Single Conductor Rehead

Instructions and Troubleshooting

Mount Sopris Instrument Co., Inc.

Golden Colorado, U. S. A.
October 10, 2002
 Table of Contents

Rehead Instructions..................................................................................................................... 3
Disassembly......................................................................................................................... 3
Strain Relief ......................................................................................................................... 3
Electrical Connections ......................................................................................................... 6
Wireline and Cable head Troubleshooting .................................................................................. 8
Introduction: ......................................................................................................................... 8
Failure mechanisms:............................................................................................................ 8
Preventative maintenance: .................................................................................................. 9
Visual Inspection.................................................................................................................. 9
Logging cable ............................................................................................................ 9
Cable head external inspection ................................................................................. 9
Cable head internal inspection .................................................................................. 9
Bulkhead.................................................................................................................... 10
Electrical Inspection............................................................................................................. 10
Ohmmeter tests......................................................................................................... 10
Test Armor continuity ................................................................................................ 12
Test Conductor continuity.......................................................................................... 12
Voltage Measurements ............................................................................................. 13
Parts Diagram ...................................................................................................................... 14
Mt. Sopris Single Conductor Cablehead Assembly (2000-1448) ........................................ 14
 Single Conductor Wireline Re-Head Instructions

Rehead Instructions
Disassembly
The 1/8" and 1/10" cable used in the MGX winch should be re-headed, at minimum,
every 3 months.
1. Make a fresh cut on the cable above any kinked or
badly worn portions.
2. Check cable insulation and continuity with
ohmmeter.
Strain Relief
3. Feed cable through in the following order:
a) Protector spring p.n. 2000-0509
b) Clamping screw p.n. 2000-0155

STOP!!! HAVE YOU SLID THE PROTECTOR

SPRING & CLAMPING SCREW ON
THE CABLE?

4. Place clamping blocks

in vice. Pull 10 inches (25
cm) of cable through the
blocks and secure vise.

5. Unwrap the strands of

outside armor wire only
one strand at a time to
the bottom of the sleeve.
Straighten the armor wire and bend the strands so they
will lie perpendicular to the cable. It is essential to
unwind only one strand of armor at a time. As the
strands are unwrapped try to keep the strands in order
as you proceed around the cable. This will insure no two
strands cross within the cone and will provide a stronger
assembly. The strands for the outer armor will unwrap in a
counter clockwise direction. The strands should be picked from
the cable as you proceed in a clockwise around the cable.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Re-Head Instructions

Here the outer strands are shown arrayed around

the top of the clamp blocks. The clamping blocks have
been covered to provide better image quality. Note that
even, non-overlapped spacing is easy to achieve because
the outer sleeve is not in place. This is different than the
method described in earlier rehead instructions.

6. Once the outer armor strands are unwrapped and

spread evenly around the blocks gather the top of the
strands into a loose bundle and slip the large cone, with its
larger diameter opening up, over the strands. The strands
should remain in the same basic positions without
crossing.

7. Use some patience and arrange the strands, one by

one, evenly around the outer sleeve.
8. Slip the brass
sleeve over the
inner cable small
end first. Press
the brass sleeve
into the outer
sleeve, making
adjustments to the
strands as
necessary.

9. Once the
strands and
sleeves are
positioned slide the drive tube over the cable
and tap the end of the tube to secure the parts.
The sleeves should not be driven together
firmly at this time. Cut the free ends of the strands of the outer armor wire as close to
top of the sleeve as possible.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Re-Head Instructions

10. Fan 10 of the 12 strands of inside

armor as you did with the outer armor
strands in step 6. However, for the inner
armor the strands will unwrap in a
clockwise direction and be picked as you
proceed in a counter clockwise direction
around the cable. The two remaining
inside armor strands should remain
wrapped around the inner conductor to be
used as a ground. The following picture
shows a remaining strand that needs one more revolution clockwise to put it in place.
Note that the strands are somewhat kept in place by the stubs of the outer wires.

11. With the inner armor strands

unwrapped and spread evenly around the
brass sleeve slip the inner steel cone over
the inner conductor and 2 ground strands

small end first. Press the inner cone into the

brass sleeve, making adjustments to the strands as
necessary.

12. Use the drive tube to secure the parts. At this

point drive all the components firmly together.

13. Cut the free ends of the strands of the inner

armor wire as close to top of the sleeve as
possible.
Slide the sleeve assembly into the cable head
housing threading the center conductor and
ground strands through the center hole.

