DEFECT BLOG
Each year, millions of people and thousands of businesses are impacted by underground cable system failures. IMCORP is dedicated to advancing the understanding of how these failures occur and more importantly, how they can be avoided.
Mar 23 2012
Power Cable Termination Cutback Issues at a Data Center
By: IMCORP
Posted in: Workmanship, Facility
Pictured here are live front terminations of a 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. At this point, IMCORP was contracted by a consultant at the site to conduct extended diagnostics using Factory Grade® technology.
A visual inspection of the terminations was all that was needed to suspect that they were not IEEE 48 compliant. Specifically, the stress reliefs had eroded and uncovered a dimensional cutback issue dating back from installation. To confirm the visual assessment, IMCORP administered a Factory Grade® assessment and proved that the terminations did not meet IEEE 48 standards and required immediate repair.
Even though the terminations demonstrated glaring deficiencies, the DC HiPot testing suggested that the system was fine. If these test results had been treated as adequate, the data center would have suffered more critical failures.