T

he term destructive testing

causes much consternation among
cable engineers worldwide. The mis-
interpretation of the term destructive
(deliberate in some cases by mischievous
vendors of competing technologies) has,
in our opinion, significantly retarded
progress in the implementation of
beneficial cable test regimes in many
utilities.
It is very important to understand that
the term destructive refers ONLY to
the damaged portion of the cable and
NOT to the healthy sections of a cable.
The intention of destructive testing is to
provide a controlled failure of a cable
that was in imminent danger of failing
anyway. It is preferable to fail a cable
under low power testing rather than
having the cable fail under operating
conditions and energies; where the
collateral damage may be significant and
the outage unplanned.
A test that accelerates the deterioration
of damaged cable and leaves healthy
cable unaffected is a very useful test
provided that the test is carried out
correctly and that the potential need to
locate and repair the damaged section is
understood and planned for.
A test that damages or reduces the
useful lifetime of an otherwise healthy
cable is not useful. DC testing on aged
XLPE cable would be an example of
such a test. Properly conducted VLF
testing on cables at any stage of their
lifecycle has never been shown to have
such detrimental effects. This view is
supported by international standards,
by cable manufacturers, by academic
and research institutes and by many
utilities and opposition to the use of VLF
is largely limited to vendors of competing
technologies.
A VLF overvoltage test needs to be
properly conducted or its benefits can
be reduced or even negated. The correct
test voltage must be applied for the
appropriate amount of time in order to
maximise the benefit of the VLF test.
We do not recommend short duration
(< 15minute) testing of cables as any
damaged portion of the cable may be
prone to failure shortly after return to
service.
Any test that improves the reliability
of a network and does not compromise
the longevity of the asset is a useful test.
There are numerous independent studies
supporting that VLF tests fall into this
category.
A VLF test provides a simple yet
thorough and unambiguous method of
determining whether a cable can be put
into (or returned) to service. The VLF test
(as with all tests) is not a guarantee that
the cable will not fail but it is a very good
tool to reduce the failure rate of cables in
service.
A VLF test used in conjunction with
diagnostic measurements such as
Tan Delta and Partial Discharge can
provide additional information valuable
in the current and future assessment
of the condition of a cable. This will be
discussed in the next newsletter.
HV NEWS 3/2011
CABLE TESTING MYTHS WEBSITE FIRMWARE 2011 CONFERENCE
CABLE TESTING MYTHS: Destructive testing is bad for networks
2011 HVDSA AGENTS
CONFERENCE
- SOUTH AFRICA
Askari Game Lodge in the
Magaliesberg - www.askarilodge.co.za
- has been booked for our Agents
Conference 27-30 Oct 2011. This will
be preceded by a one day conference
on 26 Oct in Sandton, Johannesburg.
This is an important event and it is a
valuable opportunity for our agents to
meet with the HVDSA team and benet
from the sharing of knowledge, expertise
and training that such platforms offer.
So dont miss out! Book your spot now,
if you have not already done so, by
emailing: chantal@hvdsa.com
www.cablediagnostics.com
is to be used as a vehicle for a range of
services for agents and registered users.
The website will run in parallel with
www.hvdsa.com
Please would all agents register as users
on the website using the register button.
Thereafter they will be authorised and
have access to the website.
GOOGLE ADWORDS
We are using Google Adwords to
promote our products and suggest you
consider making use of this marketing
facility.
CALIBRATION
To calibrate HVA devices the following resistors are needed :
1 x HV Resistor 100 kV approx. 500MOhm (or 2 x 250MOhm 50kV in series) 20 Watts
1 x HV Resistor 50 kV approx 37 MOhm 70 Watts
1 x HV Resistor 10 kV approx 500 kOhm 200 Watts
1 x HV Resistor 20 kV approx 12 MOhm 35 Watts
1 x HV Resistor 10 kV approx 300 kOhm 350 Watts
1 x HV Resistor 10 kV approx 250 kOhm 350 Watts
To load test : 5uF (40kV), 0.5uF(40kV), 1uF (100kV)
We are busy sourcing these resistors in more economical quantities in order to pass
some cost savings onto our agents.
HVA FIRMWARE
New firmware is available for the
HVA60 and HVA30-5 to address a
minor bug which can cause issues
with startup if a specific sequence of
keys is pressed. Check
www.cablediagnostics.com
for this.