14. Engage clamping screw threads into housing

and tighten as far as possible. At least half of
thread must be engaged to insure proper
compression of cone and sleeve assembly.

15. Perform electrical tests on cable to verify that

there are no shorts.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Re-Head Instructions

Electrical Connections
16. Remove 1 inch (25mm) of insulation from the end of the inner conductor.

17. Solder a 4" length of solid #26 wire to the end of the conductor as an extension wire.
Place a thin film of Dow Corning silicone lubricant on the extension wire.

18. Insert the extension wire into the tapered end of a mecca boot and pull the center
conductor through the boot (past the stripped portion). Cut the extension wire off leaving
7/32 inches (.56 cm) of bare wire.

19. Solder or crimp the MECCA socket onto the center conductor.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Re-Head Instructions

20. Pull the socket into the sleeve by gently pulling

on the wire, while gripping boot in other hand.

21. Next crimp an AMP, connector, 321017 (MS P/N

21-230-545) onto the 2 inside strands of armor wire.
If these wires are longer than necessary cut to
desired length before crimping on AMP connector.

22. Attach armor wire to bulkhead using a 4-40 x

3/16 socket head stainless steel screw. On earlier
models you may need to drill and tap the bulkhead
for a 4-40 screw if it has not been modified already.

23. Place a thin film of silicone compound on raised

surface of pin connector on bulkhead. Do not put
silicone on pin surface or socket surface.

24. Push boot over MECCA pin on the bulkhead

being sure pin goes into socket, not beside it.
Excess lubricant may squeeze out.

25. Place the bulkhead into the housing being

careful not to put any sharp bends in center
conductor wire. Secure with 3 clamping screws.

Note: The three screws that join the bulkhead and

the housing/clamping nut together are shear screws
that maintain the mechanical integrity of the cable
head. Machining tolerances to allow field
replacement of parts results in a “loose fit” between
the bulkhead and the housing. This is normal. The
three screws should not be over-tightened. Some
wobble between the bulkhead and the housing is
normal. Do not overt-tighten the bulkhead into the
probe top. Wrenches should not be used, as hand
tightening is sufficient.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

Wireline and Cable head Troubleshooting

Introduction:
Logging cable provides mechanical attachment and electrical connection between
the logger and logging tool. As it is also exposed to the logging environment and is subject
to mechanical stress when rigging up and down as well as during logging, it is perhaps the
weakest link in the logging system. Logging cable and the cable head require routine
maintenance and inspection. We recommend that you visually inspect the cable near the
cable head and do a quick electrical check before each logging session. Complete
mechanical inspection including disassembly and electrical tests should be performed at
least once a month if used often. The more the system is used the more often these tests
should be performed. If the system has been in storage for some time, perform a complete
mechanical inspection with disassembly plus electrical tests before resuming logging
operations.
When problems with a logging tool are encountered one of the first things that should
be checked is the integrity of the wireline and its associated components, the slip ring
assembly and cable head. The wireline system (and associated cables) takes the most
abuse and is the most likely source of problems. Insuring that it is not the problem can save
much time, energy and money later on.

Failure mechanisms:
Mechanical damage
The small diameter logging cable can be pinched which can cause strands of the inner armor
wire to cold flow through the insulation around the conductor and create an electrical path,
termed a short, between the cable armor and the cable conductor. This conductive path can
measure from a few million ohms to a complete short. Depending on the communications
method of the tool this can be a large or small problem. Different amounts of resistance
between the armor and conductor have different effects on tool communications.
On the extreme side the short may prevent the tool from getting enough power to turn on or if
it does turn on there can be continuous data errors in digital tools or a loss of counts in pulse
type tools which may show up as a drastic shift in calibration.

Corrosion damage
The logging cable armor consists of wrapped strands of steel wire and although it is coated at
the wireline manufactures facility with a Krust inhibitor, it is subject to rusting particularly
where the rust inhibitor has been wiped off during the re-heading process. Water tends to
stay in the cable head and becomes trapped in the cone and sleeve assembly even when the
cable head is packed with grease. The cable strands around the base of the cone and sleeve
assembly rust and can become quite weak. This can result in the loss of a logging tool.
Packing the cable head with grease helps extend the life of the cable head but cannot
prevent rusting especially when used in a saline or caustic borehole environment.

