1/1/02 Circuit Breaker Maintenance

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Breaker Inspection and Testing Is an
Important Component of an Electrical
Maintenance Program
B: Fred Harding and Saban Saskin
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Circuit Breaker Inspection and Maintenance
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1/1/02 Circuit Breaker Maintenance
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Beake Teing, Seing and Calibaion
The most common relay used in the protection oI the power distribution
system is the overcurrent relay. The Iunction oI this relay is to sense the
overcurrent in the system and, when operating correctly, provide the
circuit breaker tripping operation.
According to construction type, relay and trip units can be classiIied in
the next two main categories:
solid state
electro-mechanical
The relay operating characteristic is shown as a logarithm Iunction oI
operating current and time. Such curves normally employ log-log scales
to cover a wide range oI time and current. Similar curves are published
Ior overcurrent relays having diIIerent time-delay characteristics. It is
possible to adjust the operating time oI relays. This is important since
they are normally used to selectively trip breakers that operate in series
on the same system circuit.
This adjustment oI the operating time and current value is called
breaker setting. The electro-mechanical type is usually equipped with
two types oI trip settings:
instantaneous current trip settings
overload current trip settings.
Additional adjustments oI operating characteristics to allow Ior better
system co-ordination can be achieved by using a solid-state type oI
relay or trip unit. These are usually equipped with the Iollowing type oI
settings:
long-delay current trip setting
long-delay time trip setting
short-delay current trip setting
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short-dela time trip setting
instantaneous current trip setting
ground current trip setting
ground-dela time trip setting
A short description of the main tpes of trip settings is provided below:
Inananeo ip eing
Instantaneous tripping without an intentional dela is used to provide
protection against short circuits. It is possible to select various short
circuit pickup levels according to the co-ordination needs.
Oeload ip eing
Overload tripping is used to allow a breaker to protect sstem
components such as transformers, motors, conductors etc. that ma fail
due to restrictive heating. When an overcurrent condition persists for a
specified length of time the breaker trips and breaks the load. A vareit
of trip times for different levels of current and curve settings are
possible in order to achieve the proper sstem co-ordination.
Gond fal eing
The ground fault current is often below the trip level of the overload
settings. It is therefore necessar to have separate ground fault
protection to prevent damage. Separate ground fault levels of 0.1-0.8
times the CT rating and trip times of no intentional dela are provided
with this tpe of setting. The level setting should be set low enough to
provide a trip under ground fault conditions and high enough to
prevent nuisance trips under normal conditions. Some ground current
will be detected from capacitive current or CT mismatch and spill
currents in residual ground sensing circuits. The level must be set
higher than this normall encountered value.
After the proper setting is achieved, calibration of the rela or trip units
should be performed in order to ensure the acting rela or trip unitwork
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at the predetermined value. The relay calibration is the set oI complex
tests perIormed on the relay or trip unit to conIirm and Iurther adjust its
trip characteristic - which should be in the limits suggested by the
manuIacturer. Each manuIacturer oI relays has established test and
service procedures Ior the great variety oI relays oIIered. It is thereIore
impractical to attempt a discussion oI speciIic techniques. The
manuIacturer's instruction literature should be used as a guide Ior the
relay inspection and test being perIormed.
The calibration oI the solid-state relay generally consists oI primary
injection testing, testing oI all the trip settings that each breaker is
equipped with and a Iinal testing. It is important during these testing
that the manuIacturer's instructions be careIully Iollowed.
Test procedures Ior electro-mechanical relays usually consist oI
adjusting the stationary contact, a minimum operating current test and
time curve calibration. II the minimum operating test shows that
calibration is necessary the damping magnet should be removed and
control spring tension should be adjusted.
The purpose oI the time curve calibration is to ensure that relay
operating time Ior certain values oI current be shown on the time
current curves, plus or minus Iive percent. II the operating time is not
within the tolerance Ior the low values oI applied current, the
permanent magnet keeper should be adjusted until this operating time is
correct. II the operating time is not within the tolerance oI the high
values oI applied current, the electromagnet screw plugs require
adjustment.
Because the test results can vary with conditions and type oI
instrumentation employed, the accuracy oI test equipment should never
be taken Ior granted - it can become damaged, depending on the
Irequency with which it is used and recalibrated. Instrument error may
be signiIicant to the degree that adjustment oI a device will be made
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based on inaccurate readings. As ou can see, recorded data is vital to
the evaluation of subsequent test results and decisions for recalibration,
adjustment and replacement of the protective devices.
This article was originall presented as part of a paper at the Canadian
Electricit Forum's Modern Electrical Maintenance Strategies Forum.
Fred Harding and Saban Saskin are with MVA Engineering Group Ltd.
The can be reached at (519) 668-4698.
E
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