Kit Sheet Enquire

GPS/1112 · GPS/2436

GPS joints for PILC, and what paper cable does to a jointer

Two sheets, nineteen numbered items on each, and no quantity column on either one. Count the box before anybody cuts back.

Three things the paper does

Paper-insulated lead-covered cable is impregnated, lead-sheathed, and at 11 kV usually belted. Each of the three lands in the box as a part you will not find in a GXS kit.

The impregnating compound does not stay where the cable was made. Both GPS manifests answer that with a heat-shrinkable oil barrier, and the 11 kV sheet lists one twice — item 7 and again item 12. Neither entry carries a figure, because that sheet prints no quantities at all.

The lead sheath is the cable's moisture barrier and it is also metal you have to carry the earth across. On GPS/1112 that arrives as a single material line: copper braid, plumbing metal, flux and copper binding wire, all counted as item 3. GPS/2436 splits the same job into an earth lead at 15 and an earthing plumb at 19. Either way somebody is wiping a plumb onto lead in a trench, and the kit assumes you can.

Belted paper has nothing screening the individual cores. The manufacturer's Insulcore datasheet states the job directly — the breakout seals the crutch area and provides individual screening to each core. GPS/2436 carries a conducting breakout at item 6 for that. GPS/1112 carries no breakout of any kind; it holds the cores apart with a polymeric core separator at item 4 and moves on.

GPS/1112 — 11 kV three-core PILC straight-through joint

GPS/1112 — 11 kV three-core PILC straight-through joint

Heat-shrinkable waterproof straight-through joint for three-core PILC at 11 kV, Umax 12 kV, in five conductor bands from 16 to 630 sq mm. Manufactured by Gala Thermo Shrink Pvt. Ltd.; the manufacturer's GPS/1112 page carries the same scope. The two standards below are the compliance line on the catalogue's guaranteed technical particulars for its joints and terminations, not a GPS-specific certificate.

  • Nineteen numbered items, of which 15 to 19 are starred as installation aids and part of the standard kit
  • Oil barrier appears twice on the list: heat-shrinkable oil barrier sleeve at 7, oil barrier sleeves at 12
  • Armour and lead-sheath earthing supplied as one material line at 3: copper braid, plumbing metal, flux, copper binding wire
  • Polymeric core separator at 4 and an insulating wedge at 13, material not stated
  • No quantity is printed against any item on this sheet
Cable3-core paper-insulated lead-covered
System voltage11 kV, Umax 12 kV
Conductor range16 to 630 sq mm
Kit codesGPS-11 to GPS-15
Inline connectorCrimping type, Cu or Al ferrule (item 11)
Mechanical protectionGI wire mesh (item 2) with a heat-shrink internal protection sleeve (item 9)
AC withstand35 kV for 1 minute
DC withstand48 kV for 30 minutes
Lightning impulse75 kV required, 95 kV typical
IEC 60502-4CENELEC HD 629.1

GPS/1112 kit manifest

The numbered list exactly as the catalogue prints it, star convention included. Five of the nineteen are consumables, so a jointer counting to nineteen is counting solvent and emery among the parts.

  • 1 Heat shrinkable adhesive-lined outer jacketing
  • 2 G.I. wire mesh
  • 3 Armour / lead sheath earthing material — copper braid, plumbing metal, flux, copper binding wire
  • 4 Polymeric core separator
  • 5 Copper woven flexible mesh tape
  • 6 Glass cushion tape
  • 7 Heat shrinkable oil barrier sleeve
  • 8 Heat shrinkable insulating tubing
  • 9 Heat shrinkable internal protection sleeve
  • 10 Insulation built-up mastic
  • 11 Inline connector, crimping type, ferrule Cu/Al
  • 12 Oil barrier sleeves
  • 13 Insulating wedge
  • 14 Mastic sealing tape
  • 15 Cleaning solvent — installation aid
  • 16 Mopping cloth — installation aid
  • 17 PVC-Na tape — installation aid
  • 18 Silicone grease — installation aid
  • 19 Emery sheet — installation aid
GPS/2436 — screened PILC straight-through joint, 24 kV and 36 kV

GPS/2436 — screened PILC straight-through joint, 24 kV and 36 kV

Heat-shrinkable waterproof straight-through joint for three-core screened PILC up to 33 kV, published as one family covering both the 24 kV and the 36 kV series. Manufactured by Gala Thermo Shrink Pvt. Ltd.; scope and codes are repeated on the manufacturer's GPS/2436 page. Standards as above — a catalogue-level compliance line, not a per-kit certificate.