Fluid Leakage
There are three seals that are a part of the cable head assembly. The first and most obvious
is the O-Ring seal that keeps fluid out of the top of the tool attached to the cable head. This
seal can become brittle or soft from age. It can be damaged by fluid properties that can attack
its Buna-N composition. It can be nicked by improper handling or abraded by grit. It must be
kept clean and lightly lubricated with silicone grease. We recommend Dow Corning DC-111,
DC4, 5, or Parker Super O Lube.

K
rust inhibitor. A sticky, brown substance composed of oxidized wax and petroleum distillate.
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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

The second seal is the mecca boot to mecca Kpressure seal at the bulkhead. This
joint seals the borehole fluid from the electrical connection on the end of the wireline. The
seal can be stressed by bending when it is installed into the body of the cable head. Over
time this bend can allow small amounts of fluid to enter and corrode both the connector and
the wireline conductor possibly resulting in an intermittent contact. The seal may also not be
properly seated which could allow fluid to enter the connection. Leakage here can also show
up as a high resistance short between cable conductor and cable armor. If allowed to dry the
short may disappear until the next time it is lowered into fluid.

The third seal is the seating of the mecca pressure seal into the cable head bulkhead
body. The mecca pressure seal must be tightly seated and the seat must be clean and lightly
lubricated with silicone grease when it is installed. The mecca pressure seal is held in place
by the hexagonal brass connector nut screwed onto the end of its shaft. If fluid leaks past the
mecca pressure seal it will cause a short between the conductor and the body of the cable
head. There is also a Phenolic insulator at the base of the rubber body of the pressure seal. It
electrically insulates the pressure seal contact from the bulkhead. The insulator material
absorbs water and will remain wet and can cause a short between the pressure seal and
bulkhead. The bulkhead should be tested alone for shorts after removing it from the wireline
connections.
Preventative maintenance:
Visual inspection of armor
Armor has no broken strands.
Armor has no severe kinks.
Ohmmeter checks of wireline continuity and isolation.
Visual inspection of O-ring condition
O-rings are not worn or chipped or brittle and have adequate lubricant
(grease).
Shelf life of Buna-N O-rings is only 5 years.

Visual Inspection
Logging cable
Inspect the logging cable for kinks, separated strands or other problems. Do this
each time you log and pay particular attention to the 10 meters above the cable head. A
strand that is separated slightly or sticking out of the wireline will eventually break causing
problems. It is also a hazard to the operator handling the cable. The cable should be re-
headed above such problem areas.
Bends or kinks that are not to sharp may be unbent but you should test the cable for shorts
with an ohmmeter before doing so.

Cable head external inspection

Look at the O-ring, make sure the threads are clean of grit and debris, see that the
brass nut is secure and has an electrical insulating washer between it and the body of the
bulkhead. Do not over tighten the brass contact nut. It is easy to strip the threads in this soft
material.

Cable head internal inspection

Remove the three socket cap screws, pull the bulkhead away from the body and
disconnect the mecca connector and boot. Unscrew the cable armor connection, AMP, eyelet
from the bulkhead. Note the condition of the armor strands. Check that the mecca bulkhead
is snug and fully seated in the bulkhead. Unscrew the cable, locking screw and slide the
screw and cable spring away from the body. Inspect the condition of the cone and sleeves.
Pay particular attention to the strands on the backside of cone and sleeve. If all looks good

K
mecca pressure seal. Also known as a mecca bulkhead.
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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

you can reassemble the cable head. Once you are done check the electrical properties to
make sure everything is connected and no short was introduced.

Bulkhead
The bulkhead is the section that seals the
electrical and mechanical connections between the
borehole and the probe. It also provides the electrical
connection for the wireline conductor and armor. Pay
particular attention to its condition.
The bulkhead is a possible source of electrical shorts.
This can be tested with an ohmmeter as described in electrical
inspection. A loose contact nut can compromise the pressure
seal allowing fluid past it. The Phenolic insulator at the base of
the rubber part of the pressure seal will absorb water and is
quite difficult to dry out. It should always be removed and
inspected when disassembling the bulkhead.
The Bulkhead assembly is composed of a 21-808-500
mecca pressure seal with Phenolic insulator, 2000-1063
Bulkhead, 25-402-115 O-Ring, 2000-0164 insulator, 2000-
0165 cablehead contact (brass nut). The photo shows the new
style bulkhead with a bore that accepts the insulator. Older
models do not have this bore and require insulator 2000-0166.
When replacing the mecca pressure seal make sure
that you remove the brown Phenolic insulator from the
bulkhead. It can become stuck inside. You can use the shaft of
the mecca pressure seal inserted from the opposite end to
catch the soft, Phenolic material and push it out.
Warning: Do not over tighten the brass contact, nut, as it is easy to strip its fine threads.
On older units be sure that the insulation around the shaft of the mecca pressure seal
extends slightly beyond the bulkhead when the seal is installed. The insulation prevents the shaft of
the pressure seal from shorting to the bulkhead.
When you cut the pressure seal shaft (usually with large wire cutters) you should dress the end of the
shaft with a file so that the threads do not damage the brass contact nut threads when they are
screwed together. When you cut the pressure seal shaft to length it should not extend beyond the end
of the contact nut beveled surface when it is fully tightened. The flat side of the nut should be against
the insulating washer.

