Leakage Current Testers
Leakage Current Testers
Leakage current testers measure the unintended current that flows from electrical equipment through an unintended path — such as through a person touching the casing or through a patient lead in medical equipment. These instruments simulate the human body or patient impedance network defined by safety standards and measure the resulting current under various fault conditions, including open neutral and open ground scenarios. Leakage current testing is required by IEC 60601-1, IEC 62368-1, IEC 60335, and UL 544, among others.
Types of leakage current measured include touch current (formerly earth leakage), chassis leakage, patient leakage current, and patient auxiliary current for medical devices. Many instruments incorporate a built-in IEC 60990 compliant measurement network to accurately simulate the human body impedance response across the required frequency range.
Typical Applications
- Medical device safety compliance testing per IEC 60601-1, IEC 60601-2 series, and AAMI standards
- Consumer appliance leakage current testing per IEC 60335 and EN 60335
- IT equipment and audio/video product compliance testing per IEC 62368-1
- Periodic safety testing of Class I and Class II electrical products
- Integrated electrical safety test sequences on production lines
Popular Brands
Chroma and Associated Research offer versatile leakage current testers and combined electrical safety analyzers for production and laboratory use. Vitrek specializes in precision hipot and leakage current instruments with GPIB and USB interfaces suited for automated test environments. Amprobe provides portable clamp-style leakage current measurement tools for field service applications.
