IMCORP Blog

Endverschluss beschädigt, aber VLF-Prüfung bestanden

By: Ben Lanz and Bill Corrente

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Utility, Renewable, Generation, Facility, Cable

Endverschluss beschädigt, aber VLF-Prüfung bestanden Nachdem ein Energieversorger mehrere Endverschlussdefekte hatte, erteilte er uns den Auftrag für die Inbetriebnahme von Kabelsystemen bei einem neuen Kraftwerk.  Zuvor hatt... Read Article

Very Low Partial Discharge Values Found While Commissioning A New Wind Farm

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Utility, Renewable, Cable

During a recent wind farm commissioning project in the southern United States multiple defects were identified within the collector cable system. One particular cable exhibited defects in the form of very low levels of partial discharge at two times ... Read Article

Wind Farm Cable with a Small but Very Serious Defect

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Renewable

After performing an initial Factory Grade® technology assessment at a renewable energy plant, a cable was found to have near end termination discharge at operating voltage. The on-site crew attempted to mitigate the Partial Discharge (PD) activit... Read Article

PD Activity in a Y Joint at a Nuclear Facility

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Generation

In 2008, IMCORP conducted its Factory Grade® technology assessment on a critical loop at a government nuclear facility in southeast USA. This particular PD occurred at a Y-joint located 185 ft. and had an inception... Read Article

Non Radial Cutback on a Cold Shrink Joint at a Wind Farm

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation

This cold shrink joint was a part of a feeder cable system at a wind farm site that failed to pass IEEE 404 specifications. Even after the Factory Grade® technology assessment found this joint to be substandard, the cable system... Read Article

Misplaced Stress Relief Material at a Utility

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Utility

This particular open-air termination transitions an underground line to a riser. Although visual inspection indicated that the cable was properly installed (it is difficult to see the mastic placement with the termination installed), the cable ... Read Article

Embedded Semicon in Insulation during Cutback at a Wind Farm

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation, Cable

The cable displayed here was compromised as a result of the misuse of an insulation-stripping tool when being installed at a wind farm. At the insulation cutback, the contractor had inadvertently cut too deep, resulting in a small slice of semi-c... Read Article

Issues Performing Cutback on Out of Round Power Cable at a Wind Farm

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation

Featured here are medium voltage feeder cables at a wind farm substation in South Dakota. These cables are the site’s most critical link, handling the output of 10 to 20 turbines. IMCORP Factory Grade® technology found that ... Read Article

Improper Heat Shrink Application on Power Cable at a Wind Farm

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation

These images show the development (from November 2008 to March 2009) of a medium voltage cable failure in an open-air termination at a wind farm in Minnesota. The first image shows non-compliant heat shrink at the termination that was located b... Read Article

Power Cable Degassing

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation

These images show cross-sections of a medium voltage power cable that was installed at a wind farm in Wyoming. In this case, the IMCORP Factory Grade® technology indicated partial discharge activity on a section of cable. The PD l... Read Article

Damage to Power Cable from a Neutral Wire Repair

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind

IMCORP's Factory Grade® technology assessment indicated a PD site in an underground medium voltage power cable at a wind farm in Texas. Initial inspection of the PD site did not show any evidence of an issue. IMCORP's confiden... Read Article

Whittled Cutback on Power Cable at a Co-op Utility

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Wind

This image shows a 7.2 kV (medium voltage) power cable system at a co-op utility in rural Missouri that supplies power to a residential area.  IMCORP's Factory Grade® technology assessment indicated PD activity at the sep... Read Article

Power Cable Termination Cutback Issues at a Data Center

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Facility

Pictured here are live front terminations of a 7.2 kV (medium voltage) power cable system at a critical data center in Portland, OR.  After termination failures began to occur, DC HiPot testing had been utilized but came back inconclusive. A... Read Article

Power Cable Insulation Damage (Sabotage) at a Wind Farm

By: IMCORP

Posted in: Workmanship, Generation, Cable

                          The discovery of this medium voltage power cable defect at a site in Canada during the summer of 2006 provided an ... Read Article