Electrical Inspection
Two conditions must be met for the wireline to operate properly.
1) The wireline conductor(s) must be electrically isolated, in and out of fluid, from the
wireline armor.
2) The wireline conductor(s) and armor must be electrically continuous, while stationary and
in movement, from the cable head to the logging acquisition equipment.

Ohmmeter tests
CAUTION: Always be sure that your meter lead connections to the system under test are
good. Check the continuity of your meter leads by touching them together. When making
measurements do not touch the meter lead contacts with your hands. Touching the leads can
cause erroneous readings, as your skin is conductive especially when wet or sweaty.

CAUTION: If you use a Megohmmeter style cable tester, which can produce 500 or more
volts, you should first disconnect the slip rings from the system as the high voltage may
damage the slip rings. Megohmmeters can be useful in finding shorts that cannot easily be
reproduced or located by normal resistance measuring meters.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

Checking electrical isolation

You will need an ohmmeter capable of reading 20 million ohms of resistance or higher. Set
the meter in the highest reading resistance range. Connect the meter test leads to the positive (+) and
negative (-) terminals of the meter. Consult the meter manual for proper operation.

Remove any connection between the slip rings and the surface, acquisition, equipment or
place the acquisition equipment in the
proper mode or switch setting that isolates
the acquisition and power electronics from
the slip ring connection. Make sure that
any power to the system under test is
turned off. Consult your operating manual
for details.

Wipe any surface moisture off of

the cable head with a dry cloth. Remove
any protector cap from the end of the
cable head.

Place one meter lead on the

contact pin at the end of the cable head.
Place the other meter lead on the
exposed, metal body of the cable head.
The meter should read infinite ohms.
Move this lead to the wireline armor. It
should read infinite ohms. The readings
may initially read some high resistance
and then, within about five seconds, drift
to an open/infinite reading. This is an indication of proper isolation. On meters capable of reading high
enough, there should actually be more than 200 million ohms of isolation between the wireline armor
and conductor. If the meter reads any resistance then there is a problem.
While watching the meter, wiggle, push and pull the wireline vigorously where it enters the
cable head and at any points where there are kinks. Reverse the meter leads, and repeat the above
procedure. You should see the same indication.

If the meter indicates some high or low resistance leakage between the conductor and armor,
disassemble the cable head and perform the resistance test on the separate components. Look for
obvious bare spots on the conductor.

Some shorts may occur only when the wireline is wet. If the problem only occurs when you
reach a certain depth below water surface you can place the wireline in a bucket of water and let it
soak awhile, periodically performing the above tests. Adding lots of salt to the water can enhance the
effect.

If you can isolate the problem to the wireline the next task is to determine where on the
wireline the problem is. The most common place is at the cone and sleeve that terminate the wireline
armor. One approach is to cut off the cable above the cable head and any obvious kinks in the
wireline. Re-test the resistance as above. If the cable is still shorted, look for further kinks deeper in
the wireline spool. Again cut off the cable above the kinks and re-test. If this does not resolve the
problem you may be able to make the short worse by placing the bad part of the cable in a bucket of
salty water. Monitor the meter while slowly placing the cable into the bucket. Again most problems
are near the cable head.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

Checking Wireline continuity

A sudden drop to zero of a tool measurement that uses a pulse type transmission
may indicate a wireline continuity problem. The measurement may recover only to again drop
to zero at random or periodic intervals.
This could be an indication of a bad slip ring assembly especially if the condition only occurs
when the winch drum is moving but not if the system is stationary and only the cable head or other
connections are wiggled.
If the cable head is wiggled and the frequency drops to zero then the problem could be in the cable
head or probe top.
Another symptom is that the acquisition initially reports a spike of counts, when power is
applied, and then nothing. The spike is created by the up-hole power supply switching on and is not
usually tool response. Note: this could also be a symptom of a non-functional tool, if possible operate
the system with another pulse tool.
Testing wireline continuity is done using an ohmmeter, as above, set to a low range such as
100 or 200 ohms full scale. As before, make sure that all power to the system under test is turned off.

