9
3.1.4 Freeze/Thaw Cycling in Water (Bellcore 4.3.6 & 5.3.6)
In this test, aged samples were used rather than preparing new samples as specified by the Bellcore. The
test samples included sixteen samples (samples #1-16) that had gone through a series of accelerated aging
tests as described in sections 3.1.1 & 3.1.3, and two samples (samples #17 & 18) that had gone through
cold impact (section 3.4.1) and several accelerated aging tests (sections 3.1.2 & 3.1.3). Samples #1-16
were immersed in water to a depth of 32 inches and samples 17 & 18 were under 12 inches of sand
saturated with water. Weights were put on top of samples #1-16 to keep them submerged in the water
tank throughout the test. The samples were cycled between -40° F (-40° C) and 158° F (70° C) for 50
cycles (59 days). The cycle time was 28 hours, 10 hours at each extreme temperature and four hour
transition time between the hot and cold temperature extremes. During aging, 48 volts of power from a
current limited short tester was applied to all service wire pairs to stimulate a working pair and to detect a
possibility of an electrical short in each working pair. Applying 48 volts of power during the freeze/thaw
cycling test was not required by the Bellcore. Again, there was no sign of deterioration of the closure
material at the end of test and all samples had insulation resistance values greater than the minimum
requirement of 1 x 10
8
ohms.
The Insulation Resistance Data After After Freeze/Thaw Cycling in Water Test
Sample Number Average (ohms)* Minimum (ohms) Pass/Fail
1 5.6 x 10
10
5.3 x 10
10
Pass
2 5.6 x 10
10
5.3 x 10
10
Pass
3 5.1 x 10
10
4.6 x 10
10
Pass
4 5.2 x 10
10
4.9 x 10
10
Pass
5 5.7 x 10
10
5.5 x 10
10
Pass
6 5.8 x 10
10
5.4 x 10
10
Pass
7 5.5 x 10
10
5.3 x 10
10
Pass
8 5.7 x 10
10
5.4 x 10
10
Pass
9 5.6 x 10
10
5.0 x 10
10
Pass
10 5.2 x 10
10
4.9 x 10
10
Pass
11 5.3 x 10
10
5.0 x 10
10
Pass
12 5.2 x 10
10
4.7 x 10
10
Pass
13 5.0 x 10
10
4.8 x 10
10
Pass
14 5.3 x 10
10
5.1 x 10
10
Pass
15 5.6 x 10
10
5.1 x 10
10
Pass
16 5.3 x 10
10
5.0 x 10
10
Pass
17 7.7 x 10
10
2.6 x 10
10
Pass
18 7.6 x 10
10
3.6 x 10
10
Pass
Note: The insulation resistance (IR) measurement includes IR between Tip to two adjacent Rings, IR
between Ring to two adjacent Tips , and IR between wire to shield for each service wire pair.
Average data is the overall average of all data measured for each sample. Minimum data is the
lowest IR data obtained for each sample.