MV Cable Joints & Cable Terminations | The Installation Site

Published 09 Jan 2020

LV MV HV Cables

MV Cable Joints & Cable Terminations

As noted in the Introduction, there is a significant difference between the environment in which a MV cable is made and the environment in which a joint or termination is installed. Yet both are expected to have the same long-term service reliability.

The MV cable accessory arrives at the installation site as a box or bag of components together with an installation instruction and parts list. Modern accessory kits, such as cable terminations and joints, comprise mostly plastic or rubber components together with metallic parts for conductor connection, electrical screening and earth bonding.

Once the packaging is opened, the components are vulnerable to damage and contamination with dirt or moisture. The conditions at the installation site are one of the very important aspects of ‘best practice’.

The site, whether in a cable trench or at ground level should be:

a safe working environment
as dry as possible with no standing water close to the working area (see Figure 12)
sheltered from rain and wind
free from contamination whether falling or wind-blown
well lit, with artificial lighting provided if necessary

In addition, there should be:

good all-round access to the accessory being installed and to the associated cables (see Figures 13 and 14);
clean, dry and protected storage for accessory components, cable cleaning materials, other consumables and cable jointers tools.