waterproofing cat5 cable on ROV?

[daveycleaning]

I am building a ROV and i am using a cat5 cable to send my video and what not thru. The cable goes thru a hole in the side of a PVC pipe. How would i go about waterproofing it. My best idea so far would be to use some aquirium glue that i aready have that i used to seal the glass that the camera looks thru. The biggest concern in that there will be a conciderable amount of stress on where the cable goes into the hole because if need be i may want to pull it thru the water. Anyway, any ideas would be apreciated

 

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[swordfish]

Compression fitting from a large electrical supply store should then be seal with "3M 5200" boat sealant. It is price but, in my history built proof!

 

[Narked1]

SWR and Laptopfish are both correct here.

I'm in the process of building my own ROV and, because I work in a maritime related industry doing electical and electronic work, and understanding stress factors on wiring/cabling, I will suggest that you fasten the CAT5 cable to the body of the ROV so that any stressors that may affect the cable are stopped at that point and not at where it enters into the ROV (a cable-tie or cable clamp attaching the cable to the body of the ROV should suffice) . This would reduce the risk of damaging the watertight integrity of the cable penetration.

Mike

 

[Hoss KGC]

If you do plan to use cable that is not marine grade, you need to put it in a jacket of some kind even if it is a water hose to protect it from getting nicks. If water gets inside the jacket of your cables, the results won't be good.
Boattow

 

[B.C. Hunter]

Hey there laptop
there is a pic of the type of fitting to go through the housing
at the bottom of this page

http://www.pcmus.com/Dive-Photos/Dive-Light-DIY-SCUBA.htm

as for your umbilical,
attach the strength member at the tow/balance point (hose clamp? eye bolt?)
Make sure you have plenty of slack in your cal5 cable
we use 11-12ft of hose/comm cable for every 10ft of strength member,
electrical tape the lines togeather every couple of feet with a little slack
to your cable the whole way.
that way if it ever gets hung up on the bottom, (hopfully in the rigging of a 300yr old ship)
there will only be strain on your strenght member
also leave some slack right at the unit so there is no way for the cable to be pulled out
of the housing from any direction.

in this pic you can see the eye of the strength member and also that the co-axe cable's slack is being
held out of the way, with a strap that will break long before there is damage to the cable

http://www.rentarov.com/webpics rov/pages/rov with wreck6.htm

we use this for divers and can pull a man, his gear and 60lbs of weight over the boat's gunnel
with his umbilical alone
hope this gives you some ideas
B.C.