TECH TIPS

Specialized Testing
for Line Towers

By Je f f J owe tt
Megger

Because the functions are narrowly defined, ground testing instrumentation exists in only a few
fundamental designs. The basic tests performed are ground resistance, soil resistivity, and bonding,
or the continuity of the grounding conductors connecting equipment to ground. Traditionally
designed testers perform two or all three of these tests, depending on whether 3- or 4-terminal
models. The latter add soil resistivity to the repertoire; the former do not. Clamp-on testers are a
later addition, designed mainly for speed and ease of use. They do not require walking out hundreds
of feet with leads and probes in order to connect the terminals to ground. Clamp-ons perform
ground resistance and have a limited continuity function (they can indicate if the return circuit is
open or high resistance, but have no means to test specific points). They cannot do soil resistivity.
Another later addition doesnt replace either of these technologies but enhances the capabilities of
the traditional terminal design. This is the incorporation of a current clamp into a 3- or 4-terminal
tester so that test current can be selected (by clamp placement) between various components of a
parallel system, and hence the resistance of that component alone can be measured separate from
the total resistance of the parallel system of grounds.
Earth Ground
Tester Kit

These
few
basic
choices cover nearly all ground
testing applications. But not all. A particularly
difficult challenge is presented by the grounding

SPRING 2011

of transmission line towers. Grounding is

particularly important for lightning protection
not only because of the potential for local
damage but because the attendant voltage
spikes and surges can travel on the lines and
provide a source of widespread damage for
miles around. But tower grounds present some
unique problems to their testing: they are large,
there are four of them, and they are paralleled
with the whole transmission line through the
overhead wire. Towers are grounded at all
four legs, and a grounding conductor elevated
above the phase conductors connects each
tower to its neighbors and is intended to divert
lightning strokes harmlessly to ground rather
than striking the lower phase conductors.
This construction thwarts ground testing by
standard means, and will be examined next
against each technology.

specialized testing for line towers

TECH TIPS
Performing a ground test by the familiar fallof-potential method, or any of its related
procedures that involve extending leads and
probes out into the soil, will be defeated by
the overhead wire that parallels the entire
transmission line. Test current is not confined,
as it should be, to the specific tower, but
divides down the line of grounded towers. Any
attempt at measurement will probably run off
the low end of the testers range. Disconnecting
the overhead, of course, is not a practical
option. Neither is clamp-on technology a
solution. One of the major benefits of clampon testing is that it uses parallel grounds as
part of a minimal-resistance return path for
the induced test current, thereby eliminating
the problem of having to isolate the ground
under test. Tower footing is much too large,
however, to be accommodated by the jaws of a
handheld tester, which are meant for clamping
a rod or conductor. Flexible CTs are available
that can encircle the largest footing, but thats
not the issue. All four legs are grounded in
parallel. Test current would merely travel to
the other legs to complete the feedback loop,
producing an essentially meaningless reading.
The technology works well for an application
like pole grounds because there is only one per
pole. Test current must traverse an expanse of
soil to the next pole, and on down the line, in
order to complete a circuit. For towers, current
wouldnt have to go to the next tower, merely
across to the other legs, making the method
essentially useless.
What to do? The problem appears unsolvable,
and it isby conventional testers. But
specialized applications of technology have
been developed to deal with this imperative.
The prime solution is to employ a highfrequency test signal. Standard ground testers
normally utilize a square wave test current at
a frequency close to, but a little off from, a
prevalent power harmonic. A common example
would be 128 Hz. This frequency is close to the
second harmonic of a 60 Hz system, but a little
offset. The idea is to approximate the frequency
of a fault current while at the same time giving
the tester something distinctive to recognize as

specialized testing for line towers

its own signal. Thereby, interference from other

sources will be avoided. Clamp-ons, on the
other hand, employ a high frequency, in units of
a few kHz. This derives strictly from the design
necessities of an oscillator creating an induced
test current from a handheld unit, and is not an
attempt to simulate any real-world condition
on the test item. For specialized tower testing,
even higher frequencies are employed than in
clamp-ons, in the range of 20-30 kHz.

Figure 1

The desired effect of a high-frequency test is to

choke the test current to the remote grounds
and localize the test onto the designated tower.
The variation of Ohms law that accounts for
impedance shows why. By this rendering,
I = E/Z, current equals voltage divided by
impedance. So an increase in impedance
causes a decrease in current. And inductive
impedance increases with frequency. The long
runs of overhead ground wire that connect
transmission towers in a continuous chain
typically offer sufficient inductive impedance
to choke off current at frequencies like 20+
kHz. Consequently, the tester will only see
test current flowing on the specific tower
to which it is connected, the desired effect.
A ground test can be conducted without
disrupting the protective conductor overhead.
As an added benefit, the test frequency can also
be considered as simulating the frequencies
associated with a lightning stroke and thereby
giving a better indication of how the towers
grounding system will perform its primary
function, lightning protection.

