All you Need to Know About Moisture- Proof Cable Assemblies

With rains creating a havoc in almost every part of India, it becomes necessary to keep a set of waterproof stuff in every category. Humans require water to survive and maintain their hydration level in extreme climates, however, data and current carrying electrical cables water or moisture can be highly dangerous. Even in minute forms it can kill the performance and compel you to get in touch with conductors. There are a number of service environments that need good protection from salt water immersion at long depths and condensation at high humidity climates for all kind of outdoor applications. Moisture can lead to failure on inner ends as well, thus you need to secure wiring from operation theatres to commercial kitchens.

Under such conditions, you can always take help from extruded thermoplastic jackets that are known for offering best protection to conductor, however, the biggest issue lies in cable termination. Connectors need to be weatherproof secured by boots. Slip-on boots get restrained mechanically over connectors and can use O-rings or sealants to keep moisture away. However, if the cables or wires are being used in volume then overmolding is the best thing.

Overmolding here, refers, to an injection process where TPU or TPE elastomers or other materials are shot, overdressed, and then cable ends are terminated. For the volume runs, number of cables can be overmolded altogether. Overmolded cable assemblies and cables are designed only for longer life cycles, these can be manufactured in a simple, right-angled or custom molded back shells for different conditions. Overmolding is also capable of offering relief from strain and improve pulling strength against traditional cable assembly designs.

While designing, the makers need to take care of the expected life cycle of the assembly along with nature of its environment and loopholes that can lead to mishaps. This point need to be kept in mind while deciding whether the cable assembly needs to be overmolded or not. All these factors, in total, effect the efficiency of design and quality of testing procedures that are needed to confirm reliability.

Cable assembly designers mostly refer to the IP codes or IEC standard 60529 or International Protection Marking that are defined by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) when they need to rate products for security against water ingress.