Teach you how to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of optical cables

1, Skin: Indoor optical cables are generally made of polyvinyl chloride or flame-retardant polyvinyl chloride. The surface should be smooth, shiny, flexible, and easy to peel off. Poor quality optical cables have poor surface finish and are prone to sticking to the tight fitting and aramid inside.

The PE sheath of outdoor optical cables should be made of high-quality black polyethylene, with a smooth, bright, uniform thickness, and no small bubbles after cable formation. The outer skin of low-quality optical cables is usually produced using recycled materials, which can save a lot of costs. The outer skin of such optical cables is not smooth, and there are many impurities in the raw materials. The outer skin of the produced optical cables has many tiny pits, which can crack and get water over time.

2, Fiber optic cable: Regular fiber optic cable production enterprises generally use A-grade fiber cores from large factories. Some low-priced and low-quality fiber optic cables usually use C-grade and D-grade fiber optic cables, as well as smuggled fiber optic cables with unknown origin. These fiber optic cables often become damp and discolored due to their complex sources and long production time. In addition, single-mode fiber optic cables are often mixed with multimode fiber optic cables, and small factories generally lack the necessary testing equipment to make judgments on the quality of the fiber optic cables. Due to the inability to distinguish such optical fibers with the naked eye, common problems encountered during construction are: narrow bandwidth and short transmission distance; Uneven thickness and inability to connect with tail fibers; Fiber optic lacks flexibility and breaks easily when coiled.

3, Strengthening Steel Wire: The steel wire for outdoor optical cables produced by legitimate manufacturers is phosphatized and has a gray surface. This type of steel wire does not increase hydrogen damage, rust, and has high strength after being used as a cable. Poor quality optical cables are generally replaced with fine iron or aluminum wire, and the identification method is easy – the