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MANWEB – Cable Jointing Past & Present by Patrick & Andy O’ Malley

• uploaded by Chris Dodds - Sales & Marketing Manager with Thorne & Derrick International

Jointing is in the O’Malley DNA and from their family photo album we are proud to be able to display the following photographs contributed by Andy O’Malley.

The cable jointing photo’s are from the late 1990’s and show Andy’s father Patrick O’Malley, a MANWEB cable jointer for over 30 years, jointing 33kV PILC cable.

MANWEB (Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board) was the regional electricity supplier and distributor for Merseyside, North Wales and parts of Cheshire in the UK.

Patrick started his career as a truck driver/labourer then managed the digging gang and progressed to cable jointers mate.

After study and training Patrick became a cable jointer (accepting a cut in pay) whilst supporting a wife plus two children (plus some other family members along the way).

Young Andy had the choice of three career paths as a school-leaver : welder, garage mechanic or cable jointer. Today, Andy is an international class EHV Cable Jointer/Splicer.

More of that later.

Andy remembers that no matter how tired and dirty his Dad came home he was always smiling and talked with great passion about his trade.

Patrick is now retired and ended his career with Andy in Canada, ” the perfect ending he said, I started my career with him, he ended his with me,” Andy says.

Lets end with some advice from Patrick for aspiring cable jointers, “stay true to yourself, don’t try to run before you can crawl and try listening to the guys who’ve been doing this many years. Who knows you might just learn something.”

Patrick O’Malley – Cable Jointer

Shown here is a Barry Harrison 33kV PILC (solids) Copper Can Breach Joint, (BICC G38 filled can and compound filled outer joint box).

Pictured : 1978 Leyland Sherpa Van – MANWEB Electricity

1. EHV Cable Jointing

MANWEB Liverpool – George Deakin and Eddie Burnett at at the top of Burlington St, junction off Scotty Road.

2. MANWEB Cable Jointer

Cable jointer outside Cemetery gates off Arundel Avenue, Liverpool 8 in 1970.

3. Gerald Haughan 1974

Mr. G. Haughan, C.ENg., M.I.E.E., Liverpool District Engineer then Later Board Deputy Chief Engineer in 1978.

4. Islington Place Single Phase Transformers – MANWEB Liverpool

5. Substation – Slate Panel Board in Wavertree Clock Tower Substation

6. MANWEB Staff – Queensferry Stores 

➡ Visit MANWEB Remembered for more MANWEB era photography.

MANWEB Today

MANWEB was purchased by Scottish Power in 1995, and subsequently become SP Manweb plc. The Manweb name continued to be used alongside the Scottish Power logo on home and retail publications up until mid-2007, when it was replaced by “ScottishPower”.

However, the Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales electricity distributor continues as SP Manweb plc, which is managed along with the Scottish transmission operators SP Distribution plc and SP Transmission plc as SP Energy Networks. A fourth company, SP Power Systems Ltd maintains the distribution networks for these each of these companies.

Thorne & Derrick

Specialist Electrical Distributor

Established since 1985, T&D distribute the most extensive range of LV, MV & HV Cable Jointing, Terminating, Pulling & Installation Equipment – contact us today for a competitive quotation.

Key Products : MV Joints & Terminations, Cable Cleats, Duct Seals, Cable Transits, Underground Cable Protection, Jointing Tools, Feeder Pillars, Cable Duct, Earthing & Lightning Protection, Electrical Safety, Cable Glands, Arc Flash Protection & Fusegear.

Distributors for : 3M, Pfisterer, Nexans Euromold, Elastimold, Catu, Roxtec, Emtelle, Centriforce, Lucy Zodion, Alroc, Hivotec, Cembre, Prysmian, Ellis Patents, ABB & Furse.

Jointers blog

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Includes access to our popular JOINTERS BLOG with contributions from utility professionals, linesmen and cable jointers working on MV HV EHV cables and overhead lines typically at 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and up to 132kV.

15,000+ Subscribers. ➡

130kV EHV XLPE Cable Pencilled Using Hivotec Peeling Tool

Image: Fredrik Pedersen – HV Cable Jointer / Supervisor | Installation Technician på Scandinavia Power Crew AB

Pictured: 130kV EHV XLPE Cable Pencilled Using Hivotec Peeling Tool

NKT Cable Joints & Cable Terminations Overview

• Self-supporting outdoor cable terminations, porcelain or composite

• Non-self-supporting outdoor cable terminations, silicone

• Cable terminations for gas-insulated switchgears (GIS)

• Transformer terminations

• Straight-through cable joints

• Insulating joints/cross-bonding cable joints

• Transition cable joints, XLPE-insulated/oil-filled cables

• NKT CabSnap® accessories for preassembled cable connection systems

110kV Oil Filled Taihan High Voltage Cable Joints

Pictured below : 110kV Oil-Filled 800sqmm BICC Cable To 1000sqmm Taihan Cable Using Taihan EHV Cable Joints.

HV Cable Jointer : Andrew Brezovszky (EHV Cable Jointer at Energex Australia).

Taihan develop and manufacture the highest-quality products in the power, communications and materials industries.

Cable joint ready for outer protection boxes and encapsulating resin

Cable joint cases positioned. Saving some room for the next feeder

110kV Taihan Oil Joints – Bonding Leads Made Off

Taihan 110kV Oil Cable Joints

Pictured are 800sqmm cables “cut & cap” ready for cable jointing. The abandoned side will be recovered at a later stage hence the platforms.

