Fluke 435-II/BASIC Power Quality and Energy Analyzer

Fluke 435-II/BASIC Offers

Quickly understand the capacity of your existing electrical panels, troubleshoot circuit breaker trips, and uncover and monetarily quantify energy losses.

Advanced power quality functions, unprecedented energy analysis capabilities

Power quality issues may affect the operation of critical loads and impact on your bottom line negatively. Think of this power quality and energy analyzer as an insurance policy. The user can calculate the cost of wasted energy due to poor power quality, and troubleshoot the source of power quality or motor performance issues. Additionally, it’s designed to provide the user with the data needed to quickly get to the root of the problem.

Wrapped in a lightweight, rugged package, this energy analyzer is the ideal portable power quality instrument providing advanced power quality functionality and energy analysis capabilities.

Features

• Energy loss calculator: Classic active and reactive power measurements, unbalance and harmonic power, are quantified to pinpoint true system energy losses in dollars (other local currencies available)
• Power inverter efficiency: Simultaneously measure AC output power and DC input power for power electronics systems using optional DC clamp
• PowerWave data capture: Captures fast RMS data, show half-cycle and waveforms to characterize electrical system dynamics (generator start-ups, UPS switching etc.)
• Waveform capture: Captures 50/60 cycles (50/60Hz) of each event that is detected in all modes, without set-up
• Automatic transient mode: Captures 200 kHz waveform data on all phases simultaneously up to 6 kV
• Fully Class-A compliant: Conducts tests according to the stringent international IEC 61000-4-30 Class-A standard
• Mains signaling: Measures interference from ripple control signals at specific frequencies
• Troubleshoot: Analyze the trends using the cursors and zoom tools
• Highest safety rating in the industry: 600 V CAT IV/1000 V CAT III rated for use at the service entrance
• Measure all three phases and neutral: With four flexible current probes (sold separately) with enhanced thin flex design to fit into the tightest places
• Automatic trending: Every measurement is always automatically recorded, without any set-up
• System-monitor: Ten power quality parameters on one screen according to EN50160 power quality standard
• Logger function: Configure for any test condition with memory for up to 600 parameters at user defined intervals
• View graphs and generate reports: With included analysis software
• Wireless data download: Download data to PC wirelessly and capture screens using Fluke Connect App
• Troubleshoot real – time: Analyze the trends using the cursors and zoom tools
• Battery life: Seven hours operating time per charge on Li-ion battery pack

Applications

• Frontline troubleshooting: Quickly diagnose problems on-screen to get your operation back online
• Long-term analysis: Uncover hard-to-find or intermittent issues
• Load studies: Verify the available electrical system capacity before adding loads
• PowerWave data capture: Capture every waveform for up to 5 minutes along with fast RMS values so you can determine how the voltage, current and frequency values are interacting
• Power inverter efficiency: Measure the input and output power simultaneously to discover whether the inverter is optimized for its application
• Energy monetization: Calculate the fiscal cost of energy waste due to poor power quality
• Energy assessment: Quantify the before and after installation improvements in energy consumption to justify energy saving devices
• Predictive maintenance: Periodic benchmarking of the power system can help detect and prevent power quality issues before they cause downtime

Unified power measurement

Patented unified power measurement system (UPM) provides the most comprehensive view of power available, measuring:

• Parameters of classical power (Steinmetz 1897) and IEEE 1459-2000 Power
• Detailed loss analysis
• Unbalance analysis

These UPM calculations are used to quantify the fiscal cost of energy loss caused by power quality issues. The calculations are computed, along with other facility-specific information, by an energy loss calculator that ultimately determines how
much money a facility loses due to wasted energy.

Energy savings

Traditionally energy savings are achieved by monitoring and targeting, or in other words, by finding the major loads in a facility and optimizing their operation. The cost of power quality could only be quantified in terms of downtime caused by lost
production and damage to electrical equipment. The unified power measurement (UPM) method now goes beyond this to achieve energy savings by discovering the energy waste caused by power quality issues. Using the unified power measurement, the energy loss calculator will determine how much money a facility is losing due to waste energy.

