In the subsea environment, electrical connections have historically been a hurdle for underwater technology.

While connections on land are well-understood and straightforward, subsea electrical connections are exposed to a wider array of factors that make the same technology much more challenging and prone to failure. Years of research have pointed to poor or compromised bonding between the metal connector shell and the neoprene connector as the culprit in connector failures.

In the ocean, a phenomenon known as cathodic delamination is the cause of these bond failures. This is the Achilles’ heel of the underwater electrical connector.

Essentially what happens is the metals around the connection generate a battery current with the electrolytic seawater and release corrosive hydroxide ions into the water surrounding the connector shell. The buildup of these ions increases the pH of the seawater and attacks the organic compounds in the epoxies used to bond the neoprene connector to the connector shell. Once this epoxy seal dissolves, the connector floods with water and suffers an electrical failure.

This is such a big problem that a connector/cable assembly rated for fifteen years of continuous use in the ocean could be entirely compromised within a few months. A shortened connector lifespan means higher costs and more trouble for the user.

The Solution: Baromax Epoxy

To prevent these catastrophic and expensive failures, Suburban Marine recommends the Baromax Epoxy for potting Baromax connectors.

This epoxy was created for the US Navy and is designed specifically to prevent cathodic delamination. When tested by Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) in the marine environment, the Baromax Epoxy showed a 3000% improvement over traditional bonding epoxies.

In addition to being a great epoxy that bonds to almost everything and increases the lifespan of your underwater electrical connections, the Baromax Epoxy is as easy to use as a standard two-part epoxy. When potting our Baromax Connector, all you need is the Baromax Cable Assembly Jig, the Baromax Epoxy Kit, and our Epoxy Dispensing Gun.

For complete instructions on potting, please refer to the official Baromax Assembly Guide under the ‘User Guides and Tutorials’ tab at the top of our website.

Here at Suburban Marine, our innovation combines the proven overmolding and epoxy technologies into one, the Baromax Connector.