These will help to prevent the risk of equipment failures during assembly and final testing, or field failures that may occur over time. Although low voltage test systems will check the correct connection, continuity, and resistances, they will not find issues such as damaged or nicked insulation, stray wire strands from cables or braided shields, clearance issues or insulation resistance problems caused by moisture, solder flux or other contaminants. Testing the dielectric strength at a higher voltage helps find these problems allowing for repairs to be made before the final assembly of equipment, saving in costly issues with finished systems along with ensuring long term confidence.

High voltage reed relays can provide both the required low resistance switch paths for continuity and resistance testing along with the dielectric strength for high voltage testing, all in the same device. With low path resistances in their ON state of less than 0.15 Ohms, but standoff Voltages from 1000 Volts to 15,000 Volts, switching between low and high voltage tests is simple. This can not only reduce the complexity of test equipment but also greatly reduce test time.

And with the very high insulation resistances that a reed relay can offer, at high working voltages this results in low leakage currents, very often making them a better choice than semiconductor options. A reed relay is suitable for high voltage testing at both DC or AC voltages combined with excellent low level switching performance that could be required in continuity or path resistance tests.

Pickering offer the Series 119 and 131 small package devices with up to 1000V switching and 3000V standoff, with sputtered Ruthenium plated contacts providing excellent low voltage performance. Slightly larger are the Series 100HV and 104 with up to 1500V switching and 5000V standoff. For even higher standoff there are the Series 67/68, Series 60/65 and Series 62/63, all use Tungsten plated contacts giving longer life in high voltage, hot switching applications. With up to 3,500V, 7,500V or 12,500V switching and 5,000, or 10,000V or 15,000V standoff depending on the option selected and many customized options available.