Quicknet and cerapro heating cable continuity monitor (2 pages)
Summary of Contents for nVent RAYCHEM XMI-L
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Low Temperature Sheath MI Heating Cable XMI-L Heat Tracing Repair Guide...
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Important Safeguards : Fire and shock hazard. nVent RAYCHEM WARNING heating cables must be installed correctly to ensure proper operation and to prevent electrical shock and fire. Read these important warnings and carefully follow all the installation instructions. • To minimize the danger of fire from sustained...
Table of Contents General Information 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Safety Guidelines 1.3 Electrical Codes 1.4 Heating Cable Configurations 1.5 Heating Cable Identification Pre-Repair Information 2.1 General 2.2 Safety Precautions 2.3 Changes to the Heating Cable Length 2.4 Tools and Materials Required 2.5 Repair Kit Components 2.6 Cross-section of Completed Joints and End Cap Heating Cable Repair...
They must be carefully followed to ensure that the heating cable performs safely and as intended. During the installation of XMI-L cables or during plant maintenance processes, the cables may be damaged, cut or broken. In the event that it is not possible to return the cable to the manufacturer, field repair may be necessary.
The guidelines and instructions contained in this manual are important. Follow them carefully to minimize these risks and to ensure that the XMI-L system performs reliably. Electrical Codes Refer to the appropriate sections of the National...
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XMI-L62 series) Hot/cold joint Hot/cold joint A sectional view of a Design D XMI-L heating cable is shown in Figure 1. All of the cables include both a heated section and a non-heating cold lead section. These sections are joined at the hot-cold joint where the heating element is spliced into larger bus wires.
General Information Heating Cable Identification Each XMI-L heating cable is supplied with an identification tag (Figure 2) on which the heating cable catalog number is permanently printed. In addition to its identification purposes, the catalog number provides information regarding the heating cable length, power output, and operating voltage.
Pre-Repair Information General XMI-L cables can be field repaired or modified only by qualified personnel. An appropriate field repair kit can be used to complete one of the following: • The Hot/Hot (H/H) Repair Kit includes the components required to perform a repair in the heated section on either a D or E configuration.
3%, to facilitate the repair or where the cable is modified, then a new XMI-L cable tag must be ordered. In these cases, the XMI-L Heating Cable Field Modification Approval Request Form in...
Pre-Repair Information Tools and Materials Required TAblE 2: TOOlS AND MATERIAlS 1000 V DC Megohmmeter Small hammer Ohmmeter (multimeter) Needle nose pliers Drill press and bits (see Appendix C) Ruler or tape measure Vernier caliper (or Micrometer) Flat file (3/16 in thick) Small tube cutter Round file Diagonal (side) cutters...
Pre-Repair Information Repair Kit Components Six different repair kits are available, depending on size of corrugate and type of repair being done. The corrugate is available in small, 0.49 in (12.4 mm) OD, and large, 0.57 in (14.5 mm) OD. • The small corrugate has an ID of 0.31 in (8 mm). •...
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Pre-Repair Information TAblE 3: FIElD REPAIR KIT FOR XMI-l HOT/HOT JOINT REPKITCSHH or REPKITCLHH Item Description 1 ea 1/2 in (12.7 mm) XMI-L H/H joint body 2 ea #6-32 brass machine screw 2 ea 10 in (25 cm) A-56T silver braze rod...
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Pre-Repair Information TAblE 4: FIElD REPAIR KIT FOR XMI-l HOT/COlD JOINT REPKITCSHC or REPKITCLHC Item Description 1 ea 1/2 in (12.7 mm) XMI-L H/C joint body 1 ea 3/4 in (19 mm) XMI-L H/C joint body 2 ea #6-32 brass machine screw...
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Pre-Repair Information TAblE 5: FIElD REPAIR KIT FOR XMI-l END TERMINATION REPKITCSEND or REPKITCLEND Item Description 1 ea Corrugate plug (1/4” ARO fitting) 1 ea Corrugate union 1 ea Nylon mesh sanding pad 1 ea 10 in (25 cm) A-56T silver braze rod...
Pre-Repair Information Cross-section of Completed Joints and End Cap Figures 3, 4 and 5 show cross sections for the hot/ hot joint, hot/cold joint and end termination. 6-32 Brass Silver Plug screw braze Corrugate Heating Sleeve Union cable Magnesium Silver Joint oxide braze...