Taihan – EHV Cable Joints & Cable Terminations

XLPE Cable Accessories

• Pre-Molded Joint Pre-Molded Joint (110kV – 161kV)
• Pre-Molded Joint (220kV – 275kV)
• Pre-Molded Joint (330kV – 400kV)
• Outdoor Termination (EB-A)
• Outdoor Termination (110kV – 161kV)
• Outdoor Termination (220kV – 275kV)
• Outdoor Termination (330kV – 400kV)
• SF6 Gas Insulated Termination (EB-G)
• SF6 Gas Insulated Termination (110kV – 161kV)
• SF6 Gas Insulated Termination (220kV – 275kV)
• SF6 Gas Insulated Termination (330kV – 400kV)
• Oil-Filled (O.F) Cable Accessories

Taihan high voltage transition joint is applicable for jointing single core oil-filled (O.F) cable to single core XLPE cable. The 3-core oil-filled cable can be connected by using a splitter box (trifurcating joint box). The prefabricated and dry (oil-less) configuration is used on the XLPE cable side while on the oil-filled cable side conventional oil impregnated paper roll and newly adopted epoxy bell mouth is applied to complete the compact cable joint design.

Pictured: EHV High Voltage Transition Joint

Jointers blog

Subscribe now to our POWER NEWSLETTER– a monthly email circulation packed with news, projects, videos, technical tips, training information, promotions, webinars, career opportunities and white papers.

Includes access to our popular JOINTERS BLOG with contributions from utility professionals, linesmen and cable jointers working on MV HV EHV cables and overhead lines typically at 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and up to 132kV.

15,000+ Subscribers. ➡

Installing Bank Of Medium Voltage Westinghouse Regulators To Overhead Line

Image Courtesy of: Ricardo Heron (Utilities Professional)

Pictured: Installing Bank Of Medium Voltage Westinghouse Regulators To Overhead Line

Jointers blog

Subscribe now to our POWER NEWSLETTER– a monthly email circulation packed with news, projects, videos, technical tips, training information, promotions, webinars, career opportunities and white papers.

Includes access to our popular JOINTERS BLOG with contributions from utility professionals, linesmen and cable jointers working on MV HV EHV cables and overhead lines typically at 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and up to 132kV.

15,000+ Subscribers. ➡

Masterclass – 132kV ABB Cable Termination

By Chris Barker EHV Jointer

ABB 132kV Cable Terminations

Before we start, let us establish Chris Barker is an international class EHV Jointer conversant with the skills and techniques required for the safe jointing and terminating of cables using ABB, NKT, Tyco, Pfisterer, Prysmian, Ericsson and Nexans.

Whether you are reading this as a recruiter, jointer, friend or follower of Chris you can review his skill set in the following Photo Blog collection.

1, Stress Cone & Connector Taped Up – tinned copper mesh is carefully applied to the stress cone by the Jointer, then 5 layers of self-amalgamating tape are overlayered with two layers of PVC electrical insulation tape.

2. Ready For Insulator To Be Bolted Up – notice the highest level of care and attention is required by the cable jointer while the cable termination installation progresses, at each stage of the process the jointer is delicately padding the cable to remove any dirt, debris or particles that will potentially cause damage to the cable or accessory.

3. 3 x ABB 132kV Cable Terminations Plugged In Without Problems – next stage is to install the copper pipework and fill with insulating oil.

4. Preparation Of Semi- Conductive Screen Cut On 132kV XLPE EHV Cable – also known as “glassing”, this highly dexterous and skillful task is a key step in the EHV cable preparation process. Chris is pictured using microscope slides for cable glassing, although some jointers prefer welding glass mask inserts.

This basic staple of the EHV jointers tool kit is also complemented by the use of latest precision engineered cable jointers tools. In this application, the semi-conductive screen was accurately removed by a Hivotec peeling and stripping tool to 100mm from the actual mark, the remainder was removed with traditional glass.

Hivotec CP90 & CP130 cable jointing tools are used by EHV jointers for peeling the semi-conductive screen and for stripping the main XLPE insulation from high voltage power cables.

5. Old Cables Cut, New Cables Heated & Straightened – ready for cable terminations. ABB 132kV cable terminations with be installed horizontally, plugged in and then filled with electrical insulating oil. Although the existing cables had not suffered a cable fault the client upgraded the circuits to extend the service life of the 132kV power distribution system – cable heaters were used to provide straightening to the HV cables.

6. Taping Up Connector With Semi-Conductive Electrical Tape (3M Scotch 13 Tape) – a screw connector to a torque of 45NM is applied. Once insulator is installed the cable jointer fits a cap on the top which is then plugged in with bolts directly to the top cap. When the 132kV cable termination is completed it is filled with polybutene oil and sealed up prior to final connection to transformer.

7. 132kV Cable Termination Plugged-in & Filled – ready for final connection the 132kV cable termination is installed to the transformer side and insulated with oil. The connection is made via a flexible section of copper braid bolted to the cable termination inside the 132kV transformer.

8. 132kV ABB Cable Termination Completed.

9. Hometime

Jointers blog

Subscribe now to our POWER NEWSLETTER– a monthly email circulation packed with news, projects, videos, technical tips, training information, promotions, webinars, career opportunities and white papers.

Includes access to our popular JOINTERS BLOG with contributions from utility professionals, linesmen and cable jointers working on MV HV EHV cables and overhead lines typically at 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and up to 132kV.

15,000+ Subscribers. ➡