GW Instek GPT Safety Testers: Hipot and Insulation Testing for Indian Manufacturers

Why Safety Testing Matters

Every electrical product sold in India must comply with safety standards, BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) for domestic sale, CE marking for European export, UL for North American markets. At the core of these standards is dielectric withstand testing (commonly called hipot testing): applying a high voltage between live conductors and accessible metal parts to verify that the insulation will not break down under fault conditions.

A product that passes hipot testing demonstrates that its insulation can withstand voltage stress beyond normal operating conditions, providing the margin of safety that prevents electric shock in the field.

The GPT Family

GW Instek’s GPT series spans five product lines, each optimized for different test scenarios:

GPT-9500 Series: Multi-Channel Production Hipot

The GPT-9500 combines AC withstanding voltage, DC withstanding voltage, and insulation resistance testing in a single 3-in-1 instrument with a built-in 8-channel scanner. The scanner eliminates external switching matrices when testing multi-terminal products, transformers, motors, multi-output power supplies, reducing test cycle time and operator intervention.

• 150 VA AC capacity
• 3-in-1 testing: AC hipot, DC hipot, insulation resistance
• Built-in 8-channel scanner
• ARC detection for insulation breakdown screening
• Open/Short Check (OSC) for test lead verification

GPT-9600 Series: Withstand and Insulation Resistance

The GPT-9600 provides AC/DC withstand voltage and insulation resistance testing in a streamlined form factor. It is suited for production lines where multi-channel scanning is not required but reliable hipot and IR testing is essential.

GPT-9800 Series: Safety Tester

The GPT-9800/9900 series is a general-purpose safety tester supporting AC/DC hipot, insulation resistance, and ground bond testing. The ground bond test verifies the integrity of the protective earth connection, a critical safety requirement for Class I (grounded) appliances and equipment.

GPT-12000 Series: 200 VA Production Safety Tester

The GPT-12000 steps up to 200 VA AC capacity, providing more power for testing products with higher capacitive loads, such as motor windings, large transformers, and equipment with EMI filter capacitors that present a capacitive load to the hipot tester.

GPT-15000: 500 VA Safety Analyzer

The GPT-15000 is the flagship of the GPT family: a 500 VA electrical safety analyzer that combines AC/DC dielectric withstand, insulation resistance, and ground bond testing in a single instrument. It is the first GW Instek safety tester compliant with IEC 61010-2-034.

• 500 VA AC capacity for high-capacitance DUTs
• 7-inch color display with graphical waveform view
• AC/DC hipot + IR + ground bond in one instrument
• IEC 61010-2-034 compliance
• Evidence trails for UL, CE, and BIS certification documentation

Choosing the Right GPT Model

The selection depends on the DUT and production environment:

Safety Testing AI Server and Data-Centre Power Hardware

High-density AI server hardware brings safety testing onto benches that used to deal only in low-voltage boards. Rack power shelves, CRPS supply modules and the high-voltage intermediate buses now appearing in data-centre power architectures all need dielectric withstand, insulation and protective-earth verification before final assembly or release.

GW Instek assigns this job to the GPT-12000 and GPT-15000. Within the GPT-12000 Series it is the GPT-12004 that combines all four tests, AC and DC withstand (ACW, DCW), insulation resistance (IR) and ground bond (GB); the GPT-12001 to 12003 cover a subset. USB and interlock functions are standard and LAN is an option card on the GPT-12000, so the safety step can run inside an automated validation sequence rather than as a separate manual station.

Which standard is which

One distinction matters before any limits are set. IEC 61010-2-034:2023 covers measurement equipment for insulation resistance and test equipment for electric strength: it is the standard the tester meets, which is what the GPT-15000’s compliance refers to. It is not a product-safety standard for the server being tested. ICT and server equipment typically falls under IEC 62368-1, depending on the product and the jurisdiction, and in India the applicable BIS scheme decides what the routine and type tests must show.

Representative test parameters

GW Instek’s AI data-centre power validation white paper gives these as representative values for server assemblies:

The same paper is explicit that these are representative source values rather than compliance limits: the production test voltage, dwell, leakage criterion, insulation threshold and ground-bond limit come from the DUT’s product standard, its certification scheme and the qualified test procedure.

For the electrical side of the same hardware, see CRPS and rack power supply testing and AI data center testing: power shelves, busbars, burn-in and optics.

Indian Manufacturing Context

India’s electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing sector, spanning consumer appliances, industrial switchgear, transformers, UPS systems, LED drivers, and EV chargers, requires safety testing at every production stage. BIS certification (IS 616 for household appliances, IS 302 for particular requirements, IS 13252 for IT equipment) mandates dielectric withstand testing as part of the type test and routine test requirements.

For manufacturers in Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR, having a reliable hipot tester on the production line is not optional, it is a regulatory requirement.

The GPT series provides a range of options from the GPT-9600 for basic compliance to the GPT-15000 for full safety analysis with documentation trails that auditors and certification bodies require.

Availability Through GSAS

GSAS Micro Systems provides the complete GPT safety tester range in India as an authorized GW Instek partner for Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Services include test station configuration, scanner setup for multi-terminal DUTs, calibration coordination, and integration with production line automation.

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