9/10/2018 Construction and Operation of Megger Explained

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Construction and Operation of Megger

Explained
By Anish | In: Marine Electrical | Last Updated on June 6, 2018

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The most important factor for the staff working onboard ships is – the personal safety and the safety
features incorporated in machinery and systems. Electrical components and machinery systems present
in the engine room are maintained by the electrical officer. The routine maintenance for electrical
machinery involves checking of insulation resistance, which is done by an instrument called “Megger” or
“ohmmeter”.

The insulation resistance test is done to ensure the integrity, i.e. to resist the current flow outside the
equipment, and keeping it within the dedicated parts.

Cable Testing

MEGGER Construction

MEGGER Test

Working Principle of MEGGER

The measured IR can be of a wire, cable or motor/generator windings. In simple terms, every electrical
insulation should have the opposite characteristic as the conductor.

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Related Read: Importance of Insulation Resistance in Marine Electrical Systems

For e.g., the pump casing and pipes in a water carrying system acts as the insulation, which prevents the
leakage of water. Similarly, in an electrical wiring system, the wire insulation prevents the leakage of
current which is carried in a copper wire.

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Insulation Resistance
Insulation resistance (I.R) is a critical parameter as it’s directly related to personal safety, the safety of
machinery and power reliability. The I.R value of an electric devise changes with ageing, mechanical and
electrical stresses, temperature, contamination, atmosphere, humidity etc. It is therefore important for the
engineers to identify this detection to avoid any accidents on board due to electric shock.

Related Read: How to Minimize the Risks of an Electrical Shock on a Ship?

Another common cause of the decrease in value of insulation resistance is ingress of water. If the
electrical equipment is wet due to freshwater, it can directly be dried out for checking the IR values.
However, in case of seawater ingress, the first step is to wash it with freshwater to remove the salt
deposits which will cause corrosion of metal parts and insulating surface. Remove oil and grease from
such equipment using a suitable solvent.

Any wet equipment on the ship is susceptible to voltage breakdown. Therefore, when using meggar at
the drying out stage, low voltage Megger insulation tester (100 or 250 VDC) to be used.

If low voltage ohmmeter is not available, using slow cranking in a mechanical type 500 V megger can be
done to achieve the results. Sometimes, electrical megger is also provided with test range in kilohms
(kW). This test range measurement is the ideal initial check to be made on flooded equipment.

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Related Read: Engine Room Flooding: Troubleshooting and Immediate Actions

USE of Megger meter on the ship:

The Meggar is widely and frequently used by the ship’s officer for the following jobs:

Testing an Earth/Ground connection

Battery Testing
Relay Testing
Watthour Meter Testing
Oil Testing
Transformer Testing
Circuit Breaker Testing
Cable Fault Testing
Power Quality Analysis
Power Factor Testing
Low Resistance Testing
Motor winding testing
Alternator winding testing

There is no fire hazard related to Megger insulation tester when used in normal atmosphere. However,
when using the instrument for testing equipment located in inflammable or hazardous atmospheres, it
may lead to an explosion due to the spark created, when using the instrument. Do not use the megger
test equipment in an explosive atmosphere (such as deck of an oil tanker ship).

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Types Of Megger or Ohmmeter

Megger is a portable instrument which is used to measure insulation resistance of the electrical
machinery or system. It can be battery operated or mechanically operated (hand crank dc generator) and
gives a direct reading in ohms. For this reason, it is also called as ohm meter. Onboard ship, different
systems are present with large voltage ratings and therefore Megger comes in the range of 50, 500,
1000, 2500, and 5000 V, thereby making megger meter suitable for applications on normal voltage
equipment to more demanding high-voltage applications.

The categories of a megger test equipment can be divided into two:

Electronic Type (Battery Operated)

Manual Type (Hand Operated)

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There are other types of meggar available in the market, which is operated by an attached motor
requiring an external power source for rotation. This motor then rotates the generator fitted in the megger
meter. As the overall size of such meter increases due to the addition of motor, and their dependency on
a power source, they are not much preferred for use on ships.

Electronic Type Megger:

The electronic type megger, also known as electrical megger, is compact of all types and uses a battery
for operation. The important parts of this megger test equipment are:

Digital Display:- To show the insulation resistance value in digital form

Testing Wires:- Two wire leads for connecting megger with an electrical external system for testing the
later.

Selection Switches:- Different parameter ranges are provided on the meter, which can be selected by
using the selection switches.

Indicators:- Different indicators are incorporated into the instrument to give a visual and audible
indication when the instrument is ON, for a warning, parameter status etc.

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The construction and parts of electrical megger meter will vary depending upon the manufacturer,
however, the basic construction and operation remain the same.

Advantages Of Electronic Megger

1. Has a very high measurement accuracy
2. Easy to operate for one person
3. The digital display makes it easy to read the IR value
4. Robust and safe to use
5. Less maintenance as compare to other types
6. Works well in congested spaces
7. Handy and compact to carry
8. Less time-consuming operation

Disadvantages of Electronic Megger

Requires an external source of energy to energize i.e. Dry cell
High initial cost

Related Read: Hazards Related to Electric Cable Insulation in Case of Fire

Hand Type Meggar:

The handheld type megger is still used on the ship as it provides service without the need of battery and
external power source. The main parts of such megger testing unit comprise of:

Display:- An Analog display is provided, which is a pointer and a scale, to show the IR value recording.

