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Water almost never breaks in through the enclosure face — it walks in along your cables. Insects and lizards use the same doors. The gland plate is where you stop all of them.

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The three rules

1

Right gland, right torque

Every cable must pass through a gland sized for that cable’s jacket diameter. Torque the gland so the seal compresses and grips the jacket — finger-tight is not sealed. An oversized gland bodged with tape or a wrap of self-amalgamating is a leak path waiting for the first monsoon.
2

Every unused port gets its bung

Fit the supplied sealing bungs in every unused gland entry and every knockout that is not in use. An open port is an insect highway and a capillary water inlet. There is no acceptable reason to leave any port uncovered.
3

Drip loop before every bottom entry

On every cable entering through the bottom of the gland plate, form a U-bend below the entry point before the cable rises to the gland. Water tracking down the cable jacket then falls off at the bottom of the loop instead of following the jacket straight into the gland seal. Also seal the top of any conduit so the conduit itself cannot channel water down to the plate.

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How a correct drip loop works

  (cable continues up to gland →)
              |
              |   ← cable descends from above
              |
       ┌──────┘
       │          ← U-bend: water drips off here
       └──────┐
              |
              ↑ entry into gland from below
The U-bend must be below the gland entry. A U-bend formed above the entry is a funnel that collects water and directs it into the gland — the opposite of the goal.

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Nothing drips from above — Kent siting policy

No water pipes, AC drain lines, vents, or window sills above the unit. Steady drips and condensation over months and years defeat gasket assumptions that were written for rain-jet resistance, not for a slow persistent tap.
Pending Kent validation [KNB-VAL-16]. The formal manual wording for overhead drip sources is under re-verification. Until published here, treat this as mandatory Kent siting policy: nothing that can drip — pipes, AC drains, window sills — above the unit. Photograph the space above the installed unit as part of the commissioning record.

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Commissioning evidence

The Site Photo Checklist requires:
  • A close-up of the gland plate showing every gland torqued and every unused port bunged
  • At least one drip loop photo showing the U-bend clearly below the gland entry
Take both photos before the trunking cover or conduit sleeve goes on. Once covered, the evidence is gone and any future water-ingress dispute starts without it.
If you are connecting the last cable at the end of a long day and the light is poor, take the gland-plate photo now anyway. A blurry photo with good content is more useful than no photo.

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Common mistakes

One gland requires one round cable jacket. Two cables through one gland create an irregular cross-section the seal cannot grip. Even if it looks tight on the day, vibration and thermal cycling open the gap. Use a second gland.
A loop formed above the entry point is a collecting funnel, not a drip-off point. The bottom of the U-bend must be below the gland entry. Visually verify the geometry before closing up.
Silicone is not a substitute for a correctly sized and torqued gland seal. Silicone ages, cracks, and pulls away from smooth cable jackets within a few monsoon cycles. Replace the gland with the correct size — do not seal over the wrong one.