DC hipot measures the insulation resistance of cables by applying a high voltage on the test device.

The leakage current is

measured and computed to get the insulation resistance. The drawback of this test is that it can damage old cables during the
test. This procedure is only advisable to be conducted on new cables. The voltage applied on the test cable is several times
higher than AC hipot. This is why DC hipot test is more prone to flash overs and corona discharges.

AC hipot test is done by applying a high AC voltage on the test conductor and measuring the leakage current. This test gives a
higher leakage current reading because a cable can act as a capacitor. AC current flows easily on a capacitor than DC. The
test voltage applied on the test conductor is lower compared to DC but more power is required because at 60 hertz, the
capacitive reactance is low.

AC is non-uniformly distributed on the surface of the conductor.This means that skin effect comes into play, theas means that
actual resistance increase in case of AC, while the DC is unifomrly distributed on surface of the conductor.
Cable Hi-Pot test is done with DC voltage because if we do it in AC voltage the capacitance effect of the cable will be charged
and will not get the exact value.That's why we DC test istead of AC