The Insulator Tools plugin allows you to set insulator load capacities and then report on the capacity utilization of each individual insulator. While many safety standards (NESC 2023, CSA) do not require this insulator load check, the GO95 standards within California do.  With the Insulator Tools plugin users can set the Tension, Cantilever, and Horizontal insulator capacities by right clicking on the insulator, select the Set Insulator Capacities option. Enter the capacity values in the Edit box:

Note: These values can also be entered directly into your O-Calc Pro User Catalog insulator items so that the values will already be set when dragging and dropping from your catalog.

Once the insulator capacities are set and the pole load analysis has been run, the results can be viewed within the Insulator Summary Report. The Summary report will highlight red any load over the capacity limit considering any applied insulator Strength Factors (SFs) which can be set on the Load Case by right clicking and selecting “Set Insulator SFs” option.

To fully understand the three load directions listed below, view the charts for details about these directions and their impact on different types of insulators.

1. Tension is in the direction away from the insulator, for dead ends, it’s in the direction of the conductor, for pins/posts, it’s uplift and for spools or bolts its strain against the connection point.

2. Cantilever bending/breaking force, any strain against the material of the insulator that sticks out from the attachment point              

3. Horizontal is the clamp strength, it is only applicable for clamped pins, posts or suspension insulators.

To access the Insulator Summary Report, click the Reports tab and select the Insulator Summary Report option.