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Insulation Piercing Connector Guide

Insulation Piercing Connector Guide

The insulation piercing connector (IPC connector) is a device that is used to connect two electrical conductors. It is commonly used in electric and power construction to connect any main conductor and branch conductor in today’s world. The IPC connector is easy and fast to install, safe and reliable to operate and maintain, and labor and time saving.So it is a very popular product for electrical connecting.CROP technical team has compiled a guide for insulation piercing connector for you, so that you can have a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of piercing connector and serve as a reference for your purchase.

1.What is insulation piercing connector (IPC Connector)?

Insulation piercing connector used to make connection between protected low voltage overhead lines (with neutral), transformers downspout or service drop cable.It is suitable for different combinations of aluminum and copper,main and branch conductor.The universal piercing connector shall primarily be used as an insulated tap off clamp.
Service condition: 400/600V, 50/60Hz, -10℃ to 55℃
Standard: IEC 61284, EN 50483, IRAM2435, NFC33 020.

2.The structure of the self piercing tap connectors?

Structure of Piercing Connector

The self piercing tap connectors is consist of upper body,lower body,contact plate (teeth),waterproof sealing cover,silicone grease,cable end cap,grease,shear head nut,bolt and washer.

The self piercing tap connector for piercing the branch cable has a torque nut and a piercing structure.

The insulation piercing connector is connected by two insulating supports separated from the upper and lower parts by a screw with a torque screw. The torque nut is used to ensure constant contact pressure and ensure good For electrical contact, there are two conductors made of special alloys hidden in the insulating support that can be in contact with the wires at multiple points. 

When a special socket wrench is used to twist the torque nut of the wire clamp, the upper and lower sets of special alloys in the insulator are in contact with each other. The blade fully grips the outer sheath of the punctured conductor, so that the main and guide lines are connected. 

At the same time, the special silicone rubber gasket is fully surrounded by the punctured conductor due to the extrusion of the insulator, which plays the role of insulation and sealing and waterproofing. The use of the insulation piercing connector has little effect on the mechanical and electrical properties of the trunk line.

3.The material of Insulation Piercing Tap Connector

①Body  ② Contact plate (teeth)  ③Waterproof Sealing cover  ④ Cable end cap ⑤ Grease ⑥ Shear head nut ⑦ Bolt  ⑧ Washer

The insulation piercing tap connector according to the voltage used can be divide into 1KV,10KV and 20KV piercing connector.According to the function classification, it can be divided into ordinary insulation piercing connector, electric inspection grounding piercing connector, lightning protection IPC connector, fireproof insulation puncture clip.Such as:

  • LV ABC IPC Connector for street lighting PCT13 95/10,It is used to dedicated to connect a public lighting to an insulated low voltage overhead distribution net work.It is comply to NFC 33-020 standard.
  • Insulated piercing connector for abc cable PCT13C95/95
  • Connector insulating piercing for low voltage overhead service cables PCT13C 95/50
  • solar IPC insulation piercing connector CRT series
  • 10KV grounding piercing connector 

The insulation piercing connector also can be used with the fuse adaptor and earthing adaptor

The tap off insulated piercing connectors and branch service insulated piercing connector are two main connection method of 1KV IPC connectors.

Tap off insulated piercing connector

The tap off piercing connector are used to tap off a branch ABC line from either an Aerial Bundle line (ABC) or a bare conductor line.It is also used to tap off a street line from a bundle street line.

Branch service insulated piercing connector

The branch service piercing connector is a tap off connector dedicated to connect one or more customers or street lighting equipment to a low voltage distribution network.

More details,please check here.

5.What is insulated piercing connector used for?

The insulated piercing connector is a kind of cable connection product, which is a product that replaces junction box and T-connection box. There is no need to cut off the main cable during construction, and branches can be made at any position of the cable, and no special treatment is required for wires and clips, and the operation is simple and fast. Compared with the conventional wiring method, the procedures of stripping the insulating layer, rinsing tin, crimping the terminals, and insulating wrapping are eliminated, which reduces the environmental pollution that is unavoidable in conventional methods, and saves labor and installation costs.So it has a widely usage.

Such as below Application scenarios,

1.Overhead Low Voltage Insulated Cable Connection
2.Low-voltage insulated household wire T connection
3.Building power distribution system T connection
4.Street light distribution system and common cable field branch
5.Underground grid insulated cable connection
6.Lawn flower bed lighting circuit connection
7.Suitable for branch connection of insulated cables in 1kV distribution system

