HIPOT TEST

The Truth About

Arc Detection
by Adam Braverman, Associated Research
https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/res/The-Truth-About-Arc-Detection.pdf

W ith the ever-increas-

ing list of features
and options avail-
able for equipment in the field of test
and measurement, it is getting more
concentration of a high-voltage electric
field across a dielectric. In the case of
hipot testing, this dielectric usually is
the DUT’s insulation.
Many times an arcing condition can
challenging to select the appropriate be seen as a luminous discharge caused
instrument for the job. One feature that by the ionization of air molecules called
has caused substantial confusion is arc corona. High-impedance arcing is a
detection, which often is added to the temporary condition, and it is not nec-
dielectric withstand test commonly re- essarily considered a sign of dielectric
There seems to be no ferred to as the hipot test. Ever since this breakdown—the condition that a hipot
limit to the questions feature’s inception, there has been wide tester originally was designed to test.
speculation surrounding arc detection, Dielectric breakdown causes a mas-
regarding the mostly due to the varying definitions sive amount of leakage current to flow
benefits and pitfalls and inconsistent claims made by hipot through a product’s insulation while
manufacturers. arcing usually produces momentary
of arc detection. Although hipot testers have been spikes in the nominal leakage current
equipped with arc detection circuitry waveform. Arc detection circuitry was
since 1996, many customers still are implemented to differentiate between
confused about it. When should arc these two conditions (Table 1).
detection be used? What are the ben- An investigation of a specific safety
efits of arc detection? Are there any agency standard provides us with a
potential problems associated with arc practical explanation of the difference
detection? between dielectric breakdown and
arcing:
What Is Arc Detection? IEC 60601-1 Medical Electronic
To understand arc detection, it is Equipment Section 20.4f states the fol-
necessary to determine what is arc- lowing: “During the test, no flashover
ing. Arcing is defined as a momentary or breakdown shall occur. Slight co-
partial discharge due to the intense rona discharges are neglected, provid-
ed that they cease
when the test volt-
age is temporarily
dropped to a lower
value, which must
be higher, however,
than the reference
voltage (U) and
provided that the
discharges do not
provoke a drop in
the test voltage.”
Table 1. A Comparison of Arcing and Breakdown Conditions Continued on page 58

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HIPOT TEST

According to the standard, arcing tion failure displayed by an AR hipot circuit permits the test operator to set
and corona aren’t necessarily indica- is separate from the high-limit failure a distinct sensitivity level correspond-
tive of a dielectric breakdown. In some displayed when dielectric breakdown ing to the arc intensity. If relatively
cases, however, arcing can be a sign of has occurred. low-level arcing is deemed permissible
a problem with the DUT’s insulation or by the DUT’s manufacturer, the arc
the manufacturing process. Why Is Arc Detection detector can be set to a low sensitivity
So how is an arc detected? High- Important? level so arcs of lower magnitude could
impedance arcs and corona generate An arc causes momentary high-fre- be neglected while high-level arcs will
high-frequency current pulses that ride quency current spikes that ride on the result in an arc failure condition.
on the lower-frequency wave of the low-frequency current waveform. Al- The addition of an adjustable sensitiv-
applied test-current waveform. These though these current spikes may not be ity level, however, has led to discrepan-
pulses may have a frequency ranging the result of a catastrophic breakdown cies between arc detectors of different
from less than 30 kHz to more than of the DUT’s insulation, they could hipot manufacturers. Many hipot cus-
1 MHz and be very short in duration. indicate a problem with the insulation tomers have questioned how the results
Many times these pulses last much less system that might become a safety issue can differ from manufacturer to manu-
than 10 µs (Figure 1). at a later date. facturer or even hipot to hipot. Despite
For instance, these discrepancies, the addition of the
sometimes arc- arc detector to the hipot test does result
ing can occur as in a hipot tester that provides manufac-
the result of a turers with more information about what
series fault con- is happening in their DUTs.
dition. Usually
stemming from When Should Arc Detection
a manufactur- Be Used?
ing defect such From a quality-control standpoint,
as a loose con- more information always is useful in
nection, a series determining product safety. Perhaps
fault condition several products have been damaged
creates an arc during shipping, resulting in poor gap
that is current- spacing between a conductor and the
Figure 1. Arcing Condition limited by the insulation. This condition may not result
impedance of the in a dielectric breakdown, but with arc
circuit it is in se- detection turned on, it would be possible
ries with. Since to catch this problem before the faulty
the arc is cur- products find their way into customers’
rent-limited, this hands.
condition never Maybe the integrity of a product’s
will trigger the insulation has been weakened during the
high-limit failure manufacturing process or a component
monitored by a has become damaged during shipping
standard hipot and, when subjected to a hipot test,
test but could low-level arcing results. Although the
create a poten- product might pass the hipot test, the arc
tial fire hazard. detector could pick up the arcing condi-
Without arc de- tion and produce an arc failure.
Figure 2. An Arc Detector
tection, manu- Despite the many scenarios in which
Associated Research’s (AR) arc detec- facturers of products with inherent arc detection can be beneficial, a ma-
tion circuitry consists of a high pass filter arcing conditions could potentially pass jor source of confusion surrounding
circuit that responds only to frequencies faulty products or products that may fail the technology is the apparent lack of
greater than 10 kHz. These high-fre- prematurely. test standards for using arc detection
quency signals are fed into a comparator AR’s arc detection circuitry allows during a hipot test. There are very few
and checked against an operator-pro- for the hipot to differentiate between sources of information available to help
grammed sensitivity level selected dur- the current spikes caused by an arc’s a manufacturer determine if arc detec-
ing the test setup (Figure 2). rate of change of current over time tion is a necessary part of a DUT’s test
If this level is exceeded, an inter- (∆di/dt) and the excessive leakage procedure, and those standards that do
rupt signal is fed into the CPU, which current associated with dielectric exist are relatively subjective.
shuts down the hipot. The arc detec- breakdown. Further, the arc detection

