[ Up ] [ EZ-RESTORE™ OVERDRIVE ] [ EZ-THUMP ] [ SMART-THUMP ] [ SG15-1150 M & SG25-1150 M ] [ SWG CI-1750, SWG CDI-1750 ] [ SPG40-1000 & SPG40-2000 ] [ M219 ARC REFLECTION FILTER ]

EZ-RESTORE™ OVERDRIVE

There is a strong trend in the utility industry to make trouble shooting of underground power cable faults less time consuming and less damaging. Shortening restoration times increases productivity and results in a more favorable SAIDI index, a critical utility company benchmark. Utilities are also making the reduction of future cable faults from cable-weakening sectionalizing methods a top priority. HDW Electronics developed the patented EZ Restore, which both reduces restoration times and minimizes cable damage-especially additional faults on bare concentric cables.

Most trouble shooting situations involve one of three commonly applied methods, checking of fault indicators, Hipot testing of cable sections or re-closing / re-fusing. All these methods require the trouble man to go to each transformer, which is time consuming, especially in back-lot situations.

The EZ Restore has quickly become a trouble truck “must-have”, and this remarkable tool has just gotten even better. The new EZ Restore Overdrive now features our new Transflective 5.7’ color LCD display and our brand new EZ-Go software. In a typical situation the EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ allows a trouble man from one vantage point to quickly and easily identify and isolate a faulted span or section of underground cable in order to restore service as quickly as possible. The EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ provides an alphanumeric readout to identify the location of the fault in relation to the 2 closest transformers. The EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ is the first and only tool worldwide, which displays the relevant trouble shooting information in alphanumeric form and not in form of a TDR trace, which would require interpretation by the operator. The basis is a patented algorithm, which together with a proprietary software interprets an ARM* generated and digitized fault locating trace.

The use of an ARM* based sectionalizing approach eliminates the need to have to go to each
transformer. Typically the trouble man will connect the EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ at the first transformer from the riser poll and “shoot” to the normal open point. In case where this section contains 6 or more transformers it should be broken up in 2 sections with 3 to 5 transformers each. In this situation the trouble man hooks up in between and performs 2 tests, shooting back to the riser poll and shooting to the normal open point.

The EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ is a fully self contained, battery operated and weatherproof unit. The entire test sequence is microprocessor controlled and completed via a single, optic-encoder controller knob. The alphanumeric display will indicate the fault by placing its distance footage in between the 2 transformers, which are nearest to it.

Options & Versions
The EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ is available in a number of different versions in order to support frequently used utility industry work practices for trouble shooting and sectionalizing. A typical method for verification of an isolated & faulty cable is a Hipot test; one of the EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ version features a built-in Hipot tester, which eliminates the need to carry either Hipot sticks or a separate Hipot tester on the trouble truck. An other version features a live TDR trace for verification of the isolated cable segment by pulling the elbows at the 2 relevant transformers.

The technology is protected by US Patent # Patent No. US 6, 683,459 B2. The ARM® and the EZ-RESTORE OVERDRIVE™ are Registered Trade Marks of HDW Electronics, Inc..