Progress on Revision of IEC 60383 by Dan Windmar.

IEC60383-1 “Insulators for overhead lines with a nominal voltage above 1000 V, part 1: Ceramic of glass insulators for a.c. systems – definitions, test methods and acceptance criteria” has not been revised since the 4th edition was released in 1993. The standard deals with four different types of insulators: pin insulators; line post insulators; string insulator units; insulators for overhead electric traction lines. While this standard has been stable and used frequently, the past ten years have seen a sharp increase in requests for non-standardized tests based on specific user requirements or adapted to meet more demanding conditions than in the standard. The main reason for this is that transmission system operators increasingly perceive that the tests specified are no longer stringent enough to fulfil their requirements. Indeed, different types of failures observed in service have only promoted development of more stringent testing, such as increased duration and increased number of samples, as well as certain entirely new test methods. In 2016, it was decided at the TC36 plenary meeting to begin revision of this important industry standard. This presentation summarizes work done within IEC TC36 MT20 up until the summer of 2019, with a further update of on-going work also discussed. The final content and wording of the updated standard remains to be decided by MT20 as well as by the national committees of participating countries.