Hand Crank: As this a manually operated megger, a hand crank is provided which can be rotated to
generate required voltage, which runs through the electrical system for insulation resistance test.

Wire Leads:- Two wire leads are provided which can be connected to the electrical system which needs
to be checked.

Advantages of Hand Operated Megger

No external source required to operate
Excellent choice for emergency use
Cheaper than the electrical megger

Disadvantages of Hand Operated Megger

At least 2 ship staff are required for operating handheld megger. one for rotating the crank and
other to connect wire leads to test the IR of the equipment
Not highly accurate as electronic megger as the value will vary with rotation of the crank.
It needs a stable place to operate and record the IR value, which is a little difficult to find at work
sites.

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Unstable placement of tester may impact the result of IR value.

Provides an analogue display result.
Require very high care and safety during use of the same.
Time-consuming operation

Construction Of Megger
The important construction features of Megger consist of following parts:

1. Control and Deflecting coil: They are normally mounted at right angle to each other and
connected parallel to the generator. The polarities are such that the torque produced by them is in
opposite direction
2. Permanent Magnet: Permanent magnet with north and south poles to produce a magnetic effect
for deflection of pointer.
3. Pointer and scale: A pointer is attached to the coils and end of the pointer float on a scale which is
in the range from “zero” to “infinity”. The unit for this is “ohms”.
4. D.C generator or battery connection: Testing voltage is supplied by hand operated D.C generator
for manual operated Megger and a battery and electronic voltage charger for automatic type
Megger.
5. Pressure coil and current coil: Provided for preventing damage to the instrument in case of low
external source resistance.

Working Of Megger
The voltage for testing is supplied by a hand generator incorporated in the instrument or by battery or
electronic voltage charger. It is usually 250V or 500V and is smaller in size.

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A test volt of 500V D.C is suitable for testing ship’s equipment operating at 440V A.C. Test
voltage of 1000V to 5000V is used onboard for high voltage system onboard.
The current carrying coil (deflecting coil) is connected in series and carries the current taken by
the circuit under test. The pressure coil (control coil) is connected across the circuit.
Current limiting resistor – CCR and PCR are connected in series with pressure and current coil to
prevent damage in case of low resistance in the external source.
In hand generator, the armature is moving in the field of a permanent magnet or vice versa, to
generate a test voltage by electromagnetic induction effect.
With an increase of potential voltage across the external circuit, the deflection of the pointer
increases; and with an increase of current, the deflection of pointer decrease so the resultant
torque on the movement is directly proportional to the potential difference and inversely
proportional to the resistance.
When the external circuit is open, torque due to voltage coil will be maximum and the pointer will
read “infinity”. When there is short circuit the pointer will read “0”.

General inspection of Meggar:

– Check for loose connections, defective insulatio, and cleanliness

– Check meter stop and pointer for damage

– Check the carrying case for corrosion, foam fungus etc.

– Check for easy cranking arrangement for mechanical megger

– Check the foam rubber lining if fitted

– Check the battery level for digital megger

– Check all indicators are working fine

General Maintenance of megger:

Digital multimeter is provided with a fuse. Replace it if the megger is not working
Clean the surface from dust, dirt, grease fungus etc.
Remove dust or dirt from terminals with a soft brush
Clean the display using a soft cloth
Clean the cables, meter glass, and the exterior surface with a clean, soft cloth. Dampen the cloth
with water if required

What Things to Record After a Meggar Test?

When performing a megger test on a machinery or equipment, following things to be recorded:

Name and location of the equipment/ wiring

Date on which the test is performed

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The Insulation Resistance values of test results along with time

Range, voltage, and serial number of the Megger instrument used
The temperature of the apparatus during the time of IR test
When doing IR test of bigger machines such as alternator, transformer etc. wet and dry bulb
temperatures and dew-point determinations to be noted
Insulation resistance measurement corrected for temperature

Related Read: mportant Points to Consider While Carrying out Alternator Maintenance on ShipI

Always remember to disconnect the machinery and equipment being tested for insulation resistance as
there is a possibility of voltages being induced in apparatus under test or lines to which it is connected
(because of proximity to energized high voltage equipment). Use required PPEs such as rubber gloves
etc. when connecting the wire leads to test the apparatus for performing the insulation resistance test.

Some megger may be provided with a voltage scale to ensure the line to be tested does not have any
voltage for insulation testing.

Disclaimer: The authors’ views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Marine
Insight. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not
been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be
accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not
constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be followed by the reader.

The article or images cannot be reproduced, copied, shared or used in any form without the
permission of the author and Marine Insight.

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About Anish
An ardent sailor and a techie, Anish Wankhede has voyaged on a number of ships as
a marine engineer officer. He loves multitasking, networking, and troubleshooting. He
is the one behind the unique creativity and aesthetics at Marine Insight.

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