Every power and signal cable that crosses the wall of a sealed cabinet crosses it through a gland. We supply machined 304 and 316 stainless glands in metric, PG, NPT and G thread forms — with the seal compound, temperature range and IP report verified before any number goes on a datasheet.
Two of those places are on your side of the wall, and none of them is on the datasheet. That is why two identical glands can give completely different results on two different machines — and why "IP68 gland" on its own is an incomplete specification.
The seal is made on the cable sheath by the compression insert, on the enclosure entry face by the O-ring, and at the locknut by the torque you apply. Get the clamping range right for the cable, the thread right for the hole, and the gland will do its job for years. Get any one of them wrong and water finds it on the first storm.
So we ask for two numbers before we quote: your cable outside diameter, and the thread of the hole you are entering. Everything else — body material, seal compound, thread length — follows from those two.
Match the gland to the hole you already have. The thread form is decided by the panel standard, not by preference — and forcing the wrong one in will strip the thread, not seal it.
Diameter and pitch written directly — M20×1.5 means a 20 mm nominal diameter on a 1.5 mm pitch. The IEC and European default, and the most common entry on modern enclosures. If you are specifying a new panel, this is almost always the right choice.
A legacy German conduit standard still found across Europe and on imported machinery. The size is a number rather than a diameter, so PG13.5 does not mean 13.5 mm of anything — read the table. Common on panels specified before metric became the default.
The North American tapered pipe thread. It seals by mechanical interference as it is tightened — no face O-ring is involved, and a thread sealant is required on assembly. Specified for enclosures built to NEMA conventions and for a lot of Latin American and Middle East projects working to ANSI equipment.
Parallel pipe thread used on process, marine and hydraulic-adjacent equipment. It looks close enough to NPT to be confused in an enquiry, and neither will seal properly in the other's hole. If your panel came from a process plant, check before ordering.
Gland selection is two mechanical matches and one environmental choice. Nothing here needs a calculation — it needs a caliper and a look at where the cabinet is installed.
Common industry values, shown so you can sanity-check a hole before you send us a drawing. Clamping range and thread length vary between manufacturers — treat this as a guide and confirm against the actual part number before you commit a knockout.
| Thread | Typical cable range | Entry to cut |
|---|---|---|
| M12×1.5 | 3 – 6.5 mm | 12.0 mm |
| M16×1.5 | 4 – 8 mm | 16.0 mm |
| M20×1.5 | 6 – 12 mm | 20.0 mm |
| M25×1.5 | 13 – 18 mm | 25.0 mm |
| M32×1.5 | 16 – 23 mm | 32.0 mm |
| M40×1.5 | 24 – 32 mm | 40.0 mm |
| PG9 | 4 – 8 mm | 15.2 mm |
| PG13.5 | 6 – 12 mm | 20.4 mm |
| PG16 | 10 – 14 mm | 22.5 mm |
| PG21 | 13 – 18 mm | 28.3 mm |
| NPT1/2 | 6 – 12 mm | 21.2 mm |
| NPT3/4 | 13 – 18 mm | 26.5 mm |
Thread outside diameters are nominal and shown to one decimal. Consult the part drawing for tapped-hole tolerances.
Power crosses the wall through a gland, but the same cabinet also has to breathe and to shed pressure. Buying all of it from one place means one specification conversation, one packing list and one shipping cost.
A laminated ePTFE membrane equalises internal pressure without passing liquid water, so the door gasket stays in its compression range.
A spring-loaded valve for fast pressure rises a membrane cannot absorb, and the anti-icing seat for cold-climate duty cycles.
Glands, vents and plugs kitted per cabinet and labelled per your bill of materials, so the line receives one kit instead of three deliveries.
If the cabinet needs to breathe at the entry the cable already uses, there is a vented version of the gland itself: breathable cable glands. For the whole wall rather than a single product, see sealing every opening in an outdoor cabinet.
The questions that come up before a first gland order. If yours is not here, ask — we answer with a number, a drawing or an honest "not yet".
Two numbers are enough to quote. If you are not sure of the thread, a photo of the entry with a rule across it works just as well.
