We have frame-5 gas turbine machine for power generation with GE mark-5

control system. Now we are getting the alarms "BATTERY 125V DC EARTH
GROUND."
We checked the floating voltage on the battery charger panel side found 110 V
on positive (+ - 0) side and 15V on negative side (- - 0). Now the machine is in
shutdown condition still we getting the alarms. can anybody suggest is this
alarm related with battery charger circuitry or related with control system or any
i/o circuitry and what are the check points have to carry out?
#######
> We checked the floating voltage on the battery charger panel side found
> 110 V on positive (+ - 0) side and 15V on negative side (- - 0).
What you describe is referred to as a "soft" ground because neither battery leg is
fully grounded (which would be indicated by a reading of 0 VDC with respect
to ground). The reason the Speedtronic turbine control panels alarm before a
ground becomes "hard" or "solid" (0 VDC with respect to ground) is to allow
operators and technicians an opportunity to find and resolve the ground before it
becomes a hard or solid ground.
Notice that the Process Alarm text message reads: "BATTERY 125 VDC
GROUND." This indicates <t>two very important things:
1) Only devices powered by the 125 VDC battery supply can cause this alarm;
and,
2) ANY device powered by the 125 VDC battery supply can cause this alarm.
Let's start with the second condition first. The 125 VDC battery of a GE-design
heavy duty gas turbine control system usually powers the following
areas/devices on the unit:
a) D.C. Emergency L.O. Pump Motor
b) D.C. Hydraulic Ratchet Pump Motor (for a Frame 5 unit)

c) Generator Protection Panel (protective relays; indicating lights; switches;

generator breaker trip/close circuit; etc.)
d) Emergency D.C. Compartment Lighting
e) Fire Detection and/or Discharge System
f) Speedtronic turbine control panel
A ground in any of these systems can cause the "BATTERY 125 VDC
GROUND alarm to be annunciated by the Speedtronic turbine control system.
So, while most operators, technicians and their supervisors believe
that ONLY devices connected to the Speedtronic (the Mark V in this case) can
cause this alarm, again, a ground in any of these systems can result in the
Speedtronic annunciating the alarm. So, troubleshooting may need to include
these areas as well, and in some cases--especially when the turbine is shut down
for an outage and is off Cooldown (Ratchet)--it can be very easy to isolate some
of these systems to check to see if the ground exists in any one of them.
Now, let's get to devices connected to the Mark V turbine control system.
Again, ONLY devices that are directly powered by 125 VDC can cause this
alarm, and for most Mark V turbine control panels that includes the following
list of types of devices:
aa) Discrete (contact) inputs (temperature switches; pressure switches; limit
switches; etc.);
bb) Solenoid outputs (20CB-1; 20VG-1; 20AA-1; in other words, any 125
VDC-powered solenoid-operated device connected to the Speedtronic);
cc) Fuel trip solenoids (20FG-1; 20FL-1--these are connected to the PTBA
terminal board on the <P> core)
And, that's it! Pressure transmitters cannot cause the BATTERY 125 VDC
GROUND alarm because they are not directly powered by the 125 VDC battery.
Thermocouples are self-powered--so they can't cause the BATTERY 125 VDC
GROUND. Servo-valves are not powered directly by the 125 VDC battery so
they can't cause this alarm. LVDTs are not powered directly by the 125 VDC
battery; RTDs are not powered directly by the 125 VDC battery; speed pick-ups
are self-powered; motor starter signals are not powered by the 125 VDC battery

(with the exception of the D.C. Emer. L.O. Pump and the D.C. Hydraulic
Ratchet Pump--which were covered above). So, it's a complete waste of time to
check any terminals or circuits other than those which are directly powered by
the 125 VDC battery for grounds--in fact, Speedtronic turbine control panels are
designed to be capable of operating with grounded thermocouples and RTDs, so
finding a ground on any of those circuits is meaningless to solving the
BATTERY 125VDC GROUND alarm.
Therefore, it's best to concentrate on only those devices which are powered by
125 VDC--in the list above. And, if the turbine is shut down and off Cooldown
(Ratchet) that's the best time to look for grounds. It's also a good idea--when
using this approach below--to "rack out" (open the Mains breakers) of all of the
auxiliary motors for the turbine auxiliaries. This is because as we progress
through this procedure many of them may start and run--some at the same
time--and we don't need to do that. So, make a list of all the motors whose
starter Mains breakers are opened (so you can go back and close the Mains
breakers when finished!).
Next, in the <PD> core there are some plugs which can be useful for isolating
the 125 VDC-powered devices. The plugs labeled J8x (where 'x' can be A, B, C
or D) provide the power to most the 125 VDC solenoids connected to the DTBC
and DTBD terminal boards of <CD>, <QD1> (and <QD2>, if so equipped). The
plugs labeled J12x (where 'x' can be A, B, or C) provide the power to the
discrete (contact) inputs connected to the DTBA and DTBB terminal boards of
<CD>, <QD1> (and <QD2>, if so equipped). The plugs labeled J19 and J20
provide the power to the special solenoid output of <QD1> for 20CB-1 and
20FD-1 (if so equipped). And finally, the plugs labeled J7X, J7Y and J7Z
provide the power to the <P> core for the fuel trip solenoids.
Troubleshooting grounds is a lot of planning and a little bit of luck. Most
grounds occur in exterior junction boxes where water can get in and cause a soft
ground first, and then a hard ground as more and more corrosion builds up, or
the water levels rises and remains. So, it's best to examine all outdoor or
exposed junction boxes first when looking for grounds--especially soft grounds.
Any junction boxes with conduits that penetrate through the top of the junction
box should be suspect and continually checked for water tightness.

