CBA 3000

Circuit Breaker Analyzer

Content

• Introduction
• Instrument Overview
• Software Overview
• Testing Procedure
• Additional mode
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Circuit breakers
Circuit breaker is an automatically
operated electrical device, design to
close or open contacts inside the
chambers, thus closing and opening an
electrical circuit under normal or fault
conditions

Its task is to sustain the nominal current,

during its normal operation, and to
interrupt the fault one in the fastest
possible time, in order to prevent
damages to the other network element.

They operate on relays command

Introduction
Circuit breakers

VT CB CT
Transmission line Relay detect a fault
condition from the VT
Fault and CT secondary values
RELAY

CB

VT CB CT
Transmission line Relay commands the
circuit breaker to open in
order to interrupt the fault
RELAY

CB
Introduction
Circuit breakers – Breaks per phase
High voltage circuit breakers
can have more than one
moving contact (breaker), used
to interrupt the fault.

This elements are contained in

different chambers of the CB.
2 breaks
Two breaks per phase CB are
frequent in high voltage 1 break
substations.
It is possible to find up to 8
breaks CBs, but only in some
rare situations.
Introduction
Circuit breakers – Breaks per phase
The purpose of using more than one break per phase is to reduce the fault voltage
interrupted by a single break.
Sometimes a capacitance (grading capacitor) is connected in parallel to the
chambers, in order to balance the two voltages (at Vfault/2).

Vf

Br 1

Vf/2 Vf/2

Br 1 Br. 2 Grading capacitor

INSTRUMENT OVERVIEW
Instrument Overview
Coil Commands Voltage Inputs

Timing inputs MTC option μohm-meters

Instrument Overview
Timing Inputs

Available boards:

INTE card PIR card

Available settings: Available settings:

• Main • Main
• Auxiliary Dry • Auxiliary Dry
• Auxiliary Wet: • Auxiliary Wet:
15V or 77V settable voltage

Other features: Other features:

• P.I.R. detection • P.I.R. detection
• P.I.R. measurement
• Transducer testing
Timing inputs
Instrument Overview
Timing Inputs – Main

Timing inputs directly generate about 20 ÷ 30 V

Opened cb

Closed cb
Timing inputs
Instrument Overview
Timing Inputs – Auxiliary

• Dry: same behavior of Main contact

• Wet: the inputs perform a voltage measure; it
assigns an Open/Close state depending on the
threshold

Opened cb

Timing inputs Closed cb

Instrument Overview
Timing Inputs – Other features

The remaining features of timing inputs will be

described in future chapter.

• PIR detection / PIR measurement:

→ Testing procedure: PIR measurement

• Transducer testing:
→ Additional mode: two breaks per phase

Timing inputs
Instrument Overview
Coil commands
Possible settings:
Coil Commands
• Open coil
• Close coil

• Phase selection
(A – B – C – ND)

• Range of measure:
(3A – 10A – 60A)
Instrument Overview
Coil commands
When the C1 coil is closed it energizes
Coil Commands the trip coil (110V), this opens the CB
Instrument Overview
Voltage Inputs
A single Voltage input can be connected
Voltage Inputs using:
• plug connector
• multipole connector

They are mutually excluded options.

Multipole Plug
Instrument Overview
Voltage Inputs
Possible settings:
Voltage Inputs • Analog IN
generic voltage input

• Current clamp
allows to directly measure/visualize the current
flowing through the primary side of a clamp

• Pressure transducer
allows to directly measure/visualize the pressure
of SF6 gas taken from a transducer

• Analog/Digital (travel) transducer

for Motion analysis of circuit breakers

• μohm-meter
Instrument Overview
μohm-meters generators
μΩ-meter generators allow to perform
μohm-meters static and dynamic resistance tests with a
current value up to 200 Adc.

Generation of current can be sustained for

seconds, allowing to perform every
necessary test.

The generators installed can be 0, 1 or 3.

