Power System Testing

How to Analyze South African Power Quality? - Carelabs South Africa

Analyzing power quality starts with identifying the symptom that triggered the investigation: unexplained motor burnout, nuisance tripping in control systems, memory loss in sensitive equipment, power factor penalties on a utility bill, or a transformer failing before its expected life. The next step is data collection and measurement, taken at multiple points across the facility to allow accurate modelling of where a disturbance originates and how far it spreads — voltage RMS, current, power factor, voltage levels, and branch losses are all recorded using power quality analysers. Some are permanently installed for ongoing monitoring; handheld analysers are more commonly used for troubleshooting. With the data in hand, the analysis is referenced against IEEE Power Quality Standards and NFPA 70B to identify which parameters are out of range and what's causing it — often improper wiring, incorrect grounding, unbalanced loads, or a disturbance on shared infrastructure spreading from a neighbouring load. Carelabs performs this analysis for South African facilities and delivers findings aligned with SANS 10142. Contact our engineering team if your facility is seeing unexplained equipment issues that might trace back to power quality.