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Every electrical wire in your office, whether it’s a cable or high voltage equipment, should be carefully protected with electrical insulation. However, even if your wires are insulated, over a period of time, some of the currents can manage to escape triggering short circuits, damaging electrical components or even cause fatal injuries. This is the reason why you periodically need to perform an insulation resistance test and why insulation resistance is one of the critical readings necessary for any electrical equipment system.
But why is testing using an ir tester so important? Is it just performed as a quality control measure or to check whether your electrical insulation has started to deteriorate with age or due to an external factor?
Let us take a look at a few reasons why insulation resistance is important for your electrical systems.
It is a quality control measure
When installing new electrical machinery or equipment at your workplace, how do you check whether there is a missing wire or the equipment is defective? How do you ensure that all your electrical installations and equipment comply with insulation resistance specifications so that they can operate safely?
Testing insulation resistance is important to detect malfunctioning equipment. Testing insulation with an ir tester makes sure that there is adequate insulation to commence operation and also tests your system for errors.
To provide a baseline data which can be used as a reference for future testing
Another reason why ir testing is important is that it is the best way to get baseline data against which you can compare your future readings. Insulation resistance test measurements may vary from cable to cable and equipment to equipment. External factors like heat, cold, moisture, vibration, dirt, oil, and corrosive vapours can lead to loss of insulation and leakage. Under such conditions, ir testing is mostly based on relative measurements and is compared against a previous set of measurements.
Predictive maintenance test
Insulation resistance testing is one of the best valuable predictive maintenance tests available. Electrical insulation can deteriorate with age or due to external factors like temperature, moisture and harsh environmental conditions. An ir test can be used to check the integrity of your insulation. Test readings measured during routine maintenance tests can give valuable information about the quality of insulation.
Troubleshooting tool
Once you start maintaining a record of your readings, you get a better idea of what values to expect from an ir tester. On the basis of the data received, you can understand the condition of the insulation. Any difference in the readings means that there is an issue with the insulation.
Ir testers offer reliable results and are easy to use, making them the ideal diagnostic tools for your troubleshooting, predictive and preventative maintenance applications.
Periodic use of an ir tester will help you keep your electrical system run smoothly and ensure personnel safety as well.
