Understanding Armored Fiber Patch Cable

With the development of telecommunication, demands for fiber patch cables are increasing all over the world. However, it is known to all that cables under harsh environment must be in need of better protection. Luckily, the advent of armored fiber patch cable efficiently solves the problem. As the name indicates, this type of optical cable is wrapped in a protective armor to prevent optical cables from animal bite, moisture, corrosion and other damage. Therefore, using armored fiber patch cables will greatly reduce the cost of unnecessary cable loss. This article will give you a basic introduction about the structure, types and advantages of armored optical cable.

Structure of Armored Fiber Patch Cables

Armored fiber optic cable has some basic layers. The first layer is the outer jacket made of plastic materials. It can protect the cable from the destroy of solvent and abrasion. The second layer under outer jacket is the strength member made of armored materials, such as aluminum foil, steel and kevlar. These materials are difficult to cut, bite and burn which are great protections for the optical cable. Next is the inner jacket of fiber made of protective and flame-retardant materials to support the internal optical fibers.

armored fiber patch cable

Types of Armored Fiber Optic Cable

Armored fiber patch cables can be divided into indoor armored optical cable and outdoor armored optical cable according to the premises.

Indoor Armored Optical Cable

This kind of optical cable includes double and single indoor armored fiber patch cables. The double armored cable has the stainless steel wire woven and stainless steel tube. On the contrary, the single armored cable does not contain the stainless steel components. Most of the indoor armored cables are deployed for building wiring applications. You may find them in walls, between floors, in plenum air handling ducts and under data center floors, etc.

Outdoor Armored Optical Cable

There are light armored and heavy armored optical cable used for outdoor applications. The light armored cable has the protective plastic jacket with the same durability and longevity of a stainless steel cable, but its weight is much lighter. The heavy armored cable is wrapped in a wire circle which can be applied for riverbed and ocean floor.

Advantages of Armored Fiber Optic Cable

There are numerous advantages of armored fiber optic cable. The flexibility and durability of armored cable are excellent which makes it the right choice for industrial purposes. Moreover, the armor materials protect the cable from damage caused by animal, human or harsh environment, thus it can be applied to places where ordinary cables can not. The armored cable can also undergo heat and high pressure of extreme conditions. Using the armored optical cable not only ensures the high speed data transmission, but also extends the life span of cables.

Conclusion

When fiber optic cables are needed for terrible conditions, a strong protection for the cable is very necessary. Therefore, to secure the data communication, armored fiber optic cable is a good solution to make the cable free from different damages. But when you operate the armored fiber patch cables, you must be careful of the freshly cut edges which are very sharp to cope with. And the budget of your project should also be taken into consideration as armored cables are generally more expensive than the common ones.

Related Articles:
What is Armored Fiber Cable?
Armoured Cable vs. Unarmoured Cable: What’s The Difference?

Armored Fiber Optic Patch Cable Ordering Guide

Fiber optic patch cable is an important cable component for fiber optic networks, the armored fiber optic patch cables are specially designed for harsh environment in in aerospace, automotive, industrial, medical, and military applications. FiberStore provides a huge selection of armored fiber optic patch cables in any configuration, with any connectors types, cable modes, and lengths.

Armored fiber patch cable is a round, compact and very tough duplex patch cable with flexible armouring under PVC or LSZH jacket, providing exceptional crush and kinking resistance. Armored fiber patch cord is different from standard fiber optic patch cables, the very commonly used fiber optic patch cables structures is like this: fiber glass core in the center of the cable, cladding outside the fiberglass for protection, Kevlar outside the cladding, Kevlar is soft as well as very strong material, then the outside is the cable jacket. Traditional fiber optic patch cords are tender equipment, people cannot bend it too much or the fiberglass will be damaged and broken, which is not suitable for harsh environment.

