If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve sat in a test lab at 2 a.m., staring at a Transformer Test Set screen that’s throwing inconsistent results when you need them most. Or maybe you’re a project engineer who’s had to jump through hoops to integrate a test set with your new transformer design, because the off-the-shelf unit doesn’t quite align with your specific test protocols. For 12 years, I’ve sat on both sides of that desk: first as an electrical engineer designing medium-voltage transformers for industrial applications, then as a lead product manager at a Transformer Test Set supplier where our team’s job is to build tools that actually solve real test day pain points. Over that time, I’ve learned that “contributing to the development of the Transformer Test Set” isn’t just about releasing fancier software or adding a few extra measurement buttons. It’s about closing the gap between what test engineers need to do their jobs safely, accurately, and on time, and what the market currently offers. Today, I want to share actionable, practical ways that any stakeholder—from test engineers to transformer manufacturers to even test set providers themselves—can contribute to making these tools better. No jargon, no buzzwords, just the stuff we’ve actually tested in our labs and in the field. Transformer Test Set
Let’s start with the group that’s closest to the problem: on-site test engineers and transformer field technicians. I know, I know—you’re already swamped with routine tests, emergency breakdowns, and paperwork that eats up half your shift. The last thing you want to do is fill out a 10-page survey about what your test set is missing. But here’s the thing: the small, daily frustrations you deal with are the exact pain points that, when fixed, make a test set a game-changer. A few years ago, a technician from a midwestern utility stopped by our booth at a regional power expo. He was complaining that every time he ran a winding resistance test on 15kV distribution transformers, he had to manually adjust the test current from 1A to 5A depending on the winding configuration—something he did 20 times a day. At the time, our test set software had a basic “automatic current selection” feature, but it was generic; it didn’t account for the specific resistance ranges of distribution transformers, which are smaller than large power transformers. We went back, tweaked the algorithm to pull from a preloaded library of standard distribution transformer winding specs, and added a one-click “adjust for distribution unit” button. A year later, that same technician emailed to say that small change had cut his test time per unit by 12 minutes, which added up to over 40 hours a year for his team. That’s the power of on-site feedback.
The easiest way for you to contribute is to document your unscripted test workflows. Most engineers only log the “official” test procedures for their projects, but the messy, real steps you take when a test fails or a cable is faulty are the most valuable. For example, if you regularly have to calibrate your test set’s voltage reading against a multimeter before a critical test, write that down. If you’ve found that connecting the neutral lead in a specific order reduces noise in low-voltage tests, note that. Our team runs a monthly “test pain point” feedback form that’s just three open-ended questions: What’s the most time-consuming part of your last test? What’s one feature you wish your test set had that would make that easier? What’s a weird error your test set threw that you still don’t fully understand? We get about 15 responses a month, and 80% of our incremental feature additions in the last three years have come directly from those answers. You don’t need to be a power systems expert to weigh in—you just need to share what’s actually happening when you use your test set, not what the manufacturer thinks is happening.
Next up: transformer design and manufacturing teams. A lot of these teams see Transformer Test Sets as a necessary evil—something you use during final QC, not a tool that can inform your design process. But that’s a missed opportunity for both sides. A few years ago, we partnered with a large aerospace transformer manufacturer that was struggling with high rates of partial discharge (PD) test failures in their new line of lightweight transformers. Their manufacturing team would adjust the insulation thickness and winding tension, but they had no real-time data on how those adjustments affected PD levels during testing. The problem? Their existing test set only logged PD data as a single pass/fail number, not the full waveform data. So we modified our test set software to stream raw PD data to a cloud-based dashboard in real time, and added a feature that let engineers correlate PD spikes with specific winding segments or insulation layers during the test. Within six months, that manufacturer cut their PD failure rate by 22% because they could identify small design flaws before final assembly. For test set providers, understanding how transformers are built isn’t just about making the test set compatible—it’s about making it a collaborative tool for design, not just verification.
If you’re a transformer designer or manufacturer, you can contribute by sharing test requirements that go beyond industry standards. Standards like IEEE C57.12.90 or IEC 60076-2 are great for basic testing, but every project has unique needs. For example, medical power transformers require that all test data is encrypted and audit-ready for FDA inspections. Renewable energy transformers for offshore wind farms need test sets that can operate in temperatures down to -40°C and withstand high levels of EMI from nearby turbine equipment. When you share these niche requirements, don’t just send a list of specs—include a short case study of a time a test set failed to meet that need, or a specific scenario where the requirement was critical. Our team keeps a public “unmet requirement” log (we share a redacted version with customers) that’s used to prioritize new feature development. Last year, a group of wind farm engineers shared their requirement for a wireless test set that could connect to a transformers’ internal sensors without running long, messy cables. That project is now in beta testing, and it’s been the most requested feature for offshore applications since we announced it.