(heated length (m) x Ω/meter) Note: Ω/foot (Ω/meter) of heating cable may be obtained from the product data sheet H59079 for XMI-l heating cables. • For field repairs, check continuity of both sections of cable to be joined using the ohmmeter. If open circuited, do not attempt to fabricate the joint.
Heating Cable Repair Selecting the Correct Size of Hot/cold Joint When repairing a hot/cold joint or replacing the cold lead, a hot/cold repair kit is required. Each repair kit is supplied with a 1/2 in (12.7 mm) and a 3/4 in (19 mm) joint body.
Heating Cable Repair In-line Hot/hot Joint and Hot/cold Joint Repair Procedure The instructions following apply to both hot/hot and hot/cold joint repairs. Read these instructions completely before attempting to complete the repair or modification and refer to the Appendices for additional information where indicated. Where appropriate, the instructions which apply specifically to a hot/hot or hot/cold joint are clearly identified and must be followed.
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Heating Cable Repair Release clamp and pull corrugate back after cutting Corrugate Cut heating cable Release clamp and pull corrugate back after cutting Figure 6: Cut Heating cable as close to damaged location as possible Hot/cold joint: Using a hacksaw, cut through the cold lead just behind the joint.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot joint: Using the tube cutter, cut the corrugate 5 in (12.7 cm) back from both cut ends. Remove the cut corrugate and discard (Figure 8). Cut and remove corrugate from both ends Heating cable Figure 8: Cut and remove corrugate from both ends Hot/cold joint: Using the tube cutter, cut the corrugate 5 in (12.7 cm) back from the cut end.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot and Hot/cold joint: Use the tube cutter to lightly score the sheath on the exposed MI heating cable approx. 3/16” (4.8 mm) from end of the cable (for a hot/hot repair, this is necessary for both ends). With diagonal cutters, remove the sheath up to the score mark (Figure 10).
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Heating Cable Repair If IR is 20 MΩ or greater, skip the following two steps and continue with the step (prior to Figure 14) to measure the outside diameter of the cables. If IR is still low after drying out the MI heating cable, continue with the additional steps following.
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Heating Cable Repair Apply more flux completely around both ends of the corrugate, about 1/4 in (6 mm) past the end of the corrugate union; this will help prevent discoloration of the corrugate. Next, braze the corrugate to both ends of the corrugate union using a large flame (see Appendix E).
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot and Hot/cold joint: Continue with this step only when IR is 20 MΩ or greater. The joints in the repair kits are supplied with pilot holes so it is necessary to drill the pilot hole to the proper size to match the diameter of the MI heating cable and cold lead.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/cold joint: Based on the diameter of the cold lead cable measured above, select the 1/2 in (12.7 mm) or 3/4 in (19 mm) joint body from Table 6 in Section 3.2. Using the table in Appendix C, select the correct drill bit sizes for the MI heating cable and cold lead cable diameters measured above;...
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Heating Cable Repair Next, using the tube cutter, score the sheath of the cold lead cable approximately 1/4 in (6 mm) from the end of the cable and use the diagonal cutters to remove the sheath up to the score mark (Figure 18). Refer to Appendix F for details on stripping the cable sheath.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot and Hot/cold joint: Polish the final 3 in (8 cm) of each end of the corrugate with the nylon mesh pad (Figure 20). This surface must be clean for brazing. Note: Do not use emery cloth on the corrugate. 3 in (8 cm) Nylon mesh...
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/cold joint: Slide the repair sleeve, larger hole first, over the end of the MI heating cable (smaller diameter cable) and over the corrugate until it stops (Figure 22). Next, slide the appropriate size joint body over the MI heating cable ensuring that the larger hole faces the cold lead.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot and Hot/cold joint: Clean magnesium oxide powder from the conductors of the MI heating cables with emery cloth or use side cutters to lightly scrape conductor surface (Figure 24). Conductor surface must be free of powder for silver braze to bond. Do not clean the surface of the cold lead conductors.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/cold joint: Apply a small amount of white flux to the face of the cold lead conductor. Take care not to get any flux near the end of the cable where it might contaminate the magnesium oxide powder. Using a small flame (see Appendix E), heat the cold lead conductor with the oxy-acetylene torch (this does not take much heat) and at the same time touch silver braze...
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot joint: Align the two cables so that the conductor tips butt together and touch the tip of the flame to the tinned conductors (Figure 27). The braze on both ends will melt and draw together. Do not add any more braze. Ensure that the brazed junction is the same diameter as the heating cable conductor.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/cold joint: Ensure that the braze has formed a cone from the large to small diameter conductor (see Figure 29). If not, the braze is still cold and you must apply more heat. Note: If insufficient heat is applied to the conductors, the brazed junction may be surrounded by the ball of braze but not actually bonded and an open circuit failure will occur.
