Application Note

Testing circuit breakers with one interrupter per phase

and both sides grounded

Author
Ari Tirroniemi | Ari.Tirroniemi@omicronenergy.com

Date
May 19, 2022

Related OMICRON Product

CIBANO 500

Application Area
Circuit Breaker

Keywords
CIBANO 500, CB MC2, one interrupter, both sides grounded, opening time, oscillation

Version
V1.0

Document ID
ANP_22004_ENU

Abstract
To increase the safety for testing personal during testing of circuit breakers it is highly recommended to do
the tests when the circuit breaker is grounded on both sides. Most of the times the tests are straight forward,
but if the grounding loop has a low resistance there could be an issue of oscillation(s) in the measured
traces during an O-sequence. This oscillation could influence the calculation of the opening time for the
circuit breaker. This application note will therefore describe how it would be possible to eliminate or minimize
these oscillations in a measurement.
 General information

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© OMICRON 2021. All rights reserved. This Application Note is a publication of OMICRON.

© OMICRON 2022 Page 2 of 13

 Table of content

1 Safety instructions ................................................................................................................................4

2 Timing measurement on HV circuit breakers .....................................................................................5
2.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................5
2.2 Reference measurement with one side grounded ..........................................................................6
2.3 Measurement with both sides grounded.........................................................................................7
2.4 Improved measurement with both sides grounded ........................................................................9
2.4.1 Measures taken against oscillation ................................................................................................... 9
2.4.2 Measurement with both sides grounded and with higher injected current......................................... 9
2.4.3 Measurement with both sides grounded and an additional resistor in parallel to the interrupter contacts
10

© OMICRON 2022 Page 3 of 13

1 Safety instructions
This Application Note may only be used in conjunction with the relevant product manuals which contain all
safety instructions. The user is fully responsible for any application that makes use of OMICRON products.
Instructions are always characterized by a  symbol, even if they are included in a safety instruction.

NOTICE

Equipment damage or loss of data possible

 Carefully read and understand the content of this Application Note as well as the manuals of the
systems involved before taking them into operation.
 Please contact OMICRON support if you have any questions or doubts regarding the safety or
operating instructions.
 Follow each instruction listed in the manuals, especially the safety instructions, since this is the
only way to avoid the danger that can occur when working on high voltage or high current
systems.
 Only use the equipment involved according to its intended purpose to guarantee safe operation.
 Existing national safety standards for accident prevention and environmental protection may
supplement the equipment’s manual.
 Before starting a test always check that the test signals are suitable for your system under test.

Only experienced and competent professionals that are trained for working in high voltage or high current
environments may implement this Application Note. Additionally, the following qualifications are required:
• Authorized to work in environments of energy generation, transmission or distribution, and familiar
with the approved operating practices in such environments.
• Familiar with the five safety rules.
• Good knowledge/proficient in working with the CIBANO 500.

© OMICRON 2022 Page 4 of 13

2 Timing measurement on HV circuit breakers

2.1 Introduction

Timing measurements on HV circuit breakers with CIBANO 500 use the same method and wiring as the
static contact resistance measurement. High current is injected between the interrupter contacts, the voltage
drop is measured, and the resistance is calculated. The only difference to the static contact resistance
measurement is that the circuit breaker is additionally operated during the measurement.

This measurement is recommended to be done when the HV circuit breaker is grounded on both sides to
increase the safety for testing personal.

The detection if the circuit breaker is open or closed is done by using a resistance-based threshold value
(C-O threshold). When the calculated resistance is above the C-O threshold value, the breaker is open and
vice versa. Normally, there is no problem with interpreting the circuit breaker contact state using
C-O threshold values, because the ground path resistance is at least 100 times higher than the resistance of
the breaker path. See Figure 1). However, for ground path resistances below 10 mΩ additional measures
might be needed.

Figure 1 - Circuit breaker grounded on both sides to increase the safety

In such a case it has been observed that the calculated resistance traces sometimes include oscillations
directly after the circuit breaker contacts have been separated. Their amplitudes are sometimes so big that
an interpretation of the contact state gives wrong results. This is because the calculated resistance is lower
than the arcing contact resistance after the contacts have been separated. It will therefore either result in a
too short opening time, if the C-O threshold value is set below the arcing contact resistance level, or too long
if the oscillation will be interpreted as bounce(s).

© OMICRON 2022 Page 5 of 13

2.2 Reference measurement with one side grounded

The reference measurement is done on a circuit breaker with only one side grounded. In this way it is
possible to illustrate the problem and demonstrate that the counter measures improve the results.

