Zakaria El Intissar

Zakaria El Intissar is an automation and industrial computing engineer with 12+ years of experience in power system automation, electrical protection, and SCADA systems. He founded InsulationTesting.com to share practical, field-tested guides on insulation resistance testing, equipment, and industry standards. His writing is used by electricians and maintenance engineers worldwide. Based in Morocco.

Author Archives: Zakaria El Intissar

Classification of Insulating Materials: Thermal Classes Explained

Every motor nameplate, transformer datasheet, and cable spec you read leans on one classification system. Class 155 (F). Class 180 (H). Most engineers use these labels daily without knowing what the numbers really promise — or that the letters are optional. This guide covers the three ways insulating materials are classified: by thermal class, by physical state and… Read More: Classification of Insulating Materials: Thermal Classes Explained »

What Does Insulated Copper Wire Mean? (IEC Definition + Types)

Insulated copper wire means a copper conductor covered by a layer of non-conductive material — most often PVC — so current stays inside the conductor instead of leaking to earth, to another conductor, or to you. The copper carries the current. The insulation keeps it there. That is the short answer. But “insulated copper wire” is not a… Read More: What Does Insulated Copper Wire Mean? (IEC Definition + Types) »

Electric Fence Insulated Wire: Voltage Ratings, Underground Runs, and Why Household Wire Fails

Every electric fence has one weak point that nobody looks at until the fence stops shocking: the insulated wire between the energizer and the fence line. The fence wire itself is bare by design. But the lead-out wire — the cable that carries the pulse from the energizer to the fence, under a gate, or through a building… Read More: Electric Fence Insulated Wire: Voltage Ratings, Underground Runs, and Why… »

Online Insulation Monitoring: The Shift From Periodic Tests

For a century, insulation testing meant sending a technician out with a megohmmeter every so often to take a reading. That model is being replaced, piece by piece, with continuous online monitoring — sensors left permanently on the asset, watching insulation condition in real time and raising an alarm when it drifts. The shift is furthest along where… Read More: Online Insulation Monitoring: The Shift From Periodic Tests »

DAR vs PI: Reading Insulation Absorption Ratios

Short answer: DAR (dielectric absorption ratio) and PI (polarization index) are both ratios taken from a timed insulation resistance test with a megohmmeter. DAR is the resistance at 60 seconds divided by the resistance at 30 seconds — a one-minute check. PI is the resistance at 10 minutes divided by the resistance at 1 minute — a ten-minute… Read More: DAR vs PI: Reading Insulation Absorption Ratios »

Cable Connector Testing: The IEC 61238-1 Heat Cycle Test

IEC 61238-1 is the standard that qualifies compression and mechanical connectors for power cables (up to 30 kV, Um = 36 kV). It doesn’t measure a connector once — it ages one through 1,000 heat cycles and checks two things the whole way: that its resistance stays stable, and that it never runs hotter than the cable conductor… Read More: Cable Connector Testing: The IEC 61238-1 Heat Cycle Test »

Contact Resistance Test: The IEC 62271-1 Standard

The standard behind the contact resistance test on high-voltage switchgear and circuit breakers is IEC 62271-1. It doesn’t use the phrase “contact resistance” — it calls the test “measurement of the resistance of the main circuit.” The method is a DC measurement across the contacts, taken as the average of three readings, at a test current of at… Read More: Contact Resistance Test: The IEC 62271-1 Standard »

HV Circuit Breaker Testing: What Changes Above 52 kV (IEC 62271)

The standards don’t change when you move from medium to high voltage. IEC 62271-1 and IEC 62271-100 cover every AC circuit breaker above 1 kV, so the same three-tier logic applies — type tests for the design, routine tests for the unit, field tests for the condition. What changes is the severity of the duties and the complexity… Read More: HV Circuit Breaker Testing: What Changes Above 52 kV (IEC… »

MV Circuit Breaker Testing: Type, Routine & Field Tests (IEC 62271)

A medium-voltage circuit breaker has one job that matters above all others: interrupt a fault current safely, on demand, possibly after sitting closed and untouched for years. Testing exists to prove it still can. But “circuit breaker testing” covers three completely different activities done by three different people in three different places — and most of the confusion… Read More: MV Circuit Breaker Testing: Type, Routine & Field Tests (IEC… »

Partial Discharge Testing of Cables: How the PD Test Works

Short answer: A partial discharge (PD) test raises the voltage on a cable, holds it briefly, lowers it, and measures the tiny internal sparks that a defect gives off. Those sparks are reported as apparent charge in picocoulombs (pC). The cable passes if discharge stays below the declared sensitivity — 10 pC for cable, 5 pC for accessories… Read More: Partial Discharge Testing of Cables: How the PD Test Works »