A new technique for troubleshooting large capacitive energy storage banks

Many pulse power systems rely on large numbers of inductively isolated high voltage capacitors configured in parallel for energy storage. Often when an energy storage capacitor fails there is little or no external indication. Identifying the failed component can be a time consuming and potentially hazardous operation. We have developed a new noninvasive (i.e. no dismantling of the bank is required) technique that greatly improves personnel safety as well reducing troubleshooting time. We present the theory of operation, a complete description of the battery-powered hardware, test results and techniques of operation.