Figure 2 - Circuit breaker with single side grounded

To be able to see the resistance trace, the timing measurement was done using the Dynamic Contact
Resistance test.

According to manufacturer information of the breaker used in this example, the opening time shall be 31[ms]
± 3[ms].

Figure 3 - O-sequence on a circuit breaker with one side grounded and measured with 100[A]

© OMICRON 2022 Page 6 of 13

 Figure 4 - Opening times

The measured static contact resistance values are as follows:

Figure 5 - Static contact resistance values

2.3 Measurement with both sides grounded

The measurement from the previous chapter was repeated while the circuit breaker was grounded on both
sides.

Figure 6 - Circuit breaker with both sides grounded

© OMICRON 2022 Page 7 of 13

 Figure 7 - O-sequence on a circuit breaker with both sides grounded and measured with 100[A]

Figure 8 - Opening times

In Figure 7 the oscillation that is caused directly after the circuit breaker contacts have been separated, can
clearly be observed. The first oscillation is so big (deep) that the software interprets it as a bounce with the
C-O threshold value of 4[mΩ]. See binary trace at the top of Figure 7. This bounce is then included in the
calculation of the opening time. The time in this case increases by approximately 2[ms] compared to the
previous measurement, see Figure 8. This also leads to the result that the assessments for all three phases
are set to Fail, as the calculated times are outside the assessment limits.
The measured static contact resistance values are as follows:

Figure 9 - Static contact resistance values

The static contact resistance values are not affected and correspond to the values measured when the
circuit breaker was grounded on one side.

© OMICRON 2022 Page 8 of 13

2.4 Improved measurement with both sides grounded

2.4.1 Measures taken against oscillation

To eliminate or minimize oscillation from the measured traces, on a circuit breaker with both sides grounded,
the following two countermeasures can be taken:

• Increase the injected current between the interrupter contacts

• Add an additional resistor in parallel to the interrupter contacts

2.4.2 Measurement with both sides grounded and with higher injected current
The measurement on a circuit breaker with both sides grounded was repeated, but with the difference that
the injected current was increased from 100[A] to 200[A]. This was done using the 200[A] high-current
cable 1 and in the PTM software “Combine” the two CB MC2 outputs 2.

Figure 10 - Combining the two CB MC2 channels

Figure 11 - CB MC2 used with 200[A] high-current cable

1 It is also possible to use 2 x 100[A] cable. In this case two Kelvin clamps need to be used.
2 The voltage drop is still only measured with channel 1.

© OMICRON 2022 Page 9 of 13

 Figure 12 - O-sequence on a circuit breaker with both sides grounded and measured with 200[A]

Figure 13 - Opening times

In Figure 12 no oscillation can be seen directly after the circuit breaker contact has been separated. Instead,
the resistance is settling quickly at the level of the grounding loop resistance, ~5[mΩ]. The opening times in
Figure 13 correspond to the ones in Figure 4 and the assessment is set to Pass.
The measured static contact resistance values are as follows:

Figure 14 - Static contact resistance values

The static contact resistance values correspond to the values measured in the single-side grounded
measurement.

2.4.3 Measurement with both sides grounded and an additional resistor in parallel to the interrupter
contacts
The measurement with a both-sides grounded circuit breaker was repeated with an additional resistor added
in parallel to the interrupter contact.

© OMICRON 2022 Page 10 of 13

 Figure 15 - Additional resistor in parallel to the interrupter contact 3

The injected current from CB MC2 was set to 100[A] again.

Figure 16 - O-sequence on a circuit breaker with both sides grounded and an additional resistor in parallel to the interrupter contact

3 As resistor a 6[m] laboratory cable was used. The cable has a resistance of ~50[mΩ].

© OMICRON 2022 Page 11 of 13

 Figure 17 - Opening times

In Figure 16 the oscillations are not completely eliminated but minimized, so that no additional bounce is
generated directly after that the circuit breaker contact has been separated. Oscillation has been minimized
so much that the opening times in Figure 17 are corresponding to the ones in Figure 4 and the assessment
is set to Pass.
The measured static contact resistance values are as follows:

Figure 18 - Static contact resistance values

The static contact resistance values correspond to the values measured in the single-side grounded
measurement 4.

4It shows that the additional resistor in parallel to the interrupter has only a minimal impact on the measured
value. The reason for this is that the value is > 1000 times greater.

© OMICRON 2022 Page 12 of 13

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