Packing Glands for Instrumentation Leads
Conestoga USA, Inc. designs and fabricates packing glands (wire feed-throughs) for the power transmission industry. These fittings are used to provide a fluid-tight means of bringing instrumentation wires out of large gear boxes, turbine housings, or other pressurized machinery. Because they are often used in inaccessible locations the gland must be leak proof.
Conestoga offers glands in many sizes, and made with various wire configurations to suit multiple applications. Space does not allow the presentation of the numerous modifications to these standard designs which have been made to satisfy individual customer requests. If the glands described on these pages are not suitable for your needs, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
// 1–6 Wire Configurations
Series 200
1-1/4" hex body glands with standard 0.156" grommet wire holes. Available in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6-wire configurations. Other wire diameters are also available.
// 2, 4, 6, 12 Wire Configurations
Series 300
Full-featured glands with options for connectionless hex and knurled caps. All of our 4-wire configurations are two-piece "split-ring" design. This is our most popular series.
// Up to 8 Sensor Leads
Series 500
Designed for up to 8 vibration sensor leads through a single port. Uses our two-piece "split-ring" construction for maximum versatility. This is our largest gland package.
How to Use a Conestoga Packing Gland
The Gland Cap is unscrewed and the Cartridge Assembly (Figure 3) is removed from the gland assembly (Figure 1). The Gland Body is threaded into the machine housing. The instrumentation leads coming from the machine housing are then fed through the Gland Body, the Insert, the Grommet, the Follower and the Cap (see Figure 2 for a cutaway).
If necessary, the Cartridge Assembly is broken down for ease of wire installation but care should be taken that the leads make a straight passage through the gland — the insert, grommet and follower holes which the wire passes must be concentric or the gland will not assemble properly.
As shipped, the wire holes are blocked off with nylon rods which are removed by the installer as needed. If the installation does not utilize all the available wire holes the nylon rods are left in the unused holes to seal them.
In cases where the sensor leads do not have a free end and the sensor head diameter is larger than the wire diameter, the grommet wire holes are split to allow the wires to be inserted through the side of the grommet (Figure 4). In this application, the wire holes through the insert and follower are oversize to permit passage of sensor heads up to .270 inch (6.8 mm) diameter, or use inserts and followers of two-piece construction (Figure 5).
After wire installation, the Cartridge Assembly is inserted into the Gland Body, care being taken that the key on the Follower engages the keyway of the Gland Body. When the Cartridge is fully inserted only .12 inches (3 mm) of the Follower will protrude from the Gland Body. The Cap is added and tightened against the Follower — tighten the Cap 1/4 turn past hand tight. Next, the Jam Nut is tightened against the Cap to prevent loosening from vibration.
Selecting a Gland
To ensure proper selection, ask the following questions:
- How many wires will the gland be sealing on?
- What is the actual diameter of the wire that the grommet will be sealing against?
- What is the size and type of fluid connection needed on the Gland Body? (example: 3/4 male NPT)
- What is the size and type of conduit connection needed on the Gland Cap? (example: 1/2 male NPT)
Answer those questions and our interactive selector will find the right gland and generate your complete part number automatically.
Still not sure? Contact us and we'll help you find the right solution.
Materials Information
Gland Bodies, Caps, Screws & Jam Nuts
303 Stainless Steel
Inserts & Followers
6061 Aluminum — Anodized
Grommet (Standard)
Fluorocarbon Elastomer, 57 Durometer
Grommet (Optional)
Silicone — available upon request