  • Nineteen numbered items again, but no star convention and no separate installation-aids block on this sheet
  • A full screening chain the 11 kV sheet has none of: stress control mastic 2, conducting tube 4, void filler 5, conducting breakout 6, grey mastic 7, stress control tubing 8, red insulating tube 9, dual-wall tubing 10
  • Item 5 is set in the catalogue as Void Foiler; the transition sheets call the same class of part a high permittivity void filler
  • Earthing split across four items: copper mesh tape 14, earth lead 15, constant force spring clamp 16, worm drive clamp 17, closing on the earthing plumb 19
  • Insulating wedge sits at 13, the same index as on GPS/1112
Cable3-core screened paper-insulated lead-covered
Voltage classes24 kV series and 36 kV series, to 33 kV
Conductor range25 to 500 sq mm at 24 kV; 35 sq mm upward at 36 kV
Kit codesGPS-21 to GPS-24, GPS-31 to GPS-34
Inline connectorInline connector, type not stated (item 1)
Mechanical protectionMetallic protection cage (item 11) and adhesive-lined side sleeve (item 12)
AC dry withstand50 kV at 15–24 kV; 75 kV at 36 kV, 1 minute
DC withstand96 kV at 15–24 kV; 144 kV at 36 kV, 30 minutes
Lightning impulse125 kV at 15–24 kV; 170 kV at 36 kV
IEC 60502-4CENELEC HD 629.1

GPS/2436 kit manifest

Same length, different joint. Read it against the list above rather than as a bigger version of it.

  • 1 Inline connector
  • 2 Stress control mastic
  • 3 Oil barrier sleeve
  • 4 Conducting tube, black
  • 5 Void filler
  • 6 Conducting breakout
  • 7 Grey mastic
  • 8 Stress control tubing, black
  • 9 Insulating tube, red
  • 10 Dual wall tubing, black and red
  • 11 Metallic protection cage
  • 12 Adhesive-lined side sleeve
  • 13 Insulating wedge
  • 14 Copper mesh tape
  • 15 Earth lead
  • 16 Constant force spring clamp
  • 17 Worm drive clamp
  • 18 Outer jacketing sleeve
  • 19 Earthing plumb

Going from GPS/1112 to GPS/2436 is not a size step

Nineteen items on each list invites the reading that one is the bigger version of the other. It is not. The screen is the difference, and it shows up right across items 2 to 10.

On screened paper the earthed screen has to be cut back and the field at that edge has to be handled, so GPS/2436 brings mastic, a conducting tube, a void filler, a breakout and a dual-wall tubing that the 11 kV list simply does not have. Mechanical protection changes character too: GI wire mesh and an internal protection sleeve on GPS/1112, a metallic protection cage on GPS/2436.

There is one overlap in the published record worth knowing before you order. GPS/2436's withstand table heads its lower column 15–24 kV system (8.7/15 kV, 11/11 kV, 12.7/22 kV), so an 11/11 kV system sits inside it. The ordering chart above that table is headed 24 kV and starts at 25 sq mm. An 11 kV cable that is screened rather than belted therefore has a claim on both sheets, and the charts do not settle which.

Kit code against conductor size

SeriesVoltage classConductor size (sq mm)Kit code
GPS/111211 kV, Umax 12 kV16–35GPS-11
GPS/111211 kV, Umax 12 kV50–95GPS-12
GPS/111211 kV, Umax 12 kV120–185GPS-13
GPS/111211 kV, Umax 12 kV240–400GPS-14
GPS/111211 kV, Umax 12 kV500–630GPS-15
GPS/243624 kV series25–50GPS-21
GPS/243624 kV series70–120GPS-22
GPS/243624 kV series150–240GPS-23
GPS/243624 kV series300–500GPS-24
GPS/243636 kV series35–70GPS-31
GPS/243636 kV series95–150GPS-32
GPS/243636 kV series185–300GPS-33
GPS/243636 kV series400 —GPS-34

Ordering information as printed. The bands are contiguous in standard conductor sizes, so there is no gap to fall into — but 16 sq mm appears only on the 11 kV sheet, the 24 kV chart opens at 25 and the 36 kV chart at 35. GPS-34's band is set as 400 with a trailing dash and nothing after it. Every series side by side: cable joint kit sizes.

