VI. MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF ELECTRO-MECHANICAL CABLES 



Any decision to repair or replace damaged electro-mechanical cables 

 will probably be based on strategic, economic, and mechanical reasons. 

 Although splicing and jointing operations usiially require several days 

 to complete, require specialized personnel, and rather sophisticated 

 equipment, repair of a very long cable would still be more economical 

 than replacement. Secondly, time is a factor when the damaged cable is 

 of strategic importance. This could determine whether the cable would 

 be repaired or replaced. Thirdly, all repair methods increase the dia- 

 meter of the cable in the joined area and this creates a problem when 

 the cable is run over sheaves or stored on a drum. 



Storage of Cables 



Many types of thermoplastic and thermosetting elastomers are being 

 used for the outer covering, or jacket, of electrical and E-M cables. 

 These materials have been chosen for their mechanical and physical pro- 

 perties and for their environmental resistance. Because these materials 

 are organic, storage conditions for them include: (1) avoid an area 

 which is either dry and cold or warm and humid; (2) avoid long exposure 

 to sunlight and heat; (3) avoid contact with solvents, oils, acids, and 

 bases; and (4) avoid exposure to ozone by storing them awav from operating 

 electrical equipment. 



Coiling . A cable is coiled with one twist in the cable for each 

 turn of the coil. It is generally easier to fake or coil a cable in the 

 direction to open the armor (clockwise coiling for left-lav armor). 



Reeling . With reversed-lay armors, one armor will tend to elongate 

 and the other to shorten with each turn of the coil. This results in an 

 extremely lively cable that is difficult to control. For this reason, 

 double reversed-lay armored cables should be handled in reels. 



o 

 Tank Storage . Cable ships will have three or four cylindrical tanks 



for storing cable. Every cable tank is usually fitted with a truncated 



cone in the center to fill up unusable space and prevent inner turns of 



cable from slipping down into the center and from jamming or forming a 



kink when lifted. 



A crinoline is sometimes used to guide the cable almost vertically 



from the level of the fakes to a bellmouth over the center of the tank 



when it is lifted in paying out and to prevent turns from flying up and 



possibly causing a kink. 



3 

 Ocea n Storage . A sandy bottom area of the ocean floor can be used 



to store cable. The cable is payed out in a straight course for which 



accurate geographic positions can be obtained. 



Jointing 



Jointing generally refers to the process of making a connection 

 between two conductors and then insulating it. 



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