To assess the condition of stator insulation, nondestructive and overpotential tests were performed on four high voltage motors. The stator windings under these tests have nominal ratings of 6.6 kV. After completing nondestructive tests, the AC overvoltage applied to the stator windings was gradually increasing until insulation failure in order to obtain the breakdown voltage. No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 of 6.6 kV motors failed near rated voltage of 18.4 kV, 19.8 kV, 19.7 kV and 21.7 kV, respectively. The breakdown voltage of four motors was higher that expected for good quality coils(14.2 kV) in 6.6 kV motors. Almost all of failures were located in a line-end coil at the exit from the core slot. The breakdown voltages and the types of defects showed strong relation to the stator insulation tests such as in the case of AC current, dissipation factor(tanδ) and partial discharge magnitude.