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Heating Cable Repair Hot/hot and Hot/cold joint: Use a pick to remove any flux or carbon which may have contaminated the magnesium oxide powder at the ends of each cable. Figure 31: Clean face of cable Hot/hot joint: Ensure that the conductors are the same distance from each other as they are in the cable.
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Heating Cable Repair You are now ready to braze the joint body to the cable sheath. If making a hot/cold joint, begin with the cold lead cable (hot/cold joint repair is shown in the illustrations). Hot/hot and Hot/cold joint: Using a large sizzling flame (see Appendix E), heat out the moisture from the exposed MI heating cable (about 3 in (7.5 cm) of heating cable should be exposed), stopping 1/2 in (13 mm) from...
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Heating Cable Repair Apply flux around ends where the joint will be brazed to the cable sheath. Ensure that the flux is applied around the entire junction (Figure 34). Apply white flux around entire junction Figure 34: Apply flux to areas to be brazed Heat the joint body and MI heating cable using a large flame.
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Heating Cable Repair Repeat procedure for other side of joint body. If making a hot/cold joint, the joint body will be brazed to the cold lead cable. Note: While brazing, it is important to avoid using excess heat on the portion to be brazed. Direct flame contact can oxidize the metal surface, preventing the braze from adhering to the metal.
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Heating Cable Repair Remove syringe and use 1-1/2 in (3.8 cm) long packing rod (supplied with kit) to pack powder, taking care not to push in more than 1/8 in (3 mm) so as not to bend the conductors inside the joint body. If required, add more powder to fill joint body and repeat packing procedure using both the vibrating tool and the packing rod until the joint body is completely full (Figure 37).
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Heating Cable Repair Saw off the screw flush with the joint body. Using the edge of a flat file, groove a recessed area over and around the screw, filing in one direction only (Figure 39). The recess should be about 1/4" (6 mm) square. File in one direction Figure 39: File groove...
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Heating Cable Repair This step must be done with great care as excess heat will cause the air within the joint to expand and cause a pinhole in the braze. Using the oxy-acetylene torch with a small flame, heat the joint body and apply a small amount of white flux over the screw.
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Heating Cable Repair Use the emery cloth to clean flux from each brazed area and visually inspect to ensure that there are no pinholes or gaps which could allow moisture to enter (Figure 42). Emery cloth Figure 42: Clean and inspect brazed areas If pinholes are found, touch up pinholes as necessary by cleaning the area and applying more braze.
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Heating Cable Repair Figure 43: Check insulation resistance Water soaked rag Figure 44: Wrap joint with water soaked rag 38 | nVent.com...
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Heating Cable Repair : If the Megohmmeter reading declines, Note file off all braze over brass screw and drive out the moisture from the cable as described in Appendix D; the Megohmmeter reading will increase when the cable is dry. Once the moisture is removed, touch up the braze as necessary and retest.
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Heating Cable Repair Apply white flux to the joint/sleeve interface. Using a large flame, braze the sleeve to the joint taking care to not overheat the joint (Figure 46). Large flame Repair sleeve Cold lead Figure 46: braze repair sleeve to joint Next, apply flux to the sleeve/corrugate interface.
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Heating Cable Repair Cool and clean the brazed joints. Use only the nylon mesh sanding pad on the corrugate (Figure 48). Emery cloth is too aggressive for the corrugate. If using water to cool the joint, it is critical that no water gets inside the repair sleeves and corrugate.
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Heating Cable Repair Note: Some working environments may have restrictions on allowable pressures. Any pressure above 5 psi will show leaks. Use liquid leak detector or soapy water to look for leaks in any of the brazed sleeve joints (sleeve to joint body and sleeve to corrugate).
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Heating Cable Repair If bubbles are not found, release the pressure and disconnect the fitting. Place a pressure port plug into the pressure port (Figure 51). Pressure port plug Figure 51: Insert pressure port plug Apply a small amount of flux over the pressure port plug.
Heating Cable Repair End Termination Procedure : Shield work area from environmental Note factors such as wind as it will cool the joint temperature making brazing difficult. Remove insulation and banding from heating cable so that 12 in (30 cm) of cable and end cap is accessible. Ensure that the portion of the cable being worked on can be moved away from the surface at least 4 in (10 cm) to allow access when brazing (see repair jig in Appendix G).
