HF NEW Fast Splice Kit Ⅲ
HF NEW Fast Splice Kit Ⅲ
Danish Design House Hans Følsgaard A/S (HF) has launched a new splice kit for repairing broken reefer container power cables. The new kit is designed to make it easy to correctly repair a reefer cable safely and prevent common mistakes that happens in the market when using existing splice kits.
Speaking with WorldCargo News, Hans Følsgaard Vice President Claus Rønne said the company developed its first splice kit around seven years ago, in response to requests from shipping lines that were experiencing safety issues from broken reefer cables that had been twisted back together and covered with electrical tape. These can be very dangerous on a vessel around water.
In response HF developed a splice kits, which contains all the materials and instructions needed to safely join a broken cable in the field. Properly fitted, these work very well, but HF has had requests for a “full proof” version, with a design that makes it virtually impossible to make mistakes in the installation and prevents anyone opening the splice once it is in place.
HF’s new splice kit is designed for any reefer cable with a core section between 2.5 mm2 – 6.0 mm2, and AWG11 / AWG10 on cables used by suppliers following the AWG cable dimensions. One of the main improvements is a new type of cable connector that uses torque screws to provide exactly the right amount of force + wire protection to ensure the optimal connection
With HF’s previous design the correct installation procedure was to remove the outer sheath but retain the inner insulation around the cable before inserting it into the cable connector and tightening the screws. In practice, said Rønne, the installer would typically remove both the outer sheath and the inner insulating layer the screws were designed to penetrate. When the screws were tightened some of the cores of the cable would be broken, which could lead to bad connections
To improve the design HF has used torque screws with a different design that does not cut the cable and with wire protection, that ensures the optimal connection. These are installed with the inner insulation removed, recognizing that this is standard practice in the repair process. When the correct torque in the screws is reached the heads break off, preventing over tightening, and unless the heads are broken off the connector block will not go in the outer tube body, preventing under tightening.
A new outer tube body replaces heat shrink (or cold shrink) insulation and is made of tough plastic (PA6). The kit comes with different sized grommets for different cable sizes, and a plastic spanner for tightening the tube ends to the correct torque. The spanner slips over the end nuts when the correct torque is reached.
When the splice is completed the join is water resistant to IP68, and impact protected to IK10. This means the splice is protected against 20 joules of impact, equivalent to dropping a 5kg mass from 400mm above the surface. The splice cannot be removed, other than by destroying the hardware. The kits have CE certification.
A key part of making sure the splice kits are used properly is getting them in the hands of the right people in the right place, with clear instructions. The kits themselves are made in Italy, and made available to the refer service industry through existing parts and service networks, including the stock held by shipping lines. Simple instructions with photographs are included, and HF plans to include a QR code on the Instruction Manual and Datasheet, that links to YouTube videos showing the installation process. The first units have been delivered into the marked, and within the next 3 months it will be replacing the old splice Kits.
