Megger manufactures equipment that deals with power, building wiring, contracting, terminal blocks, test switches, telecommunications and data communications. The company makes High Potential (Hipot) testers. Hipot testers checks for good isolation in wires and cables, ensuring the electrical current does not make it from source to receiving point.
Hipot Tests
There are three common types of high-voltage tests: insulation resistance, dielectric withstanding and dielectric breakdown. Hipot tests high voltage to make sure the electric current will not run free through the wires. These tests are used to find "the highest voltage the cable can stand before it fails," according to Cirris. Some hipot tests allow a small amount of voltage to travel between the conductors, but ideally, no power will go through, or else the test fails.
Megger Company Information
Megger's trademark was registered for the first time in May 1903; it now sells over 1,000 individual products. It was the first company to manufacture "a completely automatic, software-driven protective relay test system" in 1984, according to Megger's website. The electrics company began with insulation testers that ranged from 1kV to 10kV. Megger's products are manufactured in three locations: Dallas, Texas; Dover, England; and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Megger Hipots
Megger's hipots are made for AC/DC test equipment and vacuum interrupter testers. These hipots are portable and check the electrical insulation of motors, insulators, power cables, switchgear, capacitors and transformers. All five Megger hipots meet the UL 120 k-ohm requirement, as well as meeting requirements for electric household cooking and serving appliances, electrical medical and dental equipment, motor-operated household food preparing machines, radio receivers and audio systems. The hipots can also do QA/QC production tests.
Other Hipots
Other companies that make hipots include Associated Research, Inc., and Slaughter Instruments for Electrical Test and Measurement. Slaughter's hipot testers are mostly for AC/DC connections, but the company also makes hipot testers that perform four and six connections. Associated Research's hipot testers are more complex, implementing AC/DC tests with other functional run tests in the same product.
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