Armored fiber optic patch cables are with the same types of fiber optic connectors as the commonly used types, the difference is the cable itself. Armored fiber optic cables are typically used for indoor applications, with the same outer diameter of common types 2mm or 3mm. The difference is armored fiber optic cables are with stainless steel tape just inside the cable jacket and outside the Kevlar, this stainless unit provides extra feature as well as retain all the function that a common type optical fiber patch cable can give. What’s more, armored fiber optic cords are anti-rodent, and it can be handled as electric cables. It is not easy to get damaged or cut, and it can resist an adult step on it.

Armored fiber optic patch cable ordering guide:

FiberStore supply armored fiber optic patch cables, including 10G OM4/OM3, 9/125, 62.5/125 types. 10G fiber patch cables provide 10 gigabyte data transfer speeds in high bandwidth applications and they are 5 times faster than standard 50um fiber cable. All armored fiber patch cable types can be with SC, ST, FC, LC, MU, SC/APC, ST/APC, LC/APC, etc. types of terminations.

Fiber optic connector type: LC, FC, SC, ST, MU, MTRJ, E2000
Ferrule Interface type: PC, UPC, APC
Fiber cores: Simplex, duplex, 4 fibers, 8 fibers etc.
Fiber type; single mode (G.652, G655), multimode(50/125) /(62.5/125)
100% Insertion Return Loss, End Face and Interference inspection
Low insertion loss, high return loss
Excellent mechanical endurance
Good in repeatability and exchangeability
Insertion loss: <0.5 dB
Operation temperature: -20° to 85°C
10G OM3 OM4 fiber cable available
Various jacket material, PVC and LSZH

Related: Armored LC-LC patch cord

Order Fiber Optic Patch Cable from FiberStore

FiberStore Inc. is a telecommunications based national stocking distributor of fiber optic cables, we provide singlemode and multimode fiber optic cables & patch cables ranging from 2 fiber to 264 576 to 744 up to 864 for FTTX applications. Fiber optic cable refers to the complete assembly of fibers, strength members and jacket. Fiber optic cables come in lots of different types, depending on the number of fibers and how and where it will be installed. Choosing cable carefully is necessary as the choice will affect how easy it is to be installed, spliced or terminated and, most important, what it will cost! FiberStore offer complimentary engineering at no cost for simple questions regarding optical fiber patch cable.

Fiber patch cable is a cable terminated with optic connectors on both ends. It has two major application areas which is for computer work station to outlet and fiber optic patch panels or optical cross connect distribution center.

FiberStore Fiber optic cable products offers a huge selection of common and armored fiber patch cable. Armored fiber optic patch cables are with same types of fiber optic connectors as the commonly used types, the different is the cable itself. Armored fiber optic cables are with stainless steel tape just inside the cable jacket that a common type fiber optic patch cable can give. Amored fiber optic cords are anti-rodent, and it can be handled as electric cables, it is not easy to get damaged or cut, and it can resist an adult step on it.

All of our fiber optic patch cords are manufactured strictly according to international standard. We adopt high quality raw materials and we use on-site manufacturing equipment. Our skilled workers and quality control department work closely together to guarantee that every piece of our fiber optic patch cord is excellent quality and looking.

Ordering information for our fiber optic patch cord:
Fiber connector 1: LC, FC, SC, ST, MTRJ, DIN, D4, E2000, MPO
Fiber connector 2: LC, FC, SC, ST, MTRJ, DIN, D4, E2000, MPO
Ferrule Interface type: PC, UPC, and APC
Fiber cores: Simplex, duplex
Fiber type; Single mode (G. 652, G655), multimode (50/125)/ (62.5/125), OM3 cable
Fiber diameter (mm): Φ 0.9, φ 2.0, Φ 3.0
Fiber length; User-defined

Applications of fiber optic patch cords:
FTTH application
Premise installations
Data processing networks
Wide Area Networks (WANs)
Telecommunication networks
Industrial, mechanical and military

We have almost all of the fiber optic cable and cable assemblies products. Our warehouse is located on both China and USA allow for fast and reliable shipping of fiber optic cables throughout the USA and we also export all over the world. All of our fiber optic cables are made for immediate or for special orders – the fastest, turnaround in the industry. We have custom fiber jumper cables and fiber assemblies at the USA’s best price as well. Call us today at +1 (206) 227 9282