Diagnosis of Onload Tap Changer Contact Degradation by Dynamic Resistance Measurements

Due to different degradation mechanisms, onload tap changers (OLTCs) may contribute to power transformer failures. If offline diagnosis is undertaken during functional checks performed during the service life of OLTC devices, some of the degradation effects can be assessed. This paper addresses an OLTC diagnostic method based on the measurement of dynamic resistance. An experimental investigation of the degraded OLTC contacts was used to identify a number of defects revealed by dynamic resistance measurements.