Sliding Compensator for Manufacturing Deep-Sea Cables: When No Error Is Allowed

Cables that will later lie on the ocean floor don’t forgive manufacturing errors. Our latest slide-type compensator is part of exactly that kind of plant – it’s where the plastic sheathing for submarine cables is produced. What this project also triggered for us, read below.

Briefly explained: What does a sliding compensator do?

It compensates for movement, vibration, or slight misalignment between two pipeline sections while keeping the connection sealed. Unobtrusive, but often indispensable in bulk material handling and conveying technology.

The job: sheathing for cables on the ocean floor

What made this order special: the compensator goes into a plant for plastic production that uses it to manufacture the sheathing for submarine cables. And that’s where tolerance ends – any inclusion in the plastic can later lead to transmission errors. The requirements placed on the plastics used, especially the seals, and on surface cleanliness, were correspondingly demanding.

Clean down to the last detail

After every work step: wash, polish, keep clean – from start to finish. And because transport counts too, there’s a special double protective film, so that no further cleaning is needed at the installation site. A real advantage for anyone doing on-site assembly.

The real news: the clean room stays

To meet these cleanliness requirements, we at RATEC built a dedicated room tailored exactly to this project – our new clean room. And it won’t disappear once the work is done: it remains a permanent part of our production and is now available for further projects with special cleanliness and quality requirements.

Do you have a project with special cleanliness or quality requirements? Get in touch.