1967 – Nov – Hambleton – Gas Pressure Concept in Cable Maintenance
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AM Hambleton BE Austral Standard Cables Pty Limited The need for protection of cables against the ingress of moisture has long been a problem in the communication industry. Moisture entering cables may produce direct faults at the point of entry or may travel along the cable producing faults at remote points. Essentially the sheath of the cable has as its basic task the protection of the con- ductors or core from the effects of moisture, but, as is well known, various faults may occur from time to time whereby the sheath is dam- aged or becomes permeable to water and is therefore ineffective in protecting the cable core. As a means of overcoming this problem,many solutions have been suggested, ranging from the completely filled cable, where the conductors are surrounded by a petroleum jelly sub- stance, to the high security plastic insulation currently being used in Australia where the effect of water on the conductors is minimised. However, problems in manufacture and in the construction of joints currently in use makes both of.these techniques slightly inadequate, and therefore a third technique using a pressurized cable and joint is gaining popularity. This paper deals with the application of gas pressurization systems to communication cables of both lead sheathed and plastic sheathed construction. It is the intention to describe techniques currently being used with success in communication cablenetworks of various types.