For a long time, heat shrink was the commonly used technology for terminating and joining power cables. While the technology works well, but it is not suitable for use in all kinds of environments. For example, in places with flammable gases such as areas around gas pipelines, it would not be safe to use blow torches to join or terminate cables. In such situations, using cold shrink technology is a more pragmatic option. Now, cold shrink dominates a fair share of the cable terminations and joints market.

Cold shrinking uses materials such as specialised rubbers that can expand easily at ambient temperatures and yet are resilient to environmental conditions and stress for making cable terminations and joints. Cold shrink cable accessories all come with a removable inner support system that prevents the accessory from shrinking before installation.

The viscoelasticity of the polymer material allows for the accessory to be maintained in an expanded form after extrusion at the production facility. The terminations are transported in the same expanded state to the installation site. At the time of installation, the inner cord that expands the outer sleeve is removed so that the sleeve snugly wraps the remaining inner components resulting in a tightly condensed cord with a much smaller diameter than that of the original cold shrink product. The process of installing cable terminations is thus performed without using any heat.

The benefits of using cold shrink technology for terminating cables are many. It can be used onshore, offshore, indoors, and outdoors, and good-quality sheaths can withstand environmental conditions such as UV, pollution and chemicals, and salt fog. It has also proven to be durable in extreme hot and cold weathers. Furthermore, cold shrink technology requires no heat and lesser equipment for installation of cable terminations, so it is more efficient. The kits come pre-prepared and all that the technician has to do is install the terminations correctly.

Compaq International is an expert at producing Cold Shrink Cable Terminations and straight joints suitable for one & three Core Polymeric Insulated Cables up to 42kV. We deliver excellent quality products that conform to international standards and promise support not only at the time of the sale, but also after it so that you never run into any problems with our cable terminations or any of our other products. Check out our cold shrink cable terminations here.