The advantage of having 3 generator is the
possibility to perform faster three phase
tests, and the possibility to perform tests in
BSG mode.
SOFTWARE OVERVIEW
Software Overview
General function
Operations flow: Instrument
settings
• Instrument settings
definition of the necessary input/output

• Test Plan
Test Plan
definition of tests parameters and
operations

• Test and Results

test execution Test and Result
Software Overview
Instrument settings – Predefined configuration
This feature allows to use a predefined settings according to the
characteristics of the CB.
Software Overview
Instrument settings – Predefined configuration
To use the predefined configurations allows the
possibility to show setup connections, pressing
the help button.
Software Overview
Instrument settings – Custom
Predefined feature cannot include all of the possible configurations.
Custom allow to manually set every input/output of CBA3000.
Software Overview
Test plan editor
In Test plan windows it is possible to define a list containing of all the
necessary operations.
Software Overview
Test plan editor
Adding a test allows to define its parameters (recording time, sample
frequency, coil duration, …)
Software Overview
Result window
In Result window it is possible to perform the list of tests defined in
the test plan. The corresponding results are displayed accordingly:
Software Overview
Result window
Some graphical operation such as zoom, axis height, XY axis values, …
can be carried out directly from the local display.
Software Overview
Result window - Table
The table contains all of the test measurements.
Software Overview
Header windows
There is the possibility to define all of the nominal CB parameters in a
Header. This only affect the information present in the report.
Software Overview
Load/Save operations
It is possible to save and load each of the previous steps, according to the windows
shown, when save/load button is pressed.
Every step contains the information of the previous layer.
*Instrument settings has the extra mode “save as default” so that each time CBA is
turn on, it starts with the same HW configuration.

HEADER

INSTRUMENT
SETTINGS *

TEST PLAN

RESULTS
TESTING PROCEDURE
Test
Test execution
There are two ways to perform a test:

• to create a list in the test plan. To press START on the result windows will perform all
of the “not executed” tests present in the list.

• to select the operation to carry out, using the

SEL button, and then to press START.

The advantage of SEL button is that it is a very fast

way to perform a test.

The cons is that you cannot define the test

parameters, that are fixed by the instrument, so
it is useful only for standard common tests.
Test
Test list – Timing tests

TIMING TESTS RESISTANCE TESTS

• Open • Static resistance
• Close • Dynamic resistance O
• OC • Dynamic resistance C
• CO • Dynamic resistance OC
• OCO • Dynamic resistance CO

OTHER FEATURES

• Motion analysis • Minimum trip coil (MTC)

• First trip test • PIR measurement
Test
Timing test
When a fault occurs the circuit breaker must operate in a very fast time in order to
disconnect the faulting line from the network.
Purpose of timing tests is to measure the operation time of the CB.

TEST CONNECTIONS
• Coil command
used to control the open/close operations of the CB, providing the supply
voltage to the corresponding coils.

• Timing input
used to monitor the CB contact status, and so to detect and measure its
transition time.
Test
Timing test - Connection
Coil connection:
the number of coils involved in the tests depends on the circuit breaker. The most
common situations are:

• 1 Open / 1 Close
generally for medium
voltage CB

• 3 Open / 1 Close
for high voltage CB

• 3 Open / 3 Close
for high voltage CB
3 open coils – 1 close coil
Test
Timing test - Connection
Timing connection:

one break per phase CB two breaks per phase CB

Test
Timing test - Connection

Medium voltage CB High voltage CB

Test
Timing test – O/C result

O to C delay
Record time
Test
Timing test – O/C result

Open time A1
Pretrigger Open Coil duration
Test
Timing test – O/C result

Bounce time Contact spread ph. A

Pole spread
Test
Timing test – Type of measurement
The measurement of timings can start from:
• coil command
• a percentage of the coil’s current

The measure differences between the two methods are extremely low, except in
the tests that involves anti-pump relays.

The main task of anti-pump relay is to:

• in C-O command, to avoid a re-closure when the close command is too long
• to delay the Open operation in case of simultaneously open and close commands

In this cases the “coil command” settings is no longer valid to obtain correct
results.
Test
Timing test – Type of measurement

Dwell time

Open and Close The open current is

simultaneous command delayed by the relay
Test
Test list – Resistance tests

TIMING TESTS RESISTANCE TESTS

• Open • Static resistance
• Close • Dynamic resistance O
• OC • Dynamic resistance C
• CO • Dynamic resistance OC
• OCO • Dynamic resistance CO

OTHER FEATURES

• Motion analysis • Minimum trip coil (MTC)

• First trip test • PIR measurement
Test
Resistance test – Static resistance
The testing purpose is to measure the resistance value of the Main contact. A
greater resistance means greater dissipation by heat and so power losses. An high
resistance value indicate a bad condition of the breaker’s contact.
The circuit breaker remains in a close position during the test.

