Electrical Cable Diagnostics and Monitoring

Diagnostics and Monitoring of Electrical Cables by MOSAD®-EDIC

TES provides non-destructive diagnostics of power, instrumentation and control circuits including cables, connections, penetrations and terminal equipment. The measurements are carried out by diagnostic and measuring system MOSAD®-EDIC. Such measurements yield complex information on the properties of the electrical circuit, such as insulation ageing rate, detection of potential defects, measurement of cable length, etc.

Applications and benefits

Regular diagnostics
Search for and determination of defects
Evaluation of insulation ageing rate
Determination of cable length
Identification of cable ties and penetrations
Automatic measuring process
Minimization of human factor effects on the measuring results
Comparison of current measurement results with historical data

Measurement of lumped parameter circuitry

Connection of the measuring device to the terminals of the test circuit is followed by self-diagnostics of the measuring system, including a check of whether the circuit is free from any voltage. The readings are complemented with a calculation of AC parameters and factors indicating insulation quality.

Measured parameters	Calculated parameters
DC resistance Impedance and phase angle Time-dependent insulation resistance	Active component of impedance Reactive component of impedance Dielectric absorption rate Polarization ratio Polarization index Inductance Capacity Quality factor Dissipation factor

Measurement of distributed parameter circuitry – Reflectometric measurement

Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) also known as measurement of circuits with distributed elements is a part of complex circuitry measurements or it can also be applied individually. Reflectometry measurement allows to detect cable ties, spots with wet insulation, damaged spots on cables etc.

During reflectometry, the measured circuit is subject to pulses with a short rise time. Any non- homogeneity results in a reflected wave and the final echogram indicates the spot of the non-homogeneity.

TDR signature enables:

Determine cable length up to 30 km with a high accuracy.
Locate cable connections, penetrations, changes in cable types, etc.
Locate failures like ground fault, ground connections, cable break.

Reflectometric tests are performed either separately, using a TDR card installed in a personal computer, or within the scope of comprehensive cable diagnostics.
The TDR measurements are eligible for both power and communication cables.