The Fluke ii910 Precision Acoustic Imager will act as your eyes and ears on the field when detecting air leaks and partial discharge. Moreover, it’s going to provide the ultimate safety for the personnel at work since it will allow you to do maintenance tests from afar. With a simple sweep of acoustic imagers, it will enable you to see the damage that’s not visible to the naked eye (cause really, how can you detect air leaks and partial discharge a million miles from the ground without risking your life, right?).

What are air leaks and partial discharges?

Let’s put in a good example for better understanding. Picture a flying red balloon full of helium miles up in the air. The balloon then suddenly goes haywire, then again, from a person peering up at it from a thousand miles on the ground, it’s probably just the air, right? Or is it? 

The point here is, we cannot see what’s actually wrong with the balloon, but we know that it’s there. We can see that the balloon is not entirely affected considering that it is not deflated and is still flying. However, we know that the “problem” is affecting its performance due to its erratic movements. This gives a huge probability that it’s experiencing air leaks. 

Now, in light of high voltage electrical wiring this somehow also holds special similarities with our erratic red balloon. First of all, it is called “partial” because it does not include the entire dielectric material. Second of all, like any object, partial discharges are mainly faults of imperfections or defects of the dielectric material (it may be a puncture or the results of aging high voltage wires). Furthermore, it doesn’t just stop at material imperfections, there are other circumstances that prompt partial discharges, here are some of them:

• Defects on the material
• Wrong installation with material damages
• Surface contamination
• Wrong application
• Aging of material

The different kinds of partial discharge

That’s right, there’s not just one kind of leak. There are several to watch out for. Here are some of the most common leaks that you should be aware of when troubleshooting high voltage machines, wirings, or motors.

• Corona Discharge – One of the most common discharges that often happens. From a maintenance person/professional’s point of view, this type of discharge is usually less concerning than others. It often occurs when discharge is directly into the air emanating from the sharp surface of the conductor.

• Arcing Discharge – This one is usually caused by electrical breakdowns of gas. Arcing discharge happens when electrical current flows through the air between two conductors and this will eventually result in an ongoing electrical breakdown of gas. To further explain, it is the uncontrolled electrical current and ionization of the air that causes the arcing discharge. 

• Surface Discharge – This kind of discharge mostly occurs on the insulation surface. On the other hand, it is also known as “surface tracking”. Furthermore, surface discharge is recognized as one of the most dangerous and destructive types of partial discharge. This can be caused by the weather or contamination of the insulator surface. These instances occur when insulation breaks down because of high humidity or poor maintenance. Additionally, this can also be the workings of moisture intrusions.

• Void Discharge: This kind of discharge happens inside voids or defects of the solid insulation. They are also known as one the most destructive discharges to insulation. When not spotted immediately, they have the tendency to enlarge until they cause complete failure to the mechanisms.

Detecting air leaks and partial discharges in advance

Leaks and partial discharges are caused by minor defects that result in thousands of small repetitive discharges. Moreover, these “small repetitive discharges” also have the tendency to cultivate over time. When not detected early on, it might result in disastrous effects. This will cause equipment failure and dangerous arc flashes.

We can, however, detect these deficiencies ahead of time. With the use of Fluke ii910 Precision Acoustic Imager. This device is engineered to have the specialty of distinguishing high voltage electrical wiring imperfections which makes them perfect to get the job done.

Here are the key areas to look for partial discharges:

• Insulators
• Transformers
• High voltage power lines
• Switch gears
• Arrestors
• Busbars
• High voltage coils
• Breakers
• Capacitors

The invisible threats are now visible!

The Fluke ii910 Precision Acoustic Imager is the best tool to detect air leaks and partial discharge. This device is an all-in-one device used by professionals at work to detect, locate, and analyze leaks and partial discharges. Moreover, it also provides the ultimate safety for men/women at work since it no longer lets you troubleshoot near high voltage wirings. You can find faults at a safe distance without putting your life or your health at risk.

Best features of Fluke Precision Acoustic Imager:

• Quick and easy partial discharge detection and PD testing
• Reduce outages and increase uptime
• Cut costs and save energy every day by finding and fixing PD
• PDQ Mode to capture and analyze partial discharge
• Allows you to send analysis via an online reporting tool
• Has a 7” LCD touchscreen display for easier visualization of air leaks and PD
• Has a higher frequency range. Fluke ii910’s frequency ranges up to 100kHz.
• Also has a wide frequency range for air leaks 
• Provides instant analysis results in report format using advanced AI algorithm 
• Long battery life! This device has two batteries in-store and can last up to 12hrs. 

Get the best tool for air leak detection and partial discharge from the Philippine’s #1 Fluke distributor: https://presidium.ph/