insulated piercing connector used for

6.The advantage of piercing connector for ABC cable

  1. It has the characteristics of easy installation, low cost, safety, reliability and maintenance-free. The cable branch can be made without cutting off the main cable or stripping the insulation layer of the cable. The joint is completely insulated and can be operated with live electricity, and can be branched on site at any position of the cable.
  2. There is no need to use terminal boxes and junction boxes. And the joint is resistant to twisting, shockproof, waterproof, anti-corrosion and aging. The use of insulation piercing clips as cable branches has obvious comprehensive benefits, and the cost performance is better than the traditional connection methods in the past.
  3. High insulation shell, light resistance, environmental aging resistance, corrosion resistance, tensile resistance, twist resistance, flame retardant, fireproof, shockproof, and its service life is the same as that of the cable.
  4. The contact resistance is small, and the temperature rise of the wire clip is low. The special torque bolt ensures a constant puncture pressure, so that the clip and the wire can achieve good electrical contact without excessive damage to the wire,and simplifies the installation difficulty and ensures the normal service life of the insulated wire.
  5. The structure is sealed and the insulation is high. The interior of the wire clip is filled with insulating and thermally conductive grease. After installation, the entire conductor forms a fully enclosed and insulated structure, which improves the insulation level and safety of the puncture wire clip, and ensures the long-term reliable operation of the puncture wire clip in harsh natural environments. Waterproof, corrosion-resistant, Anti-ultraviolet, etc. 
  6. It is suitable for branch connection of copper-aluminum wires, different diameter wires, butt joints of equal-diameter wires, and transition connection of copper-aluminum insulated wires. The special copper alloy high-conductivity arc surface design contacts the blade, which has a certain hardness and elasticity, that is, it has a good puncture effect and a good electrical connection to ensure that the temperature rise of the wire clip is less than that of the connecting wire under the condition of high current carrying. Temperature rise, and thermal cycle performance is stable, will not cause heat to cause fire.

7.How to installation insulation piercing connector?

Single bolt piercing connector installation

1.Adjust the connector nut to suitable location.

2.Put the branch cable into the cap sheath fully.

3.Insert the main wire.If there are two lays of insulated in the main cable,should strip a certain length of the first insulated lay from inserted end.

4.Turn the nut by hand,and fix the connector in suitable location.

5.Screw the nut with the sleeve spanner.

6.Screw the nut continually until the top part is cracked and dropped down.

Single-screw-insulation-piercing-clamp-Installation

Two bolts insulation piercing connector installation

1.Adjust the piercing connector nut to suitable location,insert the main wire.

2.Put the branch wire into the cap sheath fully.

3.Screw the nut with the sleeve spanner.

4.Note that the two nuts should be screw down synchronously.

5.Screw the nut continually until the top part is cracked and dropped down.

6.Finished the installation.

Twin-screw-insulation-piercing-connector-installation

Precautions for installation of insulation piercing clips

1.Before installing the insulation puncture wire clip, the contamination on the surface of the insulation wire clip should be clear and clean, and the surface of the insulation layer is not smooth or broken.

2.It should be checked whether the model of the wire clamp is suitable for the wire, and the different wire grooves of the main wire and the branch wire should be distinguished, and the insulation of the wire clamp shell should not be used.

3.The end of the lap wire should face the direction of the power supply, and the end insulation cover should be covered. The incorporation or insertion of the lap wire should prevent damage to the rectangular blade and prevent the lap wire from being inserted in place.

4.When tightening the nut, the two bolts should be tightened at the same time, and then tightened with a wrench, and the two bolts should be tightened at the same time as much as possible. Tighten until the torque nut breaks. Do not tighten the compression nut, and the clamp should be installed horizontally (the nut is on the top).

5.Insulation puncture clips shall not be used for the connection of bare wires, and insulation puncture clips shall not be used for bare wires and insulated wires.

8.Insulation piercing connector test type

1.Mechanical test

The mechanical test is checking the electrical continuity,shear heads and mechanical behaviour,mechanical strength of the main core and the mechanical strength of the tap cores.

2.Voltage test (6kV underwater)

The IPC connectors shall be installed on minimum and maximum cross-section for main cores and minimum cross section for tap cores.tightening should be approximately one quarter turn during 1s to 3s.
The assembly of modules and cores,maintained in a rigid and appropriate way,is placed at the bottom of a water tank.The water height is measured form the upper part of the module,and the cores are long enough out of the water to avoid flash over.
The resistivity of the water shall be less than 200μm and its temperature is recorded for information.
The voltage generator shall trip for a leakage of (10.0±0.5)mA
After 30 min under the water,the voltage test is applied to the sample with a 6kV A.C voltage for 1 min.
The A.C voltage is applied to a rate of approximately 1 kv/s.The satellite connector may be placed either vertically or horizontally.

3.Installation at low temperature

The connector shall be loosely installed on the main core and on the tap core with stranded conductor,it is corresponding to the smallest and largest cross-section on the main core and to the largest cross section on the tap core.
The connectors and the conductors are placed in an enclosure kept at -10 ℃.
After 1h,while still inside the enclosure,the connector is tightened with a torque of 0.7 times the minimum torque.

4.Climatic ageing test

5.Corrosion test

6.Electrical ageing test

7.Visual inspection

8.Marking inspection

9.Why choose CROP as your insulation piercing connector supplier?

1.CROP is a manufacture who has focus on insulation piercing connector for more than 12 years.We have 12 years of production experience, and the control of products and raw materials is very accurate. We can produce products of quality suitable for your country’s market for you and save costs for you.

2.CROP insulation piercing connector products are sold all over the world. Supplying power bureaus, construction companies, and power distributors in 35 countries, the quality and brand of our piercing clips are recognized in every market around the world.

3.We are the source manufacturer, and the price is the direct selling price of the factory, and there are many less middlemen to earn the difference. We have a special QC who will strictly inspect the raw materials and the production of the entire product. After the inspection, we will issue a factory routine test report, and finally hand over the product to the customer without any quality problems.

4.CROP located in Wenzhou,Zhejiang,It is close to Ningbo port and Shanghai port, which can greatly reduce the transportation cost for you.

If you want to know more about CROP insulation piercing connector,please feel free contact us.

Email: [email protected];[email protected]

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