Serious question, why do so many divers cheap out on their comms cable splices?

I was on a bridge piling job in Mobile Bay last month, and the new guy's comms kept cutting out every time he turned his head. Turns out he used a basic waterproof butt connector instead of a proper molded splice. That's a $2 part risking a $10,000 day when you can't hear 'STOP' from topside. I've seen this three times this year alone. What's the dumbest comms gear fail you've had to fix topside?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_wright2927d ago

Molded splices can fail too if they're not installed right.

luna89127d ago

But doesn't that just prove the tool is fine and the installer is the problem? A molded splice is designed to be foolproof, Daniel_wright29, so a failure points to user error, not a flaw in the product. Seems like blaming the wrong part.

west.anna20d ago

Exactly, a molded splice is only as good as the person putting it on. Saw a guy last year who didn't strip enough wire, so the crimp was just on the insulation. Comms worked fine until he was thirty feet down and it just died. Had to send a standby diver to hand him a backup unit, total mess. That cheap fix cost more in lost time than a whole box of proper splices.