Most customers are not familiar with fiber optic cabling technology, which makes them to buy the right fiber optic cables for target applications very difficult. The following text describes the methods of identifying several common identifying methods for fiber optic cables, that will help you make right decision when buy optical fiber cable.
1.Cable jacket: Indoor fiber optic cables generally use poly ethylene recorded or flame retardant poly recorded ethylene appearance should be smooth and shiny, with a flexible, easy to peel. Poor low-quality fiber optic cable’s sheathes are poor finished, and easily adhere with sleeve and Kevlar
PE sheath of outdoor fiber optic cable should be high quality black polyethylene, after cabling the skin is smooth, shiny, uniform thickness, no bubbles. Poor-quality fiber optic cable’ sheath is generally produced using recycled materials, this cable’ skin is coarse, due to many impurities within the raw material, you will find a lot of very fine small pits, it will crack or become water seepage after a period’s laying.
2.Optical fibers: Some standard fiber optic cable manufacturer often use the A-level core from top vendors, while the low-cost low-quality fiber optic cables are commonly produced by C-Class, D- grade optical fiber and unsolicited smuggling optical fiber, these fibers are complex sources, with the long factory time, which is already damp and discoloration, often mixed with single-mode fiber and multimode fiber. Some small factories lack the necessary testing equipment, and can not make a judgment of the quality of the optical fiber.
3.Strengthen steel wire: Steel wires of the formal outdoor fiber optic cable manufacturer are phosphated, surface is gray, this makes it will not increase the hydrogen loss, no rust, high strength. Low-quality fiber optic cable is generally replaced with thin wire or aluminum wire Identification method is simple: white appearance, easily be bent, cables with this kinds of steel are high loss of hydrogen, a long time, the two ends for hanging fiber optic closures are more likely to be rust and cracked.
4.Steel armor: The formal manufacturing enterprises using double-sided brush vertical bandage pattern of anti-rust coating steel strip, low-quality fiber optic cable is ordinary iron, usually only one, anti-rust treatment.
5.Loose Tube: Loose tube fiber optic cables are installed with PBT materials, so the casing is strength, no deformation, anti-aging. Low-quality fiber optic cable is usually made with the PVC for
the casing, this casing diameter is thin and easily to be pinched to flat.
6.Fiber paste: Outdoor fiber optic cables fiber cream can prevent fiber oxidation, damp due to water vapor, the inferior fiber optical fiber use only a few fiber cream, seriously affect the life of the optical fiber.
7.Aramid: Also named Mingkaifula, is a high-strength chemical fiber, widely used by the military-industrial. Currently only produced in DuPont and the Netherlands, Akzotion, the price is extremely high. Indoor fiber optic cable and overhead power cables (ADSS) use Aramids as strength member, due to the high cost of Kevlar, the poor quality indoor cable outer diameter is very small.
Source: How to Choose Fiber Optic Cable