I bought a Battery Power Cable Set just last week. The set arrived today and they failed the vacuum test. I tried using marine loctite epoxy and glue lined heat shrink to fix another set of the same design, but they’re still failing. I’m afraid this battery power cable set design is giving me quite a bit of trouble when it comes to the vacuum test.
Hi @CBW3750 -
This question is better handled by the support team via the help center. Please report a problem with a product and include your order number! Note that wetlink penetrator use a mechanical seal, adding epoxy is not recommended or intended in any way- they should seal to 1000m of pressure without any modification when used with the correct corresponding cable.
Hey!
I’ve experienced the same issue twice, specifically with the battery power cables. In both cases, I concluded that the cables hadn’t been pushed all the way to the bottom of the penetrator before it was tightened.
The WLP bushing had a pressure mark around its centre, which suggested that the cable wasn’t fully inserted when the penetrator was tightened. I discovered this after the vacuum test failed. As a sanity check, I inspected the cables and found that I could pull one out using just two fingers.
We’ve assembled many BlueROVs for clients over the past few years, and this issue has only occurred twice. Both times, the failed vacuum test was the first indication that something was wrong. So I’d say a vacuum test is the quickest and most reliable way to detect it.
call me daft for querying this, but you are vacuum testing both enclosures either end of said cables together, as per the vacuum test procedure publicised? I ask this as I have had many clients complaining about failed vacuum tests, when they have only tested a single enclosure, even though I have always been extremely clear to do simultaneous tests on both enclosures, as per the instructions.
Yes! Thank you for the reminder! I’m afraid I don’t trust that test at this point. I did a vacuum test both the Electronics Enclosure, with 11 wetlink penetrators, and the Battery Enclosure, with 2 wetlink penetrators, simultaneously with the power cables and they passed at 15 inHg for 10 minutes. However, when I submerged them I ended up getting slow leaking into the Electronics Enclosure. It was underwater for about 12 minutes when the a leak warning occurred. Water slowly started dripping into the enclosure. I found that the issue was the power cables. I did this by removing the power cables, replacing them with blank penetrators, testing the Electronics Enclosure and it passed the vacuum test.
I have found the issue. It was not the Wetlink penetrators. It was the potted penetrators in my setup. I trust the data to vacuum test both enclosures simultaneously when it comes to testing Wetlink penetrators. If there is anyone who uses both Wetlink and potted penetrators on an enclosure I highly recommend sticking with only Wetlink penetrators, if you can, because it is easier for potted penetrators to pass with an invalid result when using both Wetlink and potted penetrators mounted to the same enclosure. Following that, I learned from someone at Blue Robotics that potted penetrators are more likely to leak. Potted penetrators tend to delaminate; cable detaches from the epoxy or penetrators.
Hi @CBW3750 -
Glad you found the issue and I couldn’t agree more - avoid potting at all costs, o-rings always work!
Space Shuttle Challenger 