TEST CONNECTIONS
• μΩ-meter generators
used to generate the high current. The use of 3 generators decrease the time
required for the test

• Voltage input
used to measure the voltage during the current generation. They needs to be
connected as close as possible to the main contact of the CB.
Test
Resistance test – Connection
SRM connection:

one break per phase CB two breaks per phase CB

Test
Resistance test – Connection

Medium voltage CB High voltage CB

Test
Resistance test – Connection
Red: micro-ohmmeters – Blue: 2 voltage inputs

J
I+

J V2

I-

V1

2 Breaks per phase - High voltage CB

Test
Resistance test – Result
1 – wrong: voltage inputs too far
The result of the test:

the position of the voltage inputs seriously affect 2 – correct: voltage inputs nearer
the results. than micrometers
Bad connection or different positioning can easily
cause differences of several μohm:

2
Test
Resistance test – Dynamic resistance
The testing purpose is to obtain the resistance profile of the breaker during its
operation. The tests is repeated during years, and the trend is evaluated through
comparison. It is also used to evaluate the arcing contact condition.

TEST CONNECTIONS
• Coil commands (same as timing test)
• μΩ-meter generators (same as SRM test)
• Voltage input (same as SRM test)
• Jumper cables only in case of 2 Breaks per phase test
(see ch. Additional mode – two breaks per phase)

Note:
timing inputs cannot be connected to the contact during this test, due to μΩ-
meter’s low impedance (they will always reveal closing position).
Test
Resistance test – Connection
DRM connection:

one break per phase CB two breaks per phase CB

Test
Resistance test – Arcing contact
Arcing contact
Arcing contact purpose is to extinguish the
arc that is created in the first milliseconds of
an OPEN operation.

It is composed by a contact with an higher

resistance than main one (some mΩ
compared to hundreds of μΩ) .
It remains connected to the second end of
the CB pole for a little more time, during the
opening.
Main contact

Each time the CB interrupts the fault

current, part of the arcing contact burns, so
it is required to measure its length (see
motion analysis chapter).
Test
Resistance test – Arcing contact
Main contact closed

Arcing contact closed

Test
Resistance test – Arcing contact
Main contact opens

Arcing contact still closed

Test
Resistance test – Arcing contact
Main contact opened

Arcing contact opened

Test
Resistance test – Result

Arcing contact opens

Main contact opens

Close contact
Test
Resistance test – Dynamic resistance
DRM test for close operation doesn’t give any additional information.
The noise produced by the transition from infinite to the arcing resistance value
(hundreds of uohm) does not allow to perform any evaluation.

Noise level
Test
Test list – Motion analisys

TIMING TESTS RESISTANCE TESTS

• Open • Static resistance
• Close • Dynamic resistance O
• OC • Dynamic resistance C
• CO • Dynamic resistance OC
• OCO • Dynamic resistance CO

OTHER FEATURES

• Motion analysis • Minimum trip coil (MTC)

• First trip test • PIR measurement
Test
Motion analysis
Motion analysis purpose is to acquire the circuit breaker pole movement, during
an operation.

This is achieved by coupling a position transducers with the CB’s mechanism.

Rotative digital transducer Linear analog transducer

Test
Motion analisys - Connections
This control can be carried out with every type of test, but the main task is to
associate the CB movement with dynamic resistance trend (open) in order to
measure the length of the arcing contact.

TEST CONNECTIONS
• Analog transducer:
can be connected to every available voltage input, plug and multipole

or

• Digital transducer
must be connected one of the first three voltage input - multipole
Test
Motion analysis - Calibration
The final result of the motion analysis is the trend (expressed in mm) of the CB. So
the use of transducer requires a calibration in order to associate the movement of
the transducer to the CB one.
Test
Motion analysis - Calibration
Analog transducers works as a potentiometer (variable resistance):

Depending on the position of the cursor Vin will have a different

value from 0 to the Voltage supply.

Vsupply

Vin
Actual Stroke

GND Total Stroke

Test
Motion analysis - Calibration
• Transducer voltage supply
• Transducer total stroke
maximum movement (mm or deg.) of transducer

With this two parameters CBA obtains the transducers

movement (mm) from its measured voltage, during
tests.

• Nominal actual stroke (Tr.)

• Nominal actual stroke (CB)
expected actual travelling values of Tr. and CB.

