Hipot tester

Early hipot testers consisted a Variac driven high voltage transformer with an analog kilovolt meter and a milli-ampere meter. The operator would manually ramp the voltage up until the KV meter indicated the desired test voltage, at which point the operator waited for the specified test time and then turned the voltage back down. If when the hipot tester was implemented no sparks or smoke were observed, the unit under test passed.

Today’s hipot testers have come a long way. Modern hipot tester are equipped with electronic ramp and dwell capability, as well as, a myriad of convenient features. For example, the Vitrek V4 four-in-one electrical safety hipot tester, has the capability to digitally store 10 different hipot test sequences with up to 20 steps in each sequence. In moments, the hipot tester operator can easily dial up the desired hipot test and with the press of a button begin testing.

The hipot tester automatically compares the leakage current values against the pre-set limits. Visual and audible indicators display the hipot test’s pass-fail status. In addition to pass and fail status, the actual leakage values are displayed and are available for computer download via the hipot test’s standard RS232 hipot tester interface (or by way of the optional GPIB interface). In terms of functionality, the V4 hipot tester offers AC hipot to 5KV AC RMS, DC hipot to 6 KV, Insulation resistance measurement to 10Gig ohms and ground bond test capability up to 40 amps.