Transformer diagnostics: Easy as ABC?
If you’re running tests on a transformer or gathering data to diagnose its true condition, it is quite unlikely that the transformer is trying to deceive you.
byTony McGrail
If, for whatever reason, you’re running tests on a transformer or gathering operational and condition data to try and diagnose its true condition, it is quite unlikely that the transformer is trying to deceive you. It may just seem that way during an investigation: inconsistent results, anomalous measurement values, unexpected data. However, we can apply some ‘procedures’ from the world of crime detectives to support our diagnostic efforts and, hopefully, find out the reality of the transformer condition. Admittedly, detectives may be up against people who are definitely trying to deceive them, so for our transformer analyses, we apply a slightly ‘softer’ version. The cases given here are all factual – if you have an interest in the fine detail, please email us, and we can go deeper.
Check your ABCs
I first came across the ABC approach in a crime novel [1] and have seen it appear in different forms in other works since then; its origin may be lost to time, but the core is: “Assume nothing, believe nobody, check everything”.
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