English Spanish German Navigation DEFECT BLOG LEARN MORE Factory Grade® Technology Case Studies What Is Partial Discharge? Defect Findings Blog How Do Cables Fail? Capitalization CLEP White Papers Webinars Social Media Each year, millions of people and thousands of businesses are impacted by underground cable system failures. IMCORP is dedicated to advancing the understanding of how these failures occur and more importantly, how they can be avoided. Jan 25 2018 Monitoring Detects Failing Joint By: Ben Lanz, John Kreso and Bill Corrente This summary describes IMCORP’s findings during the dissection and root cause analysis of a substandard joint removed from a system feeding a critical facility. The IMCORP Factory Grade® technology targeted 7 of 51 joints that had sub... Read Article Dec 21 2017 Water Trees Don't Fail Cable By: Ben Lanz and Bill Corrente Posted in: Wind, Utility, Solar, Renewable, Generation, Facility, Cable Water Trees Don't Fail Cable Decades ago we learned from many of the leading industry experts that water trees fail cable and we believed this industry myth until we collected cable performance data using the IMCORP Factory Grade&re... Read Article Jun 09 2017 Termination Damaged but Passed by VLF Test By: Ben Lanz and Bill Corrente Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Utility, Solar, Renewable, Generation Termination Damaged but Passed by VLF Test Our utility client asked us to commission cable systems at a new generation facility after experiencing several termination failures. The installation contractor had already tested the cable syste... Read Article Jan 01 2017 Electrical Tree in an Aged Cable By: IMCORP Electrical Tree in Aged URD Cable At a client utility in the Midwest, IMCORP was performing a Factory Grade® assessment on an aged 2615 foot long solid dielectric cable. IMCORP identified the location of the defect and provided Loc... Read Article Oct 28 2015 PD Activity Identified During Assessment of Aged Utility Cable By: IMCORP Posted in: Utility, Cable During the reliability assessment of aged underground residential distribution (URD) cable systems at a mid-western electric utility, one particular cable sample was found to exhibit low levels partial discharge (PD) activity. These PD sites were e... Read Article Oct 27 2015 Low Signal Magnitude (pC) but Serious Cable Defect By: Ben Lanz and Bill Corrente Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Utility, Renewable, Cable While commissioning new generation project in the multiple defects were identified within the cable system. One particular cable exhibited defects in the dozens of low magnitude partial discharge signals at two times the operating voltage. Th... Read Article Dec 18 2014 Wind Farm Cable with a Small but Very Serious Defect By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Renewable After performing an initial Factory Grade® assessment at a renewable energy plant, a cable was found to have near end termination discharge at operating voltage. The on-site crew attempted to mitigate the Partial Discharge (PD) activity by disa... Read Article Nov 18 2014 Oil Damaging to Cable Semicon By: IMCORP While performing a Factory Grade® assessment on a cable at a utility client in the southern part of the US, substandard partial discharge (PD) was observed near a termination. Upon visual inspection it was noted that the cable’s ou... Read Article Nov 18 2014 Manufacturer’s Defect: Conductor Shield Protrusion By: IMCORP During the Factory Grade® commissioning of a new cable system at a critical generation facility, substandard partial discharge (PD) activity (per ICEA S94-649) was observed at numerous points in a few cable systems. The client... Read Article Feb 05 2014 Severe Termination Damage at a Utility By: IMCORP An IMCORP Field Engineer was performing a Factory Grade® asessement for a utility client. The assessment results showed partial discharge (PD) at operating voltage in the far end open air termination. Upon investigation of the far end ... Read Article Feb 05 2014 Multiple Defects Found at a Wind Farm By: IMCORP Just a few weeks ago, IMCORP was performing its Factory Grade® assessment at a wind site in Canada. The assessment indicated substandard partial discharge (PD) at the near end termination. To determine the source of the PD, the assist ... Read Article Sep 23 2013 Residual Semicon Under a Cable Termination By: IMCORP IEEE 386 Non-Compliant While performing a Factory Grade® assessment for a utility client, IMCORP detected sub-standard partial discharge (PD) activity in URD cable elbow termination. After the assist crew cleaned and applied dielectric ... Read Article Sep 20 2013 Invisible Semicon Damage Near at Termination By: IMCORP IEEE 386 Non-Compliant While performing a Factory Grade® assessment, IMCORP found partial discharge(PD) activity near a separable connector (T-body) termination. Visual inspection of the termination showed no indication of a problem. Th... Read Article May 13 2013 Issues with Termination at a Utility By: IMCORP IEEE 386 Non-Compliant Earlier this year, IMCORP was performing its Factory Grade® assessment for a utility client and detected PD at 1.3 times operating voltage at the far end termination (not meeting IEEE 386 requirements). The... Read Article Mar 19 2013 Delaminated Ambers in Cable Insulation By: IMCORP Cable not meeting ICEA S-94-649 standard IMCORP was conducting a Factory Grade® assessment on a cable system when this pair of defects was pinpointed. The defects were located less than 45 meters (150 feet) apart and appeared ... Read Article Sep 27 2012 Severe Cable Defect at a Wind Farm By: IMCORP Cable not meeting ICEA S-94-649 standard IMCORP was again contracted to commission a wind farm collector system using Factory Grade® technology. During the course of assessment, the IMCORP Field Supervisor came across an e... Read Article Aug 15 2012 Improper Installation of Stress Control By: IMCORP A newly installed critical cable system experiencing multiple cable and accessory failures shortly after commissioning. The sites' underground cable system had initially been tested using a very low frequency (VLF) method, but after multipl... Read Article Aug 08 2012 Termination Failure at a Wind Farm By: IMCORP This client used Factory Grade® technology to commission a shielded power cable system, linking a substation with a generation plant. We found twelve cable terminations on the substation end of the circuits performing well below t... Read Article Jul 30 2012 Improper Semicon Cutback On A Cold Shrink Termination By: IMCORP The above image, taken at a nuclear power plant, shows a jagged semicon cutback on an open-air cold shrink termination. The cable owner first used Tangent Delta (TD) and Very Low Frequency (VLF) tests believing these