I am integrating two additional cameras to my BlueROV2. Based on reading through the forum it looks as though this is a fairly common mod. I’m wondering if people have suggestions/recommendations on USB 3 cables that have worked well for this?
Each additional camera will be in it’s own waterproof enclosure. There will be a USB cable going from the camera/camera enclosure to the electronics enclosure (making use of the penetrators), thus there will be no connection exposed to water, just the cabling. I plan on operating the vehicle at depths up to 15m. I am trying to decide whether the USB cables that come with the camera will be sufficient for this or if I need to order specialized waterproof USB cables.
I have read about “IP68” rated cables which are able to be submerged in up to 1m of water and be fine. The “IP69” rated cables are suitable to be submerged in water and withstand 'high pressure". I have also read some threads that say any old USB cable with PVC jacket will be fine. For what it’s worth, the subsea cable that Blue Robotics sells has a PUR jacket.
Any suggestions on cabling to use for this application would be greatly appreciated.
I don’t have much experience with selecting cable insulation materials, but the main jacket material property concerns for this use case would seem (to me) to be
water permeability
sufficiency likely depends on the intended submersion pressures and time periods
chemical resistance
sufficiency depends on expected operating waters
UV resistance
importance depends on the practicality of keeping the cable out of extended periods of sunlight
density (for buoyancy of the cable)
From a quick search online of “can PVC …”, this resource mentions that
I have asked internally whether we have any particular recommendations for USB3 cables that would be good for underwater usage, and will get back if there are any