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: Do not remove more than 3% of length of Note heated section. If more than 3% must be removed to facilitate the repair or modification, a new XMI-l cable tag must be ordered (see Section 2.3). Note: Ensure that the portion of the cable being worked on can be moved away from the surface at least 4 in (10 cm) to allow access when brazing.
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Heating Cable Repair Check the insulation resistance (IR) of the cable at this point using a 1000 V DC Megohmmeter (Figure 56) Details on testing can be found in Appendix B. This test checks for the presence of moisture in the magnesium oxide insulation.
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Heating Cable Repair Using the table in Appendix C, select the correct drill bit size for the cable diameter measured above (the drill bit should be 4/1000 in (0.1 mm) to 10/1000 in (0.25 mm) larger than the cable diameter). Drill a hole straight through the end cap body using the pilot hole (smaller hole) as a guide and check it for burrs (Figure 58).
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Heating Cable Repair Check inside of end cap body for burrs and if present, remove with round file. Slide the end cap body onto the cable making sure the plug end (end with the largest hole) faces outwards (Figure 60). Heating cable End cap body Larger end...
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Heating Cable Repair Clean magnesium oxide powder from the conductors with emery cloth or use side cutters to lightly scrape conductor surface (Figure 62); conductor surface must be free of powder for silver braze to bond. Emery cloth Figure 62: Clean conductors Using pliers, twist conductors together through approximately two full 360°...
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Heating Cable Repair Apply a small amount of flux to the twisted conductors. Avoid contaminating the magnesium oxide at the face of the cable with flux as this will lead to failure during testing. Heat conductors with the oxy-acetylene torch (this does not take much heat) and at the same time, touch the brazing rod to the end of the twisted conductors and apply enough braze to form a small bead (Figure 64).
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Heating Cable Repair Break away the flux from the brazed conductors and snip off the end of the conductors leaving 1/4 in (6 mm) exposed. Use a pick to remove any flux or carbon which may have contaminated the magnesium oxide powder (Figure 65).
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Heating Cable Repair You are now ready to braze the end cap body to the cable sheath. Using a large sizzling flame (see Appendix E), heat out the moisture from the cable beginning 12 in (30 cm) back from the end cap body and stopping 1/2 in (13 mm) from the end cap body (Figure 67).
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Heating Cable Repair Heat the end cap body and cable sheath with a large flame. When the area to be brazed is up to temperature, deposit a large bead of silver braze on the top part of the area to be joined. Apply heat to both the end cap body and the cable and move the flame slowly around the circumference of the end cap body (Figure 68).
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Heating Cable Repair against the end cap body (Figure 69). Using an engraving tool or other vibration method will ensure that the powder is well packed. Caution: End cap body and cable will be hot. Do not touch with bare hands. 3/16"...
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Heating Cable Repair Check the insulation resistance (IR) again (Figure 71). A value greater than 20 MΩ should be attained. If the IR is lower, remove the moisture from the cable by following the drying out procedure in Appendix D. Repeat IR test. Figure 71: Recheck insulation resistance Using oxy-acetylene torch with a large flame, apply heat to the end cap sweeping the flame from bottom to top...
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Heating Cable Repair Do not apply excess heat at this time, as excess heat will cause the air within the end cap body to expand and cause a pinhole in the braze. If a pinhole does develop, the surface should be cleaned and filed before attempting to re-braze the end cap body.
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Heating Cable Repair Test the insulation resistance with a 1000 V DC Megohmmeter (Figure 74). Minimum IR should be 20 MΩ. Leave Megohmmeter connected for next step. Figure 74: Check insulation resistance Clean end cap to remove all flux. Gently reheat end cap but not hot enough to discolor the metal.
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Heating Cable Repair : If the Megohmmeter reading declines, Note remove wet rag and visually inspect end cap for pinholes. If pinholes exist, dry out cable according to procedure in Appendix D, being careful not to trap any moisture. Any remaining moisture will escape through the pinhole.
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Heating Cable Repair : Do not use emery cloth on corrugate. Use Note only the nylon mesh sanding pad. Next, apply flux to the ends of the corrugate and the corrugate union. Fit the parts together so that both ends of the corrugate butt against the center-stop in the corrugate union.
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Heating Cable Repair Using the tube cutter, cut the end of corrugate so that it projects 3/4 in (19 mm) beyond the end cap. Flare the inside of the cut corrugate with needle nose pliers - so that the corrugate plug will fit inside (Figure 79). 3/4"...