Test Armor continuity

Identify a connection to the acquisition
end of the wireline ARMOR. Connect one,
meter lead there. Connect the other meter
lead to bare metal at the cable head. You
should read nearly zero ohms. Wiggle the
wireline where it enters the cable head and at
any other suspect point. If there is a problem
with the connection at the cable head, move
that lead to the wireline armor. If there is now
a positive connection then disassemble and
inspect the cable head. If there is still a
problem move the lead to the armor
connection on the winch drum, then to the slip
ring connection, wireline side, then to the slip
ring connection, acquisition side. Alternately
move the acquisition side meter lead closer, in
like steps, to the wireline armor.

Test Conductor continuity

Identify the Acquisition end of the
wireline CONDUCTOR. Connect one lead of the
ohmmeter there. Connect the other meter lead
to the cable head contact pin. The ohmmeter
should indicate the wireline resistance, which is
approximately 25 ohms per thousand feet of
cable. Check your winch manual specifications
for other values of wireline conductor resistance.
For both tests above, to isolate
possible problems with the slip rings, rotate
the winch drum several rotations and
observe that the meter readings, as noted
above, are stable and do not bounce
around. The wireline conductor and armor
are attached to one side of a terminal block
on the winch drum side-plate. From the
other side of the terminal block, wires go to
the slip ring assembly on the end of the drum shaft. Make sure that the terminal block
connections are relatively clean and dry.
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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

Voltage Measurements
Warning: Potentially hazardous levels of voltage may be present on the cable
head contact nut when the tool power is turned ON. Use extreme caution when
handling the cable end while making measurements there. Only qualified
personnel should perform this test.

One test of the logging system

operation is to check the voltage at the cable
head without the probe attached. If you know
the operating voltage of the probe, for
instance MSLog displays the voltage it will
apply to the wireline in the Dashboard Tool
panel, you can connect a D.C. voltmeter
between the cable armor and the contact nut
on the cable head to measure it. Connect the
negative lead of the meter to the cable armor
and the positive lead of the meter to the brass
contact nut on the end of the cable head.
Turn the tool power On. The picture indicates
67.9 volts for a 2PGA-1000 on 500 meters of
wireline.
Note: MSLog does not indicate the
polarity of the voltage applied to the
wireline. Some tools use negative polarity to engage different operating modes or
ranges and to open or close caliper arms or sample volumes.

You can perform the same test at the banana sockets on the side of the MGX II.
Connect the positive lead to the socket marked CONDUCTOR and the negative lead to
the socket marked ARMOR. You should have the same readings. This test is particularly
appropriate when the tool is attached but does not insure that the voltage is available at
the tool top.
Note that some tools use alternating voltages, particularly tools measuring
formation resistance or resistivity. This test may not be appropriate for those
tools and may give ambiguous readings.

Tool connection
Mount Sopris single conductor probes use a stainless steel spring plunger inside
the tool top to make contact with the cable head conductor. Tests include pressing on
the plunger to make sure it is free to move. Inspect the plunger for corrosion or moisture.
Make sure the plunger and surrounding area is dry. Also measure the engagement of
the cable head with the plunger to determine if it is adequate.

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 Single Conductor Wireline Troubleshooting

Parts Diagram
Mt. Sopris Single Conductor Cablehead Assembly (2000-1448)

2000-0165
2000-0164 Contact
Insulator
2000-1063
2000-0444 Bulkhead
M3x5 SHCS 25-402-115
Qty. 3ea. O-ring
21-808-500 Mecca 28-185-049 4-
Pressure Seal 40 3/16 screw

21-808-505
Mecca Connector
21-230-545
Conn, Lug,
Amp
21-808-504
Mecca Boot

2000-1064
16-201-006 Housing, Cable
1 Tube Lubricant, DC111 head
Silicone.
To fill housing and coat seals.

Not shown (1 each):

2000-1452, Sleeve Outer
2000-1453, Sleeve Brass
2000-1454, Cone Inner
2000-0155
Clamping Screw
2000-0509 Cable
Protecting Spring

Accessories:
2000-1526 Drive Tube
2000-1510 Clamp Blocks (2ea)
28-957-001 M6x1 grease fitting
28-185-549 M6x6 stainless steel set screw

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