Substation Panel Wiring and Wiring Checks

During the commissioning of modern electrical power systems, like substation or industry environments, there are literally hundreds of connections that have to be verified. Next to the instrument transformer wiring, there are also logic signals, trip and control signals to breakers, different auxiliary signals and supply from the station battery and grid power.

Wiring problems, like the wrong polarity of a voltage or current transformer path, are one of the most common errors in electrical power systems.

Having the right equipment and the right procedures can substantially speed up those tests while improving personal safety at the same time.

Literature

COMPANO 100 Brochure (2 MB)

Wiring tests with CPOL2 (330 KB)

COMPANO 100: New accessories (553 KB)

Optimized for the field technician

As a battery-powered test set, you can use COMPANO 100 even before a new substation is energized. Mains power is often installed in parallel with wiring checks and therefore not fully available, with COMPANO 100 there is no need for a portable generator.

Mains-independent operation

Due to its low weight of less than 10 kg/22 lbs, you can easily move COMPANO 100 from one test location to another. This saves you a lot of time, especially during wiring checks, and it increases your safety by avoiding tripping hazards due to long extension leads.

Lightweight, portable test set

COMPANO 100 uses electronically controlled current and voltage sources. With these high accuracy signals you can check the wiring and the correct measurement of protection relays, meters, short-circuit indicators or modern SCADA systems at the same time.

Electronically controlled sources

With up to 110 A AC, COMPANO 100 lets you perform wiring checks with primary injection on current transformers. Adding the optional voltage booster VBO4 even allows you to use primary injection on voltage transformers or sensors requiring higher voltages of up to 750 V AC.

High power output

CPOL2 allows you to easily perform measurements without a cable connection back to the test set. Just hold it in your hand, place it on an electric cabinet with its removable magnetic backside or use it like a pen-style meter, with the included measurement tip.

Hand-held polarity checker

You can use CPOL2 together with a current clamp like CPROBE-1 to conveniently measure the polarity of the current flowing through the wire at any location along the wire.

Polarity checks with current clamp

You can use CPOL2 together with a current clamp like CPROBE-1 to conveniently measure the polarity of the current flowing through the wire at any location along the wire.

The problem of current transformer core magnetization

Polarity checks are still often carried out with a battery and an analog voltmeter. This is done by briefly injecting power from the battery on the primary side and checking for either a positive or negative deflection on a voltmeter, connected to the secondary side. Though it’s a quick and simple method, it has one key disadvantage: The direct current from the battery magnetizes the current transformer core over time. The demagnetization that’s then necessary is rarely performed in practice. In a fault scenario, the magnetized transformer reaches saturation too soon and distorts the current on the secondary side, this can result in protection system malfunctions, which can lead to costly failures.

COMPANO 100 offers a DC-free sawtooth signal for wiring checks, which avoids this problem. This signal can then be detected with CPOL 2 to check the polarity along the entire path from the current transformer to the relay.

Watch Video

Wiring checks at National Grid US

Interested in how one of our customers used the COMPANO 100 and CPOL2 for the commissioning of a new substation in upstate New York?

Watch Video

CPC 100 + CPOL2

The CPC 100 primary test-set can be used for wiring checks on current and voltage transformer wiring with primary injection for high test currents and voltages.
It can also generate the sawtooth polarity check signal for the handheld polarity checker CPOL2.

CPC 100

Universal primary injection test set for substation assets

CPOL2

Handheld polarity checker

Request info

CMC 310 + CPOL2

Our CMC devices focus on protection testing, but all them can also be used for wiring checks. Both operating options, CMControl as well as Test Universe, support the output of voltages, currents, and the CPOL polarity check signal needed for this application. The CPOL2 handheld polarity checker is required for testing CT and VT paths.