# Depth Rating for Potted Cable Penetrator

**URL:** <https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/depth-rating-for-potted-cable-penetrator/12696>\
**Category:** Blue Robotics Products\
**Tags:** penetrators\
**Created:** [August 8, 2022, 5:38am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/depth-rating-for-potted-cable-penetrator/12696 "2022-08-08T05:38:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![EliotBR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/discuss.bluerobotics.com/eliotbr/32/6937_2.png) [@EliotBR](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/u/EliotBR)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 5:05am UTC](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/depth-rating-for-potted-cable-penetrator/12696/2 "2022-08-09T05:05:45Z")

</div>

Hi @Tides,

Due to the fickle nature of chemical reactions in a variable world, we can’t meaningfully provide an official depth rating for a general-purpose and user-sealed product like a potted penetrator. The depth capacity is dependent on the interface strengths between the potting compound, the cable jacket, and the aluminium walls of the penetrator, which depends on a variety of factors, including

- the materials involved, and their chemical compatibilities
- surface treatment of the cable jacket and penetrator wall
- impurities, dirt, skin oils, etc that reduce bond strength
- temperature and pressure during potting and setting (bubbles?)
- correct seating of cable jacket against penetrator shoulder
- length of bond
  - e.g. does the potting compound fill the head and extend into the throat?

It’s also relevant to consider storage and operating conditions, whereby

- high temperatures (e.g. from extended direct sunlight exposure, or hot water) can degrade/weaken potting compound, and may cause thermal stresses from uneven expansion
- strong jerks on the cable may shear the seal
- if a non water-blocked cable gets cut, water can enter through the cable (true of any penetrator)

For reference,

> [@rjehangir](#):
>
> Generally I probably wouldn’t recommend going deeper than ~100m, but we have seen them perform well to nearly 1000m, just not consistently.

It’s not impossible for a potted penetrator to withstand significant depths, but unfortunately it’s difficult to ascertain the depth capacity of a given potting without highly controlled installation and operating conditions, or actually testing it.

---

_[View the full topic](https://discuss.bluerobotics.com/t/depth-rating-for-potted-cable-penetrator/12696)._