Now, if you’re a fellow test set provider, you might be wondering how to contribute without giving away proprietary info. The answer is that collaboration in this space doesn’t have to be about stealing ideas—it’s about solving shared industry problems. The Transformer Test Set market is fragmented, with small specialized providers and large industrial companies, but we all face the same core challenges: making test sets easier to integrate with existing lab software, reducing testing time without sacrificing accuracy, and improving safety for technicians working with high-voltage equipment. A few years ago, three of us from smaller regional test set providers got together at a power industry conference to complain about how hard it was to get our test sets to talk to the modern test management systems that most large manufacturing facilities use. Each of us had spent years building our own proprietary adapters, none of which worked with more than two or three of the top test management platforms. We decided to pool our expertise and develop an open API standard specifically for Transformer Test Sets. It’s been three years now, and that standard is used by over 20 test set providers, from small startups to large multinational corporations. It’s not only reduced integration time for our customers by an average of 35%, it’s also eliminated the need for customers to buy expensive, custom adapters for every test set change. The key here is to focus on shared, industry-wide pain points, not competitive advantages. No single test set provider can build a tool that works for every transformer type, every test standard, and every environment—collaboration is the only way to move the whole industry forward.
I also want to touch on a group that’s often overlooked when it comes to contributing to test set development: academic researchers and students. Last semester, we partnered with a power systems engineering program at a state university. Their students were working on a project to develop more accurate models of transformer core losses, but they couldn’t find a Transformer Test Set that could run the high-resolution, repeated measurements they needed. We worked with the students to modify our test set’s measurement sampling rate from 10kHz to 100kHz, and gave them access to our field data from over 500 transformer tests to validate their models. In return, the students developed a software module that runs on our test sets, which automatically calculates core loss data and generates a full report—something that would have taken a test engineer three hours to do manually. That module is now a standard add-on for all our medium-voltage test sets, and it’s been used by over 100 customers in the last year. Academic research isn’t just about publishing papers—it’s about bringing cutting-edge technology down to the tools that test engineers use every day. If you’re a researcher or a student, don’t hesitate to reach out to test set providers with unusual project requirements. Most of us are eager to collaborate, because we need the fresh perspective that academic work brings.
Of course, none of this is possible if test set providers aren’t open to feedback, and willing to iterate on their products. Over the years, I’ve seen too many companies release a test set, then ignore customer feedback for years, only to find that they’ve fallen behind the market. Our team follows a few simple rules when it comes to developing new test sets. First, we test every new feature in the field, not just in our lab. That means sending our prototypes to technicians, manufacturers, and utilities to use for two weeks, with no instructions from us other than “use it like you normally would.” We’ve had technicians unplug our prototype in the middle of a test because it kept beeping at random times, and that’s exactly the kind of feedback that leads to a better product. Second, we don’t promise to build every feature someone asks for—but we do explain why we can’t, or when we might be able to. A lot of test engineers feel like their feedback falls on deaf ears, but that’s usually not the case; it’s that the feature is too expensive, or it’s only useful for a tiny niche of customers, or it would compromise the accuracy of existing tests. When we explain that, most people are willing to work with us to find a different solution.
Finally, I want to address the most important point: contributing to Transformer Test Set development is a two-way street. It’s not just about telling us what’s wrong—it’s about working with us to fix it. A few months ago, a test engineer from a Canadian utility reached out to us saying that our test set’s temperature compensation feature was giving inaccurate readings on older oil-filled transformers. He didn’t just send us a screenshot of a bad test result—he walked our team through his entire testing process, showed us how he calibrated his temperature sensors, and even shared his old test logs from 10 years prior. We found that the temperature algorithm we used was designed for modern synthetic oil, not the mineral oil that most older transformers use. We tweaked the algorithm, and then that same engineer helped us validate the change on 20 of their aging transformers. That single conversation improved our test set’s accuracy for 30% of the transformers in the field, and it also helped us build a much better relationship with that customer.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably someone who cares about making transformer testing better—whether you’re a technician, an engineer, a manufacturer, or a researcher. The next time you sit down to run a test on your Transformer Test Set, take 10 minutes to write down what’s working and what’s not. Reach out to your test set provider, or to a fellow engineer, and share your thoughts. If you’re a test set provider, open up your feedback channels and actually listen to what people are saying. The future of Transformer Test Sets isn’t about more features or higher price tags—it’s about tools that fit the real, messy, urgent work of testing transformers in the field.
If you’re ready to share your feedback, collaborate on a new feature, or learn more about how we work with customers to develop better Transformer Test Sets, feel free to reach out to our team for a consultation.
Electric Safety Tools Test Equipment References
- IEEE Std C57.12.90, Standard Test Code for Liquid-Immersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers
- International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60076-2, Power Transformers – Part 2: Temperature Rise for Liquid-Immersed Transformers
- Smith, J., & Lee, S. (2022). Field Validation of High-Resolution Transformer Winding Resistance Testing Using Mobile Test Sets. Proceedings of the IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting
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