Unbalance

UPM gives a more comprehensive breakdown of the energy consumed in the plant. In addition to measuring reactive power (caused by poor power factor), UPM also measures the energy waste caused by unbalance; the effect of unevenly loading each phase in three-phase systems. Unbalance can often be corrected by reconnecting loads on different phases to ensure the current drawn on each phase is as equal as possible. Unbalance can also be corrected by installing an unbalance reactance device (or filter), that will minimize the effects. Correcting unbalance should be basic good housekeeping in the facility as unbalance problems can cause motor failure or shorten equipment life expectancy. Unbalance also wastes energy. Using UPM can minimize or eliminate that energy waste.

Harmonics

UPM also provides details of the energy wasted in your facility due to the presence of harmonics. Harmonics may be present in your facility due to the loads you operate or may be caused by loads in adjacent facilities. The presence of harmonics in
your facility can lead to:

• Overheating transformers and conductors
• Nuisance tripping of circuit breakers
• Early failures of electrical equipment

Quantifying the cost of wasted energy due to the presence of harmonics simplifies the return-oninvestment calculation needed to justify purchasing harmonic filters. By installing a harmonic filter the ill effects of harmonics can be reduced and energy waste eliminated, resulting in lower operational costs and more reliable operation.

Powerful troubleshooting capabilities

Specifically designed with the needs maintenance engineers and technicians in mind; users who need to get to the solution of the power quality problem as quickly as possible so that they can minimize expensive downtime. The measurement process and display of data is optimized to get to the most important information as quickly as possible. Multiple parameters are measured simultaneously and displayed in formats that quickly describe the state of the power quality of the system. Data can be quickly accessed as simple digital values, trend graphs, waveforms, phasor diagrams or analyzed and organized into tabular format such as the event data where the magnitude, duration and time stamping enable rapid correlation to problems experienced.

AutoTrend – Quickly see the trend

Unique autotrend gives you fast insight into changes over time. Every displayed reading is automatically and continuously recorded without having to set up threshold levels or having to manually start the process. You can quickly view trends in voltage, current, frequency, power, harmonics or flicker on all three phases plus neutral.

The system – monitor overview screen

Instant insight into whether the voltage, harmonics, flicker, frequency and the number of dips and swells fall outside the set limits. A detailed list is given of all events falling outside the set limits.

PowerWave data capture

For some users, load switching is a cause of power quality problems. When loads switch on, the current draw sometimes causes the voltage to drop to a level that causes other equipment to malfunction. The PowerWave function a enables users to capture voltage, current and frequency signals simultaneously at a high speed to see which interaction is potentially causing problems. PowerWave goes beyond standard power quality measurements; PowerWave’s fast data capture mode enables system dynamics to be characterized.

Waveforms for voltage and current are continuously captured for the specified time, and are displayed on screen in high detail; the power waveform is derived from the data. In addition, half-cycle RMS values for voltage, current, power and frequency can be stored and retrieved for analysis. This feature is particularly useful for testing of standby generation systems and UPS systems where reliable switch-on can be vital.

Power inverter efficiency

Power inverters take DC current and transform it into AC current, or vice versa. Solar generation systems usually include an inverter that takes the DC energy from the solar cells and converts it to useful AC power. Inverters can lose performance over time and need to be checked. By comparing the input power with the output power you can determine the system efficiency. This energy analyzer can measure the efficiency of such inverters by simultaneously measuring the DC and AC power of a system to determine how much power is lost in the conversion process.

SystemMonitor – check performance against EN50160 with ease

The unique system-monitor gives you an overview of power system performance (there is no button or single function) and checks the compliance of incoming power to EN50160 limits or to your own custom specifications. The overview is shown on a single screen, with color-coded bars clearly indicating which parameters fall outside the limits.

Logging function allows you to customize measurement selections and provides instantaneous analysis of user-selectable parameters.

Measure and record power (W), VA and VARs, PF and energy consumption.

Track harmonics up to the 50th, and measure and record THD in accordance with IEC61000-4-7 requirements.

How to Get Faster Three-Phase Power Measurements with Fluke Clamp Meters

Complete three-phase voltage and current measurements 50% faster! We’re confident in this because it’s been tested at customer sites. The new clamp meters from Fluke (models 377 FC & 378 FC) feature FieldSense™ technology where voltage and current can be measured simultaneously with the clamp jaw. Meaning, these clamp meters can be used to make sequential line-to-ground measurements and current measurements that result in calculated line-to-line voltage measurements and phase rotation information.

In this application note, we walk you through the old versus the new way of doing phase-to-phase measurements along with step-by-step instructions on how to make these measurements.

Read the Application Note