NETAWORLD

TECH TIPS

Figure 2

A high-frequency tester otherwise operates

the same as a general-purpose model, with
current and potential terminals to which are
connected long leads and probes extended far
enough to perform fall-of-potential and all
related tests (See Figure 1 on previous page).
It represents a vast improvement, but still has
some limitations in that while it significantly
reduces the effects of adjacent towers, it
doesnt necessarily completely eliminate that
contingency. There are uncontrolled variables,
including the proximity of neighboring towers
and the length of wire connecting them, that
could still allow some leakage of test current
and introduce some extraneous element into
the reading.

An extension of the technology incorporates

a possibility that has already been suggested:
clamping the legs with flexible CTs. A type of
instrumentation has been developed that can
incorporate four flexible current sensors, one
for each tower leg, into a single measuring
unit. Flexible CTs up to 30 feet are available,
and these will encircle an eight-foot diameter
footing. Both the footing and its associated
grounding electrode should be encircled. With
a quality model, the sensors can be calibrated
individually against the measurement module
and always used in the same relative positions
so as to assure accuracy and repeatability of

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test results. The tester should accommodate

multiple turns of the CTs (typically up to
four), with a matching selector switch, so as to
maximize sensitivity to both test current and
leakage current.
Just as a high-frequency model performs the
rest of its functions in standard four-terminal
manner, so does a flexible-sensor model
(Figure 2). But the positioning of test
connections is critical. One pair of current
and potential leads is attached to a tower
leg in order to establish test current through
the structure and sense the requisite voltage
drop. In this application, the tower footing is
the item under test, and so one side of the test
connections are made to the tower just as they
would be to a ground rod. The essential element
of this connection is to make it above a CT so
that current will be monitored going to ground.
For the return side of the test, two probes are
driven into the ground on opposite sides of the
tower and at a substantial distance (100 feet or
more). It is best to install these probes at a right
angle to the transmission line where possible
in order to minimize interference. The current
probe completes the test circuit from the tower
leg, through the soil, and back to the tester.
The potential probe senses voltage drop. In this
manner, the tester behaves as a standard ground
tester, but with the specialized positioning of
the probes around the tower. If the two probes
cannot be positioned on opposite sides, then it
is best to rely on the familiar 62 percent rule
in locating the potential with respect to the
current, at least at a 30 angle off the power
line to minimize interference.
When the tester is energized, the flexible current
sensor measures the current going to ground
on a particular leg, and makes its measurement
based only on that accommodation. So far,
this is essentially the same as the tester-withcurrent-clamp function described in the
opening paragraph. There are three more legs,
and if only one were clamped, the information
would only yield the grounding condition of
that leg. This would mean little in the overall
evaluation of the tower. But as we have seen, this

specialized testing for line towers

TECH TIPS
highly specialized and sophisticated technology
addresses this issue thoroughly. With all four
legs encircled simultaneously, a selector switch
enables the measurement to be taken on any
one of them, any combination, or all four
together, from one setup. Thus, the operator is
provided a complete look at the effective ground
resistance of the tower while still energized and
without disconnecting the overhead ground
or the counterpoise. Frequency selection and
sweep enable assessment of tower condition
and the connections to neighboring towers as
well. By utilizing power frequency and moving
a flexible sensor above the lead connections,
current is measured going up the tower and
the quality of the bond to the overhead ground
wire can be assessed. Measuring current at
different frequencies can also indicate the
amount of leakage from the system to different
legs and aid in evaluating the overall grounding
condition of the tower.

This advanced technology illustrates how

various functions initially intended to serve
more general usage can be integrated into
a single application to produce previously
unattainable results. Next, we will move
from instrumentation to technique and
examine some procedures for determining
earth resistivity.
Sources of information:
AEMC Instruments, Dover, NH
MEGGER, Getting Down To Earth
Megabras Industria Electronica LTDA,
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jeffery R. Jowett is a Senior Applications Engineer
for Megger in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, serving the
manufacturing lines of Biddle, Megger, and multi-Amp for
electrical test and measurement instrumentation. He holds
a BS in Biology and Chemistry from Ursinus College.
He was employed for 22 years with James G. Biddle Co.
which became Biddle Instruments and is now Megger.