It's pretty useless to just use a voltmeter with respect to ground and go and
touch every terminal with a wire on in on the DTBA, DTBB, DTBC and DTBD
terminal boards of <CD>, <QD1> (and <QD2> if so equipped). So, when the
turbine is shut down and the motor starter Mains breakers are all open it's best
to start removing the plugs in the <PD> core. Start with the J12x plugs, while
continually monitoring the leg with the lowest voltage reading with respect to
ground. When you remove a plug and the voltage reading increases to
approximately 65 VDC--then you can work to find the specific terminal on the
terminal board which is disconnected that is grounded. And, if you lift a plug
and the voltage doesn't increase very much if at all, leave that plug disconnected
and lift the next one in the group--and if that doesn't cause the voltage to rise by
very much disconnect the next plug in the group. Leave all disconnected plugs
disconnected until the voltage reading rises. And continue with all
groups. There will be a LOT of alarms--that's to be expected. Be patient and
continue. When you remove a plug and the voltage reading rises--whatever
terminal board that plug feeds is likely to have the grounded field wire
connected to it.
If you disconnect all of the plugs and the voltage reading doesn't increase, then
it's pretty likely the grounded wire is NOT connected to the Mark V, but is
connected to one of the other systems powered by the 125 VDC battery. Again,
just because the alarm is annunciated by the Speedtronic DOES NOT
MEAN the grounded device is connected to the Speedtronic. The Speedtronic
monitors the 125 VDC battery--and all of the devices powered by the battery.
So a ground can be on any device which is powered by the 125 VDC battery.
The J8x cables that power most of the solenoids connected to the DTBC/DTBC
terminal boards connect to the DTBC first, and there is a jumper to connect the
DTBC to the DTBD. And, the J12x cables that power the discrete inputs
connected to the DTBA/DTBB terminal boards connect first to the DTBA and
there is a jumper that connected the DTBA to the DTBB. This can be useful in
further isolating individual terminal boards from each other.
Just remember to write down every plug that is disconnected, so that list can be
used to reconnect every plug before the unit is put back into service.
Again, most grounds--especially soft grounds--occur in junction boxes that get
wet. So, start with those. L.O. in a junction box can also cause a soft ground.

Please write back to let us know what you find!

@@@@@
glenmorangie,
I almost like troubleshooting grounds--under decent circumstances, of course.
Troubleshooting grounds isn't difficult--once one understands what can and
can't be grounded. The two most difficult grounds I've ever troubleshot were
grounds that were not on devices connected to the Speedtronic. One was in a
plant fire protection system that was also powered by the same 125 VDC battery
that powered the Speedtronic, and I had to fight tooth and nail to convince the
Customer that the ground was NOT in the Speedtronic just because the
Speedtronic annunciated the ground alarm. Had they followed my advice, we
would have found and resolved the alarm at least 48 hours sooner than we did,
and we would only have had to take the unit off-line once--instead of three
times (which were all blamed on me!).
The other ground was in a cooling fan vibration switch that was connected to a
breaker in the Generator Control Panel. The unit was a black-start unit and one
of the cooling water fans was powered by a special transformer, through a
breaker with a shunt trip mechanism in the Generator Control Panel. THAT was
really difficult to find, because it was still on the 125 VDC breaker that feeds
both the GCP and the Speedtronic--but it wasn't on a device that was connected
to the Speedtronic. It took about 14 hours to find that problem--and only
because the unit wasn't running.
That's the other thing that most people don't want to believe--if a ground has
existed for days or weeks or months then most likely it's going to be necessary
to shut the unit down, wait for it to cooldown, and then start troubleshooting. In
fact, any ground troubleshooting is easier when the unit isn't running. But, as
was the case in both the examples above the problem was moisture (rain water)
in a local junction box. And both times it was because good construction
practices hadn't been followed and conduit penetrations were made into the top
of a weatherproof junction box and weren't subsequently properly sealed. And,
again, most grounds can be attributed to water/moisture in outside junction
boxes, either not properly closed, or with leaky conduit penetrations. One
ground was traced to operators using the conduit as a ladder rung/step to take
gauge readings, and the conduit was loose and pulling out of the junction box

and monsoon rain water was pouring into the junction box. And I flew 11 hours
and drove 4 hours to get to the site to point out the problem--which was obvious
in about 25 minutes of just walking around the outside of the unit (in a monsoon
rainstorm, of course).
And, of course, it was an OEM problem, too--the plant manager was absolutely
certain of it!
Happy Holidays, to you, also--and congratulations on making MVP!!! It's about
time!

@@@@@@
Dear CSA,
We removed each power cable which is going to the digital i/o modules like
DTBC, DTBA, etc one by one from <PD> core and checked but we didn't get
any result. After that we completely switched off MARK 5 then powered up.
after that 125v dc earth ground problem solved, we are confused how it gone.
The problem was persisting for one month but after this checking the alarm
didn't come for one week but still the machine is in shutdown condition. Did
you face this type problem? the alarm came after power recycling it gone? we
are waiting to watch after the start up, weather the the same alarm is coming
again or not? now floating voltage also showing good. Again thanks for your
support.

@@@@@@
By David
Your problem lies in a switched relay or solenoid that has a leg going to ground.
This activation is condition dependent; so first locate that switched circuit.

By Bob Johnston on 19 January, 2015 - 7:47 pm

David is correct. What I suggest you do is keep your meter on to check the
ground condition during the next start up and see if you can see when the

ground comes on. Try to check Speed relays (14HM, 14HA & 14HS) and Shaft
Speed. This may give you some kind of clue where the ground is coming from.
Unfortunately this is one of the hardest grounds to find as it can be intermittent.
Don't despair, keep trying, you will eventually find it.
Good Luck