Ensuring Connectivity During Product Safety Testing
There is nothing worse than believing the correct voltage is being applied to a Device Under Test (DUT), only to find out a cable is broken and the only thing that has been tested is the hipot tester itself and part of the cable. This is especially true if this fault was not caught in time and product has already been shipped to the customer. While a skilled operator may notice a difference in leakage, collecting data and evaluating the data on a regular basis may also reduce such an error. However, there are other precautions that may be put in place to ensure the safety test is performed correctly. Two common product safety tests seen in production are the dielectric strength test (commonly referred to as hipot) and a ground test. The hipot test stresses the insulation of a product, while the ground test ensures proper ground connections within the product. The two most common ground tests are ground bond and ground continuity. This article will discuss these two common tests, as well as safeguards to ensure proper testing.