APPLICATION NOTE

Motor testing with MTO 106

A guide to conductor resistance testing of rotating machine stator

Introduction
Measuring the DC conductor resistance of a rotating
machine stator can reveal a lot of information about
the machine. It is always desirable to find out the
existence of any resistance that is higher than the
nameplate value which might be caused by poor
joints, corrosion or mechanical deformation of the
stator winding. The excessive electromagnetic force
caused by overcurrent and vibration can lead to
failure or partial failure of conductors. The wear of
winding insulation caused by vibration can also lead
to a turn-to-turn short fault of the winding. By
measuring the resistance accurately, the subtle
change of conductor condition can be detected and
allow corrective actions to be taken to avoid
unexpected failure. It is important to note that a stator
winding is a high inductance object. Abrupt
interruption of test current may introduce a very high
voltage that places the tester in danger. Therefore, ohmmeters that are designed for large
inductive objects are recommended for stator winding conductor resistance measurements.

Safety Precautions
If the test circuit becomes open while DC current is flowing, hazardous voltages might be
present. Care must be taken to ensure the test circuit does not accidentally become open:

 Ensure the test leads are securely attached to the terminals under test.
 Do not disconnect any test leads while DC current is flowing.
 When terminating the test, wait until the discharge indicator on the Megger winding tester
goes off before removing the current leads.

Test Intervals
Resistance measurements of winding conductors are usually performed during maintenance
outages as well as when the existence of a mechanical defect is suspected.

Test Equipment
Prior to modern digital electronic equipment, the Kelvin Bridge was used for high precision
resistance measurements. Such bridges measure to 4 -5 significant digits and the accuracy is
within 0.25%.

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APPLICATION NOTE
Motor testing with MTO 106
A guide to conductor resistance testing of rotating machine stator

The testing time has been greatly reduced by using modern microprocessor-based test
instruments. Direct readings are available from a digital display screen of some testers such as
the Megger MTO series. In addition, measurement safety has also been greatly enhanced by
applying some internal protection schemes to the test instrument.

Figure 1. Kelvin Connections to Test Object

Kelvin clamps are used for the low resistance measurement to ensure that all contact and lead
resistances are compensated for. When measuring the test object, four connections to the test
object will be made: One pair is for the current injection and the other is for voltage
measurement.

Measurement Principle
Measurement of conductor resistance is achieved with the following setup.

Figure 2. Measurement of Conductor Resistance

A DC voltage is applied to the test object. Current increases gradually from zero due to the
inductive nature of the winding. To speed up the measurement, a higher voltage such as 48 V is
preferred for fast saturation of the stator core. Voltage regulation starts when the user selected

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APPLICATION NOTE
Motor testing with MTO 106
A guide to conductor resistance testing of rotating machine stator

current level is reached and stabilized. The resistance can then be calculated by measuring the
current and voltage drop across the winding.

Connections
A rotating machine typically has a few phase terminals and one earth terminal in the terminal
box. A connection diagram is supplied with every machine as shown in Figure 3.1 below. Phase
terminals are inter-connected in the way that a certain configuration is achieved according to the
specific application.

Figure 3.1. Winding configuration and terminal connections of a three-phase motor

To streamline the testing process, remove all terminal jumpers prior to taking measurements.
The terminal lugs should be cleaned to make sure that all foreign matter, paint, varnish or oxide
coating is removed.

Measure phase resistances and phase-to-earth resistances according to the connection

diagram shown in Figure 3.2 (using Megger model MTO106). If there is any phase-to-earth
short, the motor should not be put back in service.

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APPLICATION NOTE
Motor testing with MTO 106
A guide to conductor resistance testing of rotating machine stator

Figure 3.2 Connection diagram for phase resistances and phase-to-ground resistance measurements

If not all winding terminals are available, phase-to-phase resistances can be measured and one
example is listed in Table 1. The connection diagram is shown in Figure 3.3. Phase resistances
can be calculated based on three phase-to-phase resistances. But sometimes it is a tedious
computation for delta-connected windings. Comparing phase-to-phase resistances directly is
recommended.

Conductor_resistance_MTO106_AN_en_V01 ZR-BN02E • BN035680AE • 2019

APPLICATION NOTE
Motor testing with MTO 106
A guide to conductor resistance testing of rotating machine stator

Figure 3.3 Connection diagram for phase-to-phase resistances measurements

Table 1. Phase-to-phase resistances of a three-phase motor

Test Item Value
RAB 0.023
RBC 0.024
RCA 0.023
ΔR 4.38%

It is also preferred to measure two resistors simultaneously if the test instrument is equipped
with two channels – for this reason the MTO106 uses two channels. Compared to measuring
one resistor at a time there is a significant time saving.

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APPLICATION NOTE
Motor testing with MTO 106
A guide to conductor resistance testing of rotating machine stator

Results Interpretation
Measurement results are evaluated by:

 Comparing to original factory measurements

 Comparing to previous field measurements
 Comparing one phase to another

Resistance values (Rt) have to be corrected for temperature before comparing with historical or
factory measurements. The correction from measurement temperature (Tm) to the standard
condition (75 ℃) can be achieved by the equation:

234.5 + 75
𝑅75 = 𝑅
234.5 + 𝑇𝑚 𝑡

If several strands are broken or there are poor internal connections, higher resistance can be
present. According to IEEE Std 62.2-2004, a 2% variation from the reference value indicates an
abnormal condition. However, some conductors consist of several parallel paths of stranded
conductors and a problem with only small percentage of strands may be hard to detect. Other
testing techniques such as surge or winding impedance tests can be used to provide additional
information about the health of the winding.

References
[1] Bruce Hembroff, Matz Ohlen, Peter Werelius, “A Guide to Transformer Winding Resistance
Measurements”, Apr. 2010.

[2] ABB brochure, “Low Voltage Motors, Motor Guide”, Feb. 2014.

[3] IEEE Std 62.2 – 2004.

UNITED STATES SWEDEN

Megger USA Megger Sweden AB
Valley Forge Corporate Center Box 724
2621 Van Buren Avenue SE-182 17 Danderyd
Norristown, Pennsylvania, 19403, USA Sweden
T. 1-610 676 8500 T. +46 8 510 195 00
F. 1-610-676-8610 E. seinfo@megger.com

Conductor_resistance_MTO106_AN_en_V01 ZR-BN02E • BN035680AE • 2019