Useful Information Regarding Insulation Tester

By Barbara Morgan


Full current is expected to reach the desired destination when sent along a conductive wire under perfect conditions. However, some current is usually lost during the transmission, making this to be impossible in the real world. Several factors make some current to be lost during the transmission. However, this loss of current can be managed by insulating conductive wires using resistant sheath. This is what Insulation tester is all about.

Sometimes the current is lost if the insulating sheath is made from imperfect materials. Machinery and electric circuits are greatly affected when there is leakage of current due to imperfect cladding. Such a case can be controlled by frequently testing the insulating material to determine its perfectness. Testing the material frequently can help to catch problems in advance before injuries or device failure happens because of loss of current.

A cladding tester is the piece of equipment that is used to accomplish the testing. The equipment works by measuring the resistance of the cladding to flow of current. This indicates the integrity of the cladding in turn. Cladding that is of high quality allows very little current to escape through it. However, low-quality cladding allow huge amounts of current to escape through.

When measuring the quality of material used to make the sheath, different kinds of current are tested. Absorption, leakage and capacitive currents are the three main types of current tested. The current that occurs immediately when voltage is applied to conductors is referred to as capacitive current.

Capacitive current is similar to the first burst of water from a hose. The initial burst is usually very high, but it then reduces very fast. The drop is caused by the fact that the hose becomes filled with water after a sort while and the flow of water becomes steady. In the case of electricity, the conductor becomes fully charged, hence the drop in current flow.

Absorption current is similar to capacitive current in that it starts out high but then drops. The only difference between these two kinds of currents is that absorption current drops at a much lower rate compared to capacitive current. The gradual drop in absorption current is due to the storage of potential energy in the cladding. Absorption current makes an important part of the time resistance method of cladding testing.

The third type of current tested is leakage current, which is also called conduction current. Unlike the other currents which drop over time, this type of current is small and steady. The current occurs both over and through the insulating sheath. Sheath that deteriorates in quality over time causes the leakage current to increase as time passes. The increase in leakage current as resistance decreases is indicated by an insulation test meter.

Currently, different types of cladding testers are available in the market. Different manufacturers from different countries produce these devices. The manufacturer of the equipment largely influences its quality. Different models of cladding testers are used to perform different functions. For instance, some testers are designed to perform testing in residential settings while other testers are meant to be used for testing equipment in industries.




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