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Heating Cable Repair Apply flux, then using a neutral flame, braze the corrugate plug to the corrugate keeping the flame on the plug (Figure 82). Figure 82: braze plug to corrugate Use emery cloth to clean the corrugate plug and the nylon mesh sanding pad to clean the corrugate.
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Heating Cable Repair Use soapy water/liquid leak detector to look for air leaks in all of the brazed joints (corrugate plug to corrugate and corrugate union to corrugate). Be careful not to introduce excessive bubbles from liquid leak detector hose (Figure 84). Figure 84: Check for air leaks If bubbles are found, release the pressure from the corrugate, unhook the air fitting, and repair the braze.
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Heating Cable Repair Apply a small amount of flux over the pressure port plug. Next, using a small flame, fill the pocket above the pressure port plug with braze material until the pocket is full, with a smooth, slightly concave dome of braze material over the pressure port plug and along the inside walls of the port (Figure 86).
Appendix A: Field Modification Approval Request Form MI Heating Cable Field Modification Approval Request Form For field modifications, where the heating cable length is changed by more than three percent (3%), the change must be reviewed by nVent and a new cable identification tag must be ordered. is a SENDER INFORMATION Contact Name:...
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ed by Please fill in this form and e-mail to ntm-techsupport@nVent.com. nVent nVent will review the change and advise if the modification is appropriate. Company: Telephone: Fax: Email: New Tag Information For Internal Use Only Ft Meter TIONS Signature Date nVent.com | 65...
Appendix B: Heating Cable Testing Testing: A 1000 V DC insulation tester (Megohmmeter) is used to check insulation resistance. A minimum value of 20 megohms should be obtained when testing the insulation resistance between the conductors/tails and the cable sheath, and between conductors (2-conductor cable only).
Appendix B: Heating Cable Testing Test Criteria The minimum insulation resistance for a clean, dry, properly installed joint is 20 megohms. Continuity (Resistance) Test – Test 2 Continuity testing is conducted using a standard Digital Multimeter (DMM) and measures the resistance between the cold lead tails or between conductors.
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Appendix B: Heating Cable Testing 8. Turn off the Megohmmeter. 9. Repeat Steps 6 through 8 for other tail conductor. 10. Check insulation resistance between the two conductors. It should be greater than 20 MΩ. 11. If the Megohmmeter does not self-discharge, discharge phase connection to ground with a suitable grounding rod.
Appendix D: Drying Out Procedure Important: Wear full face shield when drying out MI cable. Damage to the cable sheath or a damaged or missing joint or end cap will cause the magnesium oxide insulation (white powder) to absorb moisture, resulting in low IR readings.
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Appendix D: Drying Out Procedure Gradually move the flame toward the joint body or end cap, while maintaining the short sweeping motion of the torch. When initially checking insulation resistance after the damaged joint body or end cap has been removed, continue the sweeping motion of the torch past the end of the cable (Note: If heating out the cable prior to brazing the joint body or end cap to the cable sheath,...
Appendix E: Flame Size for Oxy-acetylene Torch Use the small (oxidizing) flame when brazing the conductors together. 3/16 in. (5 mm) Figure E1: Small (oxidizing) flame Use a large (neutral) flame when brazing the joint 3/16 in. (5 mm) or end cap to the sheath of the cable. Figure E2: large (nefutral) flame Use a sizzling (reducing/carbonizing) flame to dry out the cable.
Appendix F : Stripping the Cable Sheath Use a tube cutter to score around the cable sheath the required length from the end (Figure F1). This will cause the sheath to peel away at the score providing a smooth end when the cable sheath is stripped. The correct depth of score one third the thickness of the sheath.
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Appendix F : Stripping the Cable Sheath Continue this motion in a series of short ‘rips’, keeping the sidecutters at about 45° to the line of the cable, removing sheath spirally (Figure F3). Score Figure F3: Strip cable sheath Continue removing the sheath to the score mark. When about to break into the score, bring sidecutters to right angle with cable.
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Appendix F : Stripping the Cable Sheath The cable sheath is correctly stripped, with the sheath flared slightly outwards, shown in Figure F5 (a). In (b) the sheath is neither flared outwards nor beveled inwards, but is acceptable. Ensure that the sheath is not curved or beveled inward as shown in (c).
Appendix G: Typical Repair Jig Repair jig is made from angle iron welded to form shape as shown in Figures G1 and G2. Each cable is clamped to the 4 in (10 cm) upper surface and meet in the middle. If working on a pipe, middle section may be clamped to the pipe.
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