Cable splice - Introduction

Introduction

There are few simple ways to make a watertight soldered joint between a flexible cable, usually neoprene-sheathed, and an electromechanical cable. This joint, called a splice, must remain mechanically and electrically robust despite the severe constraints encountered during deep-sea operations.

One industrial solution is to use a conical socket with resin potting, for example a Crosby G-416/G-417 socket with loaded Wirelock resin. This assembly is robust, but it remains costly, delicate to make at sea, and cannot be reused. If a mechanical problem occurs on the cable, the whole termination has to be remade.

The method described here aims for a simpler, less expensive and faster solution once some experience has been gained. It relies on mechanical load transfer from the cable, careful soldering of the central conductor, then progressive insulation of the splice.

The electromechanical cable is generally available in diameters of 5 mm, 6.45 mm, 8 mm or 10.85 mm. It includes two layers of steel strands that carry the tensile load around a copper core insulated by a semi-rigid epoxy layer. The resistance of the central core is on the order of a few tens of ohms per kilometer, while the resistance of the outer strands is much lower.

The insulation between the central core and the strands must remain high, typically several megohms. It must be checked with an insulation tester, using a suitable range such as 50 V or 500 V depending on the equipment and test conditions.

The technique described in this article shows how to make a splice on an electromechanical cable with a 10.85 mm diameter. The dimensions of the required parts change for a splice on an 8 mm or 6.45 mm cable.

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