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improves adhesion of the Scotch? l to the cable jacket.
COMMERCIAL SOURCES OF POTTING 14. Cut a 6” length of Scotch? l putty. Remove back-
COMPOUNDS AND SPLICE KITS ing tape, and stretch putty to ½ its original thickness. Wrap the Scotch? l tape around joint, pulling to create an elastic AeroMarine Products stretch, covering the entire splice area and 1-1/2” over each https://www.aeromarineproducts.com/ cable jacket end. In this example, the overall splice length is AK Industries, HydroSplice then approximately 4-1/4 inches long. Press and massage the http://ak-ind.com/hydrosplice.html
Scotch? l into a roughly uniform diameter slightly larger than Blue Link https://blue-linked.com/cable-splice-kits the original cable jacket. Clark Synthesis https://clarksynthesis.com/underwater- 15. Using Scotch 33 black vinyl tape, and starting splice-kit-installation-guide ½” beyond the Scotch? l on the cable jacket, begin wrapping Epoxies Etc (Meridian Adhesives) the black tape over the joint, pulling so as to create an elas- https://www.epoxies.com Bulletin 20-2180 tic stretch, and overlapping the tape 50% on each turn. When Masterbond completely covered, cut the tape from the roll with a knife or https://www.masterbond.com/products/urethane-modi- scissors rather than pulling and breaking the tape. This keeps ? ed-epoxies-bonding-sealing-coating-potting the bitter end from curling up. MG Chemicals https://www.mgchemicals.com/catego- 16. Perform a ? nal ohm sift to be sure the connec- ry/potting-compounds/polyurethane-resins/ tions are still ? ne. Polymer G https://www.polymer-g.com
RoboticOcean https://www.roboticocean.com/product/ cable-? eld-splice-epoxy-mold-kit/
POTTED CABLES
RoboticOcean (https://www.roboticocean.com/product-cat- 3M Splices https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/electri- egory/underwater-splice-kits/) produces 2 Underwater Cable cal/splices-accessories/
Splice Kits. They have produced an educational video that McMaster-Carr https://www.mcmaster.com/potting- goes into detail of how to make a potted splice. compounds/cable-repair-resins-4/
UNDERWATER CONNECTOR MANUFACTURERS
FURTHER READING
WHO MAKE CUSTOM CABLES
To see an extended paper “Lander Lab #6: Splicing Under- water Electrical Cables_Extended”, including thoughts on se- AK Industries ak-ind.com lecting speci? c potting materials, please go to Global Ocean Birns birnsaquamate.com
Design
Glenair https://www.glenair.com/underwater-connec- tors/index.htm
CONCLUSION
The cold splice is the one to rely on for at-sea ? xes. It is PMI Industries pmiind.com also possible to make potted splices at sea, too, that look nice, TE Connectivity (SeaConn) www.te.com/seacon handle multiple breakouts, and function really well. Commit Teledyne Marine Interconnect http://www.teledyne- to learning this important maritime skill. Practice makes per- marine.com/subsea-connectors/ fect. Be ready to save the day at sea! WETechnologies https://wetechnologies.com/
REFERENCES
Christ, Robert, and Wernli, Robert, The ROV Manual, Second Edition, Oxford, UK, Elsevier, 2013, ISBN 978-0-08-098288-5 (Chap- ter 8: Cables and Connectors is a well written general discussion of underwater cables and connectors intended for a professional and scholarly audience.)
Busby, R. Frank, Manned Submersibles, Washington, DC, USA, Of? ce of the Oceanographer of the Navy, 1976 (Busby’s tome re- mains a seminal work in the ? eld of undersea vehicles of any kind. Chapter 7 covers “Power and its distribution”.)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to Jim Wagaman, WETechnologies, for his careful and thoughtful design philosophy. Ray Hayworth, General Dynamics
Electric Boat Division, should have gotten greater credit for the underwater connector and cable design guidelines he authored. Cal
Peters, lead product engineer at FalMat Cables, gets a thumb up for his depth of knowledge and pleasant manner.
READER FEEDBACK
Let us know what you think. We’d like this column to be a conversation. Please send your thoughts and photos to: Kevin Hardy
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