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 Even more puzzling, no specific arc- current waveform being monitored. The Summary
ing standard defines whether or not arc- amount of voltage, rate of rise, polarity, Today’s hipot testers come equipped
ing is acceptable in electrical products and the waveform all affect the speed with a variety of features designed to
and, if so, to what degree. Yet cues can with which corona and arcing condi- verify the safety and integrity of electri-
be taken from other industries that deal tions occur. Temperature, humidity, and cal products. While the primary purpose
with arcing and arc detection. atmospheric pressure all influence the of the hipot test is to ensure a product’s
The number of specific industries that voltage at which corona begins as well insulation system is sufficient enough
recently have mandated arc detection as breakdown voltage levels. to prevent against electric shock, most
as part of quality control and product hipot testers have arc detection circuitry
safety precautions is growing. For ex- as well. The addition of arc detection
ample, arc detection and arc fault circuit With so many variables, arc circuitry allows manufacturers to test
breakers now are standard in the airline their products for both dielectric break-
industry for checking the integrity of detection becomes more of an down and arcing conditions during a
wire harnesses on airplanes. And as hipot test.
of 2002, the National Electrical Code approximation than a science. Dielectric breakdown is considered a
requires arc fault circuit interrupters catastrophic failure of the DUT’s insu-
installed in feeder and branch circuits lation system while arcing may or may
of residences. These interrupters help to not be considered a failure condition.
prevent arcing within homes and need to Results and Discrepancies In general, arc detection is only an ap-
be tested using some sort of arc detec- With so many variables involved in proximate means of monitoring the arc-
tion technology to ensure that they are the equation, arc detection becomes ing levels of a DUT due to the inherent
in good working order. more of an approximation than a sci- variables of an arcing condition.
There is one major benefit resulting ence. Many manufacturers want to An arc detection failure should
from the vague standards associated know if an arc detection circuit can be be treated as a tool to provide more
with arc detection: Hipot testers that set up to measure current at a specific information about the integrity of an
incorporate the arc detection feature level. While it is possible to set up the electrical product’s insulation and not
have been refined with regard to opera- circuit with distinct trip levels, the be considered a valid substitute for a
tor control. The operator-programmable detection results obtained by the hipot dielectric breakdown failure. In some
sensitivity level and the capability to tester may seem very inconsistent. cases, arc detection isn’t necessary for
enable or disable the arc detection fea- Failure to produce a known repeatable a hipot test, but the option is available to
ture help to increase the scope of the arcing condition means hipot manufac- any manufacturer that needs to test for
technology’s benefits. turers cannot accurately calibrate the arc arcing in the insulation of a DUT.
Ultimately, it is up to the manufac- detection sensitivity scales. In fact, the Whether testing products that are
turer to determine whether or not to leakage current inherent in a hipot due to prone to defects as a result of the manu-
use the arc detector and, if so, at what its circuit board traces, input and output facturing process or providing a fail-safe
sensitivity level. The flexibility of the transformers, and other components fur- test for product liability, arc detection
technology does provide manufacturers ther complicates a hipot manufacturer’s can indeed be a useful tool. However,
with a choice, and the result is an extra capability to create a universal quantifi- since there are no major safety agencies
measure of control when performing a able sensitivity scale. that specify arc detection to receive a
hipot test. An arc that causes a failure on one listing, it becomes the manufacturer’s
hipot model might not induce a failure responsibility to determine the value of
on another model. The sensitivity scale
Quantifying an Arc arc detection for each application.
Simply put, it is very difficult to ac- needs to change as a result of the output
curately measure the current produced impedance of a specific hipot. As a re- About the Author
by an arc. This is due to the extreme sult, an arc detector sensitivity measure- Adam Braverman is a technical sales
number of variables inherent to an arc- ment must be used to approximate arc engineer at Associated Research. He
ing condition. level intensity, not quantify it. Unfortu- has more than three years of experi-
The geometry of an arc is never a con- nately, this approximation of detecting ence in the power supply industry and
stant. For example, breakdown voltages arc intensity is where the majority of has written several application articles
may vary greatly between two rounded hipot manufacturers differ. on subjects involving electrical safety
surfaces or two sharp points that have AR’s arc-detection sensitivity settings testing. Mr. Braverman received a B.S.
the same gap spacing. are based on a scale of levels 1 through in electrical engineering from Buck-
The impedance and distributed ca- 9, with 1 being the least sensitive and 9 nell University. Associated Research,
pacitance of the circuits between the being the most sensitive. These sensi- 13860 W. Laurel Dr., Lake Forest,
point where the arc is generated and the tivity levels only loosely correspond to IL 60045, 847-367-4077, e-mail:
detector also may affect the ∆di/dt of the current levels of 20-2 mA. Adamb@asresearch.com

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