My company is looking to purchase new programmable dielectric testers. We have two existing units which I will not name to protect the innocent, but they're over 20 years old, discontinued, and no service or parts are available from the manufacturer. These are rackmounted units networked in with GPIB to test software written in LabVIEW which we'd like to keep using, albeit with the appropriate modifications. These are typically used for testing both AC dielectric strength and DC insulation resistance, up to 1kV for both.
Is there any experience with these types of testers or any recommendations? I don't see many available from the usual suspects as far as test equipment goes (Tektronix, Keysight, Rohde & Schwarz etc) but a few manufacturers I've found like Kikusui, Chroma, Ikonix, and Vitrek. The biggest consideration will be reliability as these are in use on two separate test stands daily, so cost isn't a huge concern.
Look for the Danbridge JP12 or 15. These are 12 and 15 KV testers respectively and come in handy if you are doing a lot of breakdownHipot testing.
I like having a united where you can hearing the breakdown through the speaker. You learn a lot from "listening" as the DUT is approaching breakdown.
Kikusui and Vitrek are the ones I would look at first since it looks like you are in USA. I am not sure of the availability in your country, Seaward offer their Clare HAL and Sentinel series, which have good reliability. Not sure on the ability to connect to LabView though.
GW Instek also offer the GPT9000 series, which I have always thought about getting hold of to see what they were like. ETL offer the ATS and RS series. I have no idea about the reliability of any of these particular units.
There are also some manufacturers such as Metrel and Chauvin Arnoux (AMEC) that offer portable machinery tests that can do AC and DC testing up to 1kV.
I don't believe that any of the mainstream instrument manufacturers such as Keysight, Fluke etc offer this kind of tester. You are heading more towards the electrical testing services that are a bit more niche.
Kind regards
For the benefit of those who come across this in the future, we chose the Kikusui TOS9300 series. Around $5000 for a unit with ACW and DC, up to 5kV and 7.2kV respectively. Very nice interface (large color LCD with a full numpad), Ethernet and USB as standard, and great support from the manufacturer when it comes to programming. I have encountered no problems in the month or so we've been using them that couldn't be attributed to our programming.