were sufficient to assure r... Read Article Jul 30 2012 Stone in Cable 176m (578ft) from Termination By: Ben Lanz and Bill Corrente Posted in: Backfill, Cable, Facility, Generation, Renewable, Solar, Utility, Wind, Workmanship IMCORP’s Factory Grade® assessment discovered a substandard location while commissioning the cable systems at a generation facility. The client used IMCORP’s Location Matching service to pinpoint the defect location. N... Read Article Jul 23 2012 PD Activity in a Y Joint at a Nuclear Facility By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Generation IMCORP conducted its Factory Grade® assessment on a critical loop at a government nuclear facility in southeast USA. This particular PD occurred at a Y-joint located 185 ft. and had an inception voltage of Uo. PD a... Read Article Apr 16 2012 Non Radial Cutback on a Cold Shrink Joint at a Wind Farm By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation This cold shrink joint was a part of a feeder cable system at a wind farm site that failed to pass IEEE 404 specifications. Even after the Factory Grade® assessment found this joint to be substandard, the cable system's contracto... Read Article Apr 16 2012 Non Radial Power Cable Cutback at a Power Plant By: IMCORP This is the open-air termination of a solid dielectric cable featuring ethylene propylene rubber insulation (the salmon colored section). Initially, this cable was deemed to be in good working order after passing a one-hour, 3Uo VLF withstand tes... Read Article Apr 16 2012 Misplaced Stress Relief Material at a Utility By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Utility This particular open-air termination transitions an underground line to a riser. Although visual inspection indicated that the cable was properly installed (it is difficult to see the mastic placement with the termination installed), the cable ... Read Article Mar 27 2012 Semicon Defect During Installation By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation, Cable The cable displayed here was compromised as a result of a semicon cutback error that was not recognized as a defect by the installer. When the cutback was made, the installer created a slight spiral instead of a radial cut leaving a thin slice of... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Issues Performing Cutback on Out of Round Power Cable at a Wind Farm By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation Featured here are medium voltage feeder cables at a wind farm substation in South Dakota. These cables are the site’s most critical link, handling the output of 10 to 20 turbines. IMCORP Factory Grade® technology found that ... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Improper Heat Shrink Application By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation These images show the development of a medium voltage cable failure in an open-air heat shrink termination. The first image (left) shows the IEEE 48 non-compliant heat shrink at the termination that was located by the IMCORP's Factory ... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Power Cable Degassing By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind, Generation These images show cross-sections of a medium voltage power cable that was installed at a wind farm in Wyoming. In this case, the IMCORP Factory Grade® technology indicated partial discharge activity on a section of cable. The PD l... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Cable Manufacturer Defect During Repair By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind IMCORP's Factory Grade® assessment indicated a PD site in an underground medium voltage power cable. Initial inspection of the PD site did not show any evidence of an issue. According to the latest study no visual evidence is reported ... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Whittled Cutback on Power Cable at a Co-op Utility By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Wind This image shows a 7.2 kV (medium voltage) power cable system at a co-op utility in rural Missouri that supplies power to a residential area. IMCORP's Factory Grade® assessment indicated PD activity at the separable connector... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Power Cable Termination Cutback Issues at a Data Center By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Facility Pictured here are live front terminations of a medium voltage power cable system at a critical data center in Portland, OR. After termination failures began to occur, DC HiPot testing had been utilized but came back inconclusive. At this po... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Power Cable Damage From Backfill By: IMCORP Posted in: Wind, Generation, Cable, Backfill These images show a PD site in a medium voltage power cable, part of a collector system designed and installed at a wind farm in Idaho during 2005. In the first few years of operation, the site experienced a very high collector syst... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Power Cable Termination Cutback Issues By: IMCORP Posted in: Wind, Generation These pictures show two different live front substation terminal ends at a wind farm in Canada. The client believed that the medium voltage power cable termination ends at the substation were in fine working order. Also, external visual inspect... Read Article Mar 23 2012 Power Cable Insulation Damage (Sabotage) at a Wind Farm By: IMCORP Posted in: Workmanship, Generation, Cable The discovery of this medium voltage power cable defect at a site in Canada provided an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of IMCORP’s cable diagnostics. On a cable of over 1400 feet, IMCORP was able to locate the defect within si... Read Article Categories Backfill (2) Cable (7) Facility (3) Generation (12) Renewable (5) Solar (3) Utility (6) Wind (14) Workmanship (15) Archives January 2018 (1) December 2017 (1) June 2017 (1) January 2017 (1) October 2015 (2) December 2014 (1) November 2014 (2) February 2014 (2) September 2013 (2) May 2013 (1) March 2013 (1) September 2012 (1) August 2012 (2) July 2012 (3) April 2012 (3) March 2012 (10) IMCORP is the technology leader in underground power cable life cycle condition assessment and performance. Capital Savings > $632,576,219 Feet of Cable Assessed > 203584328 Connect on Facebook Connect on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn About About Us Vision/Mission Careers Ethics and Compliance Services IMCORP Services New Installation Aged Cable Systems System Maintenance IMCORP Certification Program Markets IMCORP Markets Utilities Renewables Industrial & Critical Facilities Learn More Factory Grade® Technology Case Studies What is Partial Discharge? 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