Electrical performance, as published per series

TestGPS/1112, Umax 12 kVGPS/2436, 15–24 kVGPS/2436, 36 kV
AC withstand voltage35 kV / 1 minute50 kV / 1 minute, dry75 kV / 1 minute, dry
DC voltage withstand48 kV / 30 minutes96 kV / 30 minutes144 kV / 30 minutes
Lightning impulse withstand75 kV required, 95 kV typical125 kV170 kV

GPS/1112 prints its figures as a requirement with a typical value beside it, and returns Pass on the AC and DC rows. GPS/2436 prints one table with two system columns, named as 8.7/15 kV, 11/11 kV and 12.7/22 kV on the left and 19/33 kV on the right. What the type-test sequence behind these numbers actually proves: joint testing and standards.

The crutch part, and the only dimensions published near this joint

CodeCoresD, s (min)D, f (max)d, s (min)d, f (max)L, f (min)l, f (min)
GCB-08203552025818862
GCB-133038030361321575
GCB-2145 N311345572121585
GCB-2755314056682925090

Insulcore semi-conductive breakout, the part class that seals the crutch of belted paper cable and screens each core. It is ordered separately from the joint kit. Dimensions in mm; s as supplied, f after free recovery. The as-supplied L and l figures and the body and core wall thicknesses are on the manufacturer's Insulcore page.

Sources disagree on the Insulcore rows

The datasheet and the web page for this breakout do not match, and the rows above are the datasheet's. On GCB-2755 the PDF gives d as 68 supplied and 29 recovered, with body and core thicknesses 3.5 and 3.9; the web page gives 70 and 28, with 4.6 and 3.4. GCB-1330's core thickness is 3.3 on the PDF and 3.7 on the page. Ultimate elongation is 300% minimum on the PDF and 350% on the page. The continuous temperature limit is −40 to +100°C against −40 to +110°C. Volume resistivity is 1 × 10⁷ ohm.cm in both places, printed as a maximum on one and a minimum on the other. Get the row confirmed in writing before it reaches a schedule.

Where a GPS kit is the wrong answer

Three cases, and in all three the correct part is somewhere else in the same range or nowhere at all.

The far end is being renewed in XLPE. Then you are not making a straight-through joint, and a GPS has no XLPE side to finish. That is a GTJ transition joint, and its manifest opens with a barrier-type inline connector rather than a plain ferrule. Order on the strength of the near end still being paper and the wrong box turns up.

Paper cable at 1.1 or 3.3 kV. The GPS sheets start at 11 kV. At the low classes paper-insulated cable is inside the scope of the GXLT/GPLT series, which covers PVC, XLPE and paper in one to four cores. A GPS is not a smaller version of anything down there.

Single-core paper above 3.3 kV. Both GPS sheets are written for three-core cable. GXSS-1236 is the single-core joint, and its scope is extruded dielectric. Nothing in the range published here answers single-core paper at 11 kV or above, so that is a question for the manufacturer rather than a code you can pick off a chart.

One thing that will not catch you out: the catalogue states no shelf-life limitation at or below 50°C, so a kit that has been sitting in the store since the last cable fault is still a kit. It also runs jointer training and issues an authorisation certificate against a practical test on its own kits, which is worth asking about before a first paper joint rather than after.

No source for that

Quantities. GXS, GXSS and both GTJ sheets carry a Qty column against every numbered item. Neither GPS sheet does. How many oil barrier sleeves are inside a GPS-13 is not printed anywhere, which is why the box gets counted on delivery and not on the docket. Dimensions. No recovered diameter, no finished joint length and no cut-back or setting-out figure is published for any GPS kit. The only dimensions in reach belong to the breakout table above, and that is a separate order line. The upper end of the 36 kV series. GPS-34 is printed with a trailing dash and no ceiling. Whether an 11 kV screened paper cable is a GPS/1112 or a GPS/2436 job. Both sheets have a claim on it and neither resolves it. Price, lead time, stock and how long the joint takes to make off. Nothing here is sourced on any of those. Put the cable make-up in the first message through contact and the answer comes back once.

Send the cable make-up, not the kit code

Belted or screened, core count, conductor area in sq mm, the Uo/U pair, and whether the lead sheath is sound either side of the cut. Those five choose between GPS-11 and GPS-34 in one reply. The kits described on this page are manufactured by Gala Thermo Shrink Pvt. Ltd. of Mumbai.