Excellence in Product Support

Generator Test
Procedures
Roberto Vivas

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Content
Required Tools
Main Stator Test
Main Rotor Test

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Required Tools
Insulation Resistance Tester
To cover our full generator line (Low, Medium and
High Voltage Generators) the tool should be able to
provide: 500, 1000 and 5000 VDC. Below some
examples as reference.

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Required Tools
Digital low resistance Ohmmeter / Micro-ohmmeter
Winding resistance are very low and require a special tool to
get accurate readings. Below some examples as reference

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Main Stator Test

Insulation resistance test

Polarization index test
Winding resistance test
Surge comparison test

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Insulation Resistance Test

*

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Taken from: IEEE Std 43-2000(R2006)

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Insulation Resistance Test

To obtain comparable results, test should be of the same
duration. The reading should be taken after 60 seconds.
Should only be carried out when the winding temp is above the
dew point
Winding temperature should be recorded at the time of the test
in case a temperature correction is needed (an infrared
temperature gun can be used for this purpose)
This is a good test for insulation resistance trending
In the past a good rule of thumb for the minimum value was:
approximately 1 M for each 1,000 Volts of operating voltage,
with a min value of 1M
The insulation resistance of a new generator is typically more
than 100 M

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Insulation Resistance Test

*

* Taken from: IEEE Std 43-2000(R2006)

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Insulation Resistance Test

The insulation resistance value
increases with decreasing winding
temperatures. (e.g., 100 M at
50 C is converted to 170 M at 40C :
1.7 x 100).
For reference See: SEHS9124-03 Cleaning
and Drying for the Generator

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Insulation Resistance Test

Polarization Index test
Defined as the ratio of the 10 minutes insulation
resistance value (IR10) to the 1 min insulation
resistance value (IR1)
Provides indication of insulation quality
deterioration due to dirt, moisture, cracking, aging,
etc.
For CAT Generators the min value should be no less
than 2.

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Insulation Resistance Test

Polarization Index test (cont)

Note: C175 Commissioning A&I LEBQ8313-01 Pg 42 will be corrected to 2

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Stator Surge Comparison test

This is an AC test commonly used to check
stator turn to turn coil shorts
This test check the integrity of the coils inside
the stator, comparing the surge wave from
three phase windings against each other.
The method is extremely sensitive to
differences in the waves, the waves are the
surge impedances of the tested windings
compared to each other
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Stator Surge Comparison test

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Main Rotor Test

Total rotor resistance test

Individual pole resistance test
Voltage drop test (AC and DC)
Shaft Currents

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Main Rotor Test

Troubleshooting tips:
Measure rotor resistance and compare with TMI values
(best if a micro-ohmmeter is used for this test)
Measure the excitation current and compare with TMI
values (no load and full load values in TMI)
Compare Generator vibration levels with /without
excitation current
Test for short-circuited field turns (rotor pole test)
Individual Pole Resistance Test (use a micro-ohmmeter for this
test)
Voltage Drop Test

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Rotor Pole Test

Non Drive End

(beginning of
the coil)

Drive End
(end of the coil)

In some cases is not easy to get the access we need to

measure the individual pole resistance with the rotor
inside the stator.

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Rotor Pole Test (cont)

Non Drive End

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Drive End

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Rotor Pole Test (cont)

In some models you
can access the
beginning and the end
of each pole winding
from the rear end.

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Individual Pole Resistance Check

Procedure
Record rotor winding temperature
Check resistance on individual poles using a MicroOhmmeter.
The resistance difference between poles should be
less than 5%. Calculated as follows:
%Deviation = 100 x (High low) / Low

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Voltage Drop Test

The object of this test is to detect field coils with
short-circuited turns.
DC Voltage drop test: This test can be misleading and
not reliable.
AC Voltage drop test: This is a more sensitive test,
the voltage across a coil with a short-circuited turn
will be substantially less (due to reduced magnetic
flux) than the voltage across a good coil.

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AC Voltage Drop test

P1

30VAC

P2

30VAC

P3

30VAC

P4

30VAC

120VAC (this is an example for explanation purposes)

Individual Pole Voltage should no vary more than 10% ( The

preferred method is to inject a known current value (2A) then

measure the voltage drop on each individual pole)
A rotor needs to pass the pole resistance check and the
voltage drop test to be considered a good rotor

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AC Voltage Drop test

Please note: Performing this test with the rotor inside the stator will give you
inaccurate results. The rotor should be outside of the stator and isolated
from steel table, for better results take the readings with the rotor hanging
from a hoist.

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Shaft Currents
Caused by irregularities in the magnetic circuit causing
a small amount of flux to link the shaft
An electromotive force is generated between the shaft
ends
This electromotive force may cause a current through
the shaft, bearings, bearing supports, and machine
framework and back to the other end of the shaft,
unless the circuit is interrupted by insulation.
The current flowing through the generator bearing will
produce an arcing discharge creating marks similar to
a bar coding pattern.
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Shaft Currents
Fluting on bearing raceway is classic evidence of shaft currents

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Shaft Currents Testing

Test kit P/N 147-5562 is available in the system
for single bearing generators
There are different methods to test shaft
currents Caterpillar Customer Services is
investigating alternate methods to measure
shaft currents
If you have evidence of shaft current problems
please contact DSN for additional support

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Shaft Currents Testing

Equipment Required:
1 - Valhalla Model 2100 Digital
Power Analyzer
1 Insulated copper test probe
(copper rod: 28 long, 3/8
diameter)
Probe insulation: A shrink
tubing first then Grade A 7000
Volts silicon sleeve.
1- 72 of 14 gauge wire with a
ring terminal in the probe end,
and a fork terminal on the
meter end

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Shaft Currents Testing

Details for the
construction of the
insulated copper rod

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Shaft Currents Testing

Procedure

Connect the N terminal to the main stator frame, connect the probe
wire to the adjacent terminal (the internal shunt resistor). The meter
should be set as follows: Current:2, Display: Amps, Voltage 600

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Shaft Currents Testing

Remove the coupling screen, start the unit and run at operating speed no
load. Place the probe against the machined surface of the generator fan
and capture reading. * Caution When holding the probe to the
fan hold at an angle so the direction of rotation will be pulling the
probe instead of pushing the probe back
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Eliminating the effects of Shaft

Currents
Insulated Bearing Sleeve

Bearing Retainers
bars insulator

NDE bearing bracket

from 1846 frame
generator shown in this
picture

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Questions?

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