With this two CBA is able to associate the Tr. movement

to the CB one.
When calibrated they get measured and compared.
Test
Motion analysis - Calibration

If we call Vin the voltage from the transducer:

Note: in case of Digital the parameter S is fixed by the transducer

Test
Motion analysis - Calibration

Example of calibration
Test
Motion analysis - Calibration
After the calibration it is possible to define two Datum points position in order to
calculate the medium speed between them:

• Independent:

Independent datum point

Test
Motion analysis - Calibration
• At transition:

Time offset Distance offset

Test
Motion analysis - Result
Test example:

Dynamic resistance open test with motion analysis

Test
Motion analysis - Result

123mm - 98mm

Arcing contact length = 25mm

Test
Motion analysis - Result

Transducer trend:

Speed (mm/s)

Rebound (mm)
Steady close value
(indication)

Overtravel (mm)

Measured values from motion analysis

Test
Test list – PIR measurement

TIMING TESTS RESISTANCE TESTS

• Open • Static resistance
• Close • Dynamic resistance O
• OC • Dynamic resistance C
• CO • Dynamic resistance OC
• OCO • Dynamic resistance CO

OTHER FEATURES

• Motion analysis • Minimum trip coil (MTC)

• First trip test • PIR measurement
Test
Timing test – First trip test
The purpose of first trip testing is to measure the operation time of the circuit
breaker while it is in service since a long time.
In normal condition the CB doesn’t operate for months or even years, and in case
of a real fault situation its mechanism can be slow down due to dry grease or
corrosion.

The important parameters to monitor are:

• main and auxiliary contact opening time.

• coil current: gives a lot of information about the mechanism status.
Test
Timing test – First trip test

Main contact
opens

Auxiliary
contact opens

Plunger
strikes latch
Test
Timing test – First trip test
Timings are obtained from the current transformer related to the CB. Current
flown drops to zero when an open occurs, so to monitor its trend allow to
determine the opening time. This is achieved using the provided AC current
clamps, connected to the secondary side of the CT.

Close CB Open CB
Test
Timing test – First trip test
To use the CBA coil commands is also dangerous, due to voltage on, also a wrong
connection can cause the CB to trip and to invalidate the test.

It is advisable to monitor the coil current using another DC clamp, and to start the
operation manually, defining a trigger in order to synchronize the instrument to
the start of the test.

Main opens
Test
Test list – Motion analisys

TIMING TESTS RESISTANCE TESTS

• Open • Static resistance
• Close • Dynamic resistance O
• OC • Dynamic resistance C
• CO • Dynamic resistance OC
• OCO • Dynamic resistance CO

OTHER FEATURES

• Motion analysis • Minimum trip coil (MTC)

• First trip test • PIR measurement
Test
Timing test – MTC
The Minimum Trip Coil is used by circuit breakers to evaluate the DC voltage
supply. In case of a black out the voltage is no more provided by the line, but it is
sustained by a pack of batteries present in the substation.

Batteries continuously discharge, if the black out condition last for too long the
voltage supplied will decrease.
It is possible to reach a situation in which there won’t be enough energy to make
the trip coil to operate, and so to interrupt a fault condition.

Minimum trip coil purpose is to perform an open operation before to reach this
situation.
Test
Timing test – MTC
The purpose of the test is to decrease the
Minimum trip coil voltage supply to the point of
operation, and verify the opening of the CB.

TEST CONNECTIONS
• MTC
create a voltage step to decrease the MTC coil
voltage

• AN4 or AN8 voltage input

used to record the voltage of the MTC coil

• CBA normally close Aux contact

keeps the MTC coil voltage up to 110V when not
testing. It opens during the test
Test
Test list – PIR measurement

TIMING TESTS RESISTANCE TESTS

• Open • Static resistance
• Close • Dynamic resistance O
• OC • Dynamic resistance C
• CO • Dynamic resistance OC
• OCO • Dynamic resistance CO

OTHER FEATURES

• Motion analysis • Minimum trip coil (MTC)

• First trip test • PIR measurement
Test
PIR measurement
PIR
Pre Insertion Resistance purpose is to
limit the inrush current created during a
close operation of the CB. It is composed
by a resistor (200 – 300 ohm) that
operates about 10ms before the main
contact close.

TEST CONNECTIONS
Connections are the same of timing test.

It is necessary to have a PIR card Grading capacitor

installed on the instrument in order to
measure the pre insertion resistance
value.
Test
PIR measurement - Result
Resistive part is indicated with a narrow line on the main contact.

