AC and DC testing for electrical insulation value of rubber gloves

The method developed for testing of the glove material consists of inserting samples (cut out from the glove) between energized electrodes. To prevent corona at electrode edges and flashover along the surface of the glove sample, the entire assembly (electrodes and samples) is immersed in an oil both. Oil-bath testing is particularly useful for numerous reasons: waterline corona, water turbulence, splashing, and their effects do not obscure the analysis; sections of the glove, such as the cuff area, that are not tested fully in the water tank, can be tested in the oil-bath vessel; many sections of the glove can be tested, providing data on the uniformity of glove material properties; one glove yields several samples for testing in the oil-bath vessel, significantly increasing the number of data points for statistical analysis; reject gloves (with local surface imperfections) at low unit cost can be used. It is shown that all tested samples have met the minimum withstand requirements for Class II gloves. Additional collected data suggest that aging of the rubber is not significant. The oil-bath vessel proved to be a reliable tool for statistical study of AC and DC breakdown characteristics of samples of rubber protective equipment, and extensions of the procedures to Class III and IV gloves is feasible.<
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