Effect of Configuration on Contaminated Insulator String Performance

The performance of transmission line insulators under contaminated conditions is affected by many variables, one of which is the configuration of the string on the tower. Reported field experience indicates that horizontal and Vee strings perform better than vertical. A series of laboratory tests designed to investigate the effect of configuration on performance is described in this paper. The tests included two test methods, several insulator types, and simulated natural washing of contaminated strings.