Pre insertion resistance

220 ohm – 8.9 ms
ADDITIONAL MODE
Two breaks per phase
Two breaks per phase mode
Dynamic resistance test
This mode allow the user to test two breaks with only one current generator
(that means 6 breaks 3 phases) for DRM tests. In order to use it is required to:

• Connect jumper cables to maintain the current flow, after the first open break

When the faster breaker (Br1) opens,

the current flown is interrupted
→ Break2 cannot be monitored

With Jumper cables the current flow

is sustained after the opening of the
first breaker
Two breaks per phase mode
Dynamic resistance test
• Calibrate to compensate jumper resistance
Two breaks per phase mode
Motion analysis
The issue with motion analysis is the number of input required:
Two breaks per phase mode required the use of 6 of 8 analog input.

Jumper cables

AN1 → Phase A1
AN2 → Phase B1
AN3 → Phase C1

AN5 → Phase A2
AN6 → Phase B2
AN7 → Phase C2

Phase A
Two breaks per phase mode
Motion analysis
In order to give the possibility to test 3 transducers, it is possible to use PIR card
as transducer input.

Two inputs are needed at least:

Transducer Supply: provide 30Vdc as a voltage source for transducer (Vsupply)
Transducer Input: works as a voltage input to measure transducer signal (Vin)
Two breaks per phase mode
Motion analysis
The setup will be the following:

Timing 1 – Vsupply
Timing 3 – Tr. A
Timing 5 – Tr. B
Timing 7 – Tr. C

Note: this setup can be used only with Analog trasducers, not digital ones.
Due to higher accuracy it is advisable to use the standard method, whenever available.
ADDITIONAL MODE
Both side grounded
BSG mode
Both side grounded mode
“BSG” is a setup condition required for safety
reasons. It consist on the connection to the
ground of the two ends of the CB.

In this way the user is protected against

voltages on the line.

The difficulty of this testing mode is that the two

ends are no more isolated. They results to be
connected through the ground grid of the
substation. This means:

• open resistance different from infinite

• phases interact with each other
BSG connection
BSG mode
Both side grounded mode
Ground resistance has a value of some mΩ while CB one is some μΩ:

- Close CB - Open CB
Resistance = Rcb // Rground = μΩ Resistance = Rground = mΩ

In a standard situation the opening resistance is infinite → it is not possible to

discriminate the open position using the standard method (timing inputs)
BSG mode
Both side grounded mode
The timing test must be carried out using current generators, and evaluating the
voltage / current profiles.

- Close CB - Open CB

Note: noise, induction and interaction with phases are digitally filtered/eliminated
in order to obtain correct result.
BSG mode
Both side grounded mode
The expected trends of current and voltage will be the following:
130A 130A

85A

0.92V

0.1V 0.1V

CB Closed CB Open CB Closed

BSG mode
Both side grounded mode

BSG result example

BSG mode
Both side grounded mode - Two breaks per phase
This mode can be used in the same way, in case of two breaks per phase CB.
Connections and procedure are identical to the ones described before:

Jumper cables

AN1 → Phase A1
AN2 → Phase B1
AN3 → Phase C1

AN5 → Phase A2
AN6 → Phase B2
AN7 → Phase C2

Phase A
ADDITIONAL MODE
GIS
GIS mode
Gas insulated switchgear
In gas insulated substation (GIS) the high voltage conductors are kept inside
grounded metal enclosures, filled with SF6 gas. This includes circuit breakers, CTs,
VTs, disconnectors, etc.

SF6 gas has a dielectric strength 2,5 times greater than air, and it is 100 times
better for arc interruption.
This allows to reduce the insulation space by 10 times compared to an air
insulated substation (AIS).
GIS mode
Gas insulated switchgear – testing method
For GIS testing we have a situation similar to BSG one. The enclosure is always
strictly grounded through two earth disconnectors, at both sides of the CB.

This results in a parallel resistance to the CBs one. The difference with AIS is that this
resistance has an extremely low value, similar to the CBs contact one (μΩ).
GIS mode
Gas insulated switchgear – testing method
The earth resistance value doesn’t allow to use the same method of AIS for BSG.
The generation and the algorithm used to obtain timings on GIS are completely
different. Due to their complexity they will not be discussed in this training.

Although this, testing

connections and procedure are
exactly the same of BSG ones.

We still use current generators

and voltage measurement,
connected to the CBs poles.

A calibration is also required.

Note that resistance tests are
usually not performed for GIS Phase A
circuit breakers.
THANK YOU