitBreakersaretheInsurancePolicyofElectrical PowerSystem FailuretoprotectmeansthatthePolicy,orinthis casecircuitbreakeris:

VoltageClasses
LowVoltage
Anelectricsystemhavingamaximumrootmean squarealternatingcurrentvoltageof1000voltsor less..

MediumVoltage
Anelectricsystemhavingamaximumroot meansquarealternatingcurrentvoltageabove 1000voltsto72,500volts.

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Introduction LowVoltageCircuitBreakers
AnInsurancePolicyischeckedandupdatedso thatitremainseffectiveinprotectingthe Policyholder holder.Thesameistrueoftestingand maintainingCircuitBreakers. Itstoolatewhenanemergencyoccursto evaluateourinsurancepolicyforitsabilityto protect.Alsotrueforcircuitbreakersin relationtotheElectricalPowerSystemsthat theyareintendedtoprotect.

TwoBasicTypesofLVCircuitBreakers
MoldedCase housedinamolded insulatingmaterial.Thishousingnot onlyactsasanelectricalinsulator,but asamechanicalsupportforthe internalconductivepartsoftheCircuit Breaker. AirFrame Housedinagrounded metalframe.Conductivecomponents areelectrically l i ll isolated i l dby b air i and d othersolidinsulatingbarriers.

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MVCBs
MainlyVacuumCBs OilCBsoldergeneration SF6inspecialapplications GISwithVacuumCBsinSF6 gas

EssentialElements ConductingPath
Completes/interruptsthecurrentpath. Includesstationary yandmoving gcontacts. Contactconditiondeterminedmainlybyresistance.

Tests
LowResistanceOhmmetersusedtomeasurecontactresistance SomeguidelinesalsorecommendanACvoltagedroptest manufacturers srecommendedvaluesforevaluationoftestresults. results Utilizemanufacturer Intheabsenceofmanufacturersinformation,itisrecommendedthat valuesexceeding25%deviationfromadjacentpolesbeinvestigated.

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ContactResistanceMeasurements
Thesemeasurementscannotbedeterminedusingatypicalvolt ohmmeter(VOM) 4Wiremeasurement
Injectcurrent Measurevoltagedrop Calculateresistance Makesurevoltageleadsareinsidecurrentleads

Testresultsaretypicallylessthan200to300 or.0003 OtherReferencestothistypeoftestequipmentwouldbe

DigitalLowResistanceOhmeter orDLRO Ductor (Megger BrandName) MicroOhmeter

EssentialElements OperatingMechanism
Usedtocomplete/interrupttheprimarycurrentpath. Mustbeabletoreceive,storeandreleaseenergyfor openand dclose l operations.

Maintenance
Checkforlooseordamagedparts Lubricatethemechanisminaccordancewith Manufacturersrecommendations Exercisethemechanismandchecktolerances.

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EssentialElements Electrical Insulation

Electricallyisolatestheconductivepathforeachpole ofaCB. Mostseriousfailureduetofireanddamagepotential.

Tests
DCInsulationResistanceTests
PhasetoGround(BreakerClosed) Phase Ph t toPhase Ph (B (Breaker k Closed) Cl d) Acrossopenpoleofbreaker
(ReferenceSection7.6ofNETAATS)

MVCBInsulation
PowerFactor Sametestsas insulationresistance

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EssentialElements TripDevice
Brains oftheCBthatdefinestheelectricaloperating characteristics. Sensesthesecondarysignalsregardingprimary current. Testing Primary Injectingactualcurrentsthroughthe primary p ycurrentpath. p Secondary Verifytheresponseofthetripdevice byprovidingsecondaryinputsonly

PrimaryInjectionTesting
Actualfaultcurrentinjectedintoprimarycurrentpath. Verifiesproperoperationofallelementsincludingcurrent sensorsandtheirinterfacetothetripdevice.. device
Houston,I canhearyou loudand clear

Confirmsthatall elementsoftheCBare functioning gp properly p y together.

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SecondaryInjectionTesting
DoesnottesttheprimarycurrentpathoftheCircuit Breaker,includinganycurrentsensingdevices. ThebrainsoftheCBmayworkflawlessly, flawlessly butitdoesnot. not
Doesnot confirmproper operationofthe remainingportionofthe CB
Therecouldbea disconnectrighthere

Houston,wehavea problem.. Houston??Areyou there???

Doesnot confirmthat thebrainscommunicate properlywiththebody.

TypicalBreakerTripCurve
SeveralTCCregionsdefineoverall operatingcharacteristic LongTime(Thermal) ShortTime(Thermal) Instantaneous(Magnetic) GroundFault(NeutralAmps)

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OperationalCharacteristics LongTime
OverloadFunctionwithtwo(2)settings.
Pickup k TimeDelay

Example:1600AmpBreaker
Pickup=.75Xor1600X.75=1200Amps 3000amps p ofoverloadcurrent=thermalDamage g after 200seconds TimeDelaysettosomethinglessthan200seconds.

OperationalCharacteristicsInstantaneous
Sometimesreferredtoasmagneticormag trip yhasapickup p psetting g Only
Oncethepickupsettinghasbeen exceeded,thecircuitbreakerwillopen (trip)asquicklyaspossible Instantaneousfaultsoriginatewithin theprotectedsystem. Whenbreakersfailunderthese conditions,alargerportionof distributioniseffected.

Instantaneous=Reaalllyyyy Fast!!!

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OperationalCharacteristics ShortTime
Differencebetweenshorttimeandinstantaneousisan y(howevershortitmay ybe). intentionaltimedelay Hasapickupandtimedelaysetting Thisallowstheelectricalsystemtohaveshort duration,highcurrentoverloads. Example: E l M t Starts Motor St t

OperationalCharacteristics GroundFault
Groundfaulttripsresultfromphase imbalancesthatcausehigherthan normalneutralcurrents. Groundfaulttripsmayresultfrom
Insulationproblems Single Si l phase h loads. l d LackofLoadStudytoCharacterize theSinglePhaseLoading

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MVCBTimeandTravelanalysis
CBisdumbdevice
Mustrelyoncontrolpulsetooperate

Measurecontacttimes Measuretravel
Rotary Linear

MVCBTesting Timing
Close Open CloseOpen(TripFree)Dwelltime OpenClose(Reclose)

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Transducerconnections

MVCBTesting Travel
Stroke Penetration Overtravel Rebound Undertravel Rebound Velocity

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DCOffset
Adecayingexponentialcomponentlastingonly4 to5cyclesmaximum. Thereforeitonlyhasthepotentialtoskew instantaneoustestresults. ThepresentsofDCOffsetcouldcausethe instantaneoustripelementtobeadjusted inappropriately.

DCOffset
Resultsfromaverybriefbattle(45cyclesmax.)betweenthetestequipmentand theloadcircuit(ie.Circuitbreakerundertestandassociatedconnections).

Onlyofconcernfor instantaneous operationaltests. NEMAAB4suggests testingwithzeroDC Offsett.

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DCOffset

Conclusions
CBsareyourassetsbodyguardsandmustbemaintained Whattotest
Conductingpath Insulation Operation Trippingdevice(LVCB) Timeandtravel(MVCB)

Bemindfulofvoltagelevels FollowNETA,ANSI,andIEEEstandards.

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Thank You !!

QUESTIONS ??

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