INTRODUCTION 



A recurring problem for the ocean engineer is electrical system 

 failure by water intrusion at electrical connections, terminations, or 

 splices. The Civil Engineering Laboratory (CEL) has recently developed 

 a technique that allows the in-situ repair of a faulted system. This 

 paper describes the technique and testing procedure and discusses how 

 this technique can be used for other types of electrical cable conductors, 

 The emphasis of discussion is on the basic rules that must be addressed 

 when making underwater splices. 



FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT 



Before a reliable splice can be performed underwater, five basic 

 rules must be applied: 



1. All air voids within the splice must be eliminated. 



2. All ground paths must be eliminated. 



3. The splice must be pressure-equalized (no pressure 

 gradient across the splice) . 



4. A good electrical contact must be made. 



5. A wiping action must be supplied when the splice is made to 

 eliminate water from the conductors. 



A variety of materials are available for the actual splice, but 

 they must meet the following criteria: (1) they must not be affected 

 by pressure; (2) they must not be affected by oceanic temperature change; 

 (3) the bulk modulus of the compensating material must be less than 

 the conductor insulation to prevent cold -working during cycling; (4) 

 the compensating material must not cause corrosion of the electrical 

 conductor; and (5) the compensating material must not absorb water. 



There may be many techniques and materials that can be used if 

 the basic problems are understood and addressed. This report describes 

 two such techniques. Both techniques work well, but the second requires 

 some special order materials, while the first requires only off-the- 

 shelf material. 



