Grommet range suits varied sealing jobs

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 16, 2008

The TSS, Rutaseal and Klikseal grommets are all push-fit designs that are very quick to install, taking 90% less time than a conventional cable gland.

Spelsberg els UK has extended its range of enclosure accessories to include three new grommet seals from Swedish manufacturer TST.

The range includes a basic gland seal, the TSS grommet for less demanding low-cost applications, the rubber-based Rutaseal and the Klikseal locking grommet.

All three are push-fit designs and so are very quick to install, taking 90% less time than a conventional cable gland, they also provide ingress protection to IP67 and cost also considerably less than a traditional plastic cable gland.

The Klikseal provides most of the advantages of a cable gland while avoiding many of its disadvantages, including its high purchase cost.

The fitting time for a Klikseal can be as little as ten seconds, compared with minutes for a cable gland.

The reduction in fitting time can speed up installation and reduce costs on large installations and OEM assembly lines.

Klikseal is constructed using two materials, a high- integrity plastic cage provides the 'click' push-fit as the title suggests, adjusting to wall thicknesses from 1.5 to 5mm automatically and expanding to clamp the seal in place once inserted.

The shape of the cage component also provides strong positive cable anchorage once the cable is inserted, something that was previously only available from traditional cable glands with internal clamping and locknuts.

Once fitted the Klikseal provides a total seal until the cable is inserted, without the need for blanking plugs.

During manufacture a softer material is moulded around the cage material and provides the sealing as well as adding to the anchorage capability of the Klikseal.

Cable entry is push-fit and extremely fast.

The design of the soft sealing material creates a "sock" that is in contact with a large area of the cable outer surface, providing flexibility and excellent sealing up to IP67.

Once a hole has been drilled or knocked out of an enclosure wall or a bulkhead, no tools are needed to fit any of the grommets in the range, adding to their flexibility and ease of installation.

Other advantages offered by all three sealing products include ease of fitting in confined spaces, where there is no room to use the spanners needed to effectively tighten a lock-nut.

Where an M25 sized cable gland requires the fitter to reach both sides of an enclosure wall or bulkhead, a grommet can simply be pushed in from either side.

An M25 gland would stand 30 - 40mm proud of the side wall while a Klikseal that will sit only 4.7mm proud of the surface, reducing the space required and also protecting the seal from knocks and bangs that could break or distort thin enclosure side walls and render the seal useless.

The equivalent Klikseal will also accommodate cable sizes from 4 to 14mm diameter, a far greater range available from a single cable gland and therefore cutting down significantly on inventory.

Additional benefits offered by the rubber Rutaseal product include superior protection from UV-light, ozone, acids and weathering; where some cable glands will deteriorate badly in extreme weather conditions, a Rutaseal will withstand from -40 to +110C.

The TSS seal is similar in design to the soft part of a Klikseal and so provides less cable retention force and less extreme clamping, but is moulded in one material and is therefore suited to less demanding applications.

The TSS also offers an additional price advantage over the other grommets and cable glands.