ICMcompact stand-alone partial discharge detector

The power fuse might be blown. Unplug the unit and check the power supply fuse. This fuse is located on the rear panel of the ICMcompact (desktop and rack mountable version) or in the upper left corner (Explorer case version) above the on/off switch.

Another reason might be an empty battery, specifically in the case of battery-operated Explorer case models. Please check the battery level and recharge it if necessary. 

A communications error might have occurred with the serial connection to the ICMcompact. Within the ICMcompact PC software, ensure that the serial COM port selected in the menu. “Options” > “Interface settings” is the COM port to which the ICMcompact is connected. Within the Windows Device Manager, check if the USB driver was properly installed. Then try rebooting both the ICMcompact and the PC.

On PCs running Windows 10 with the Creator’s Update (2017) the ICMcompact application window may appear very small on high resolution monitors. To enlarge the display size of the software, please take the following steps:

1. Right-click on the application short cut on the desktop. 
2. Choose “Properties” from the context menu. This will open the “Properties” window. 
3. On the “Compatibility” tab, enable “Override high DPI scaling behaviour” and set “Scaling performed by” to “System”. 
4. If you have administrator rights, you can change the settings for all users by clicking the corresponding button. 
5. Approve the change with the button “OK”.

The RPA might be installed improperly (backwards). Make sure that the BNC connector marked with an incoming arrow leads from the sensor (quadrupole, CT, or coupling capacitor), and that the BNC connector marked by the outgoing arrow, leads to the BNC connector labelled “AMP IN” on the rear panel of the ICMcompact.

The pre-amplifier must be enabled if an RPA is connected. Ensure that “>RPA ON” is marked in the instrument menu. Try substituting the BNC cables to be sure that the problem is not in the cables themselves. 

1. First, check that the calibrator is still on. The calibrator will shut off automatically after several minutes without having its buttons pushed. Check that the low battery indicator is not showing on the LCD panel of the calibrator.
2. The calibration pulse setting might be too weak for test setup. Try increasing the magnitude of the calibration impulse applied to the test setup.
3. The calibration pulse on-screen might be present but too small to be easily visible. Try putting the ICMcompact into “SCOPE/Norm” mode. This will make the calibration pulse appear as a vertical bar, which makes it easier to see on the screen as it appears in the “Hold” mode.
4. Sometimes the calibration pulse is lost if the high voltage power supply is connected to the test setup when the calibration is performed, even if the high voltage supply is completely powered off. Try physically disconnecting the high voltage supply from the test object during the calibration process. The calibrator is then only connected via the quadrupole of the test object and the coupling capacitor (if present).

If the problem persists, please contact our technical support department. 

If you use the standard instrument version, please make sure that “ESYNC” in the “SETUP3” menu is active. If you use an instrument with the optional HVM functionality, please make sure that “SYNC” in the “SETUP3” menu is active. 

The evaluation of a PRPD pattern enables you to determine the kind of fault within the test object. Most partial discharge (PD) faults, e.g., isolation damages, voids, surface discharges, or floating points, will have a completely different PD pattern.  

• The typical criteria used to classify these patterns are:
• Phase position of the maximum PD
• Phase position of the starting electron
• The gradient of discharges
• The shape of discharges in the positive and negative half-cycle
• The absolute value of discharge in pC or nC
• Short-time or continuous discharges

For successful interpretation, it is also necessary to get as much information as possible about the test object and its environment.  Such information can be, for example, temperature, installation condition, age of the test object, previous faults, or weather conditions. It is useful to store typical PD patterns of known faults in an archive, which can be done by using Power Diagnostix’s ICMcompact software. This customer-specific database will be helpful for later evaluation on other test objects.