Application Note

2 Fluke Corporation Seven ways to use your troubleshooting superpowers for good
#1 Breaker panel problems
When you’re trying to track down problems in
dirty, wet, or electrically hazardous environments,
Fluke tools help you work more safely and save
you the time of repeatedly suiting up in full per-
sonal protective equipment (PPE).
In this case, you and two other technicians
suit up in full PPE and remove a 90-pound panel
cover that encloses a three-phase breaker panel.
Once it’s open, you scan the panel with the VT02
Visual IR Thermometer. Instead of taking dozens of
measurements with an IR thermometer to check for
issues, the VT02’s blended visual and thermal heat
map image instantly reveals a hot spot on breaker
#20. You capture the image along with the tem-
perature, date and time. Now you know you have
a problem, but you don’t know what’s causing it.
So next, you install a wireless CNX current
clamp to the circuit and re-secure the cover.
With the CNX radio turned on and the log button
pushed, you can now remove your PPE and moni-
tor the circuit from a safe distance, without gearing
up again. You’re free to walk away and do other
jobs while the modules continue to work for you.
Periodically you stop back to check real-time
readings with the CNX DMM, anywhere within
three meters of the panel. If nothing looks abnor-
mal at these spot checks, you can let the module
keep logging. (It can capture up to 65,000 sets
of min/max/avg readings over single or multiple
recording session.)
At the end of the shift you bring your laptop
over to the panel. With the CNX PC adapter plug-
ged into your PC, you wirelessly download the
logged readings directly into the SW3000 software
for analysis. You don’t have to reopen the cabinet
door or suit back up in your PPE.
As you analyze the data, you notice some
unusual surges in the current readings, which
occur intermittently over the day. Using the
time-stamped measurements you can now track
the problem down to a particular process that
switches on at those times. If you have multiple
CNX modules available for troubleshooting you can
monitor multiple points simultaneously and isolate
the problem much faster. But you can also use
single clamp modules and some repetitive testing
to find the source of the problem.
You suspect a motor that’s connected to that
circuit. Scanning that motor with the Fluke 805
reveals a bearing problem. Crest Fact+ technology
allows you to make accurate high-frequency
measurements to diagnose bearings. The four-
level severity scale rates the bearing “unsatisfac-
tory.” You remove it from service and replace the
bearing.
The next day, you recheck the motor with the
Fluke 805. Now it gets a “good” rating. When you
rescan the breaker panel with the VT02, you see
no hot spots on breaker #20 or anywhere else on
the panel. All other temperatures are now within
the normal range.
Here are just a few scenarios
that demonstrate how you can
use your new powers.
You’ll feel like a superhero.
Fluke VT02 25 % blend 50 % blend 75 % blend
Visual IR Thermometer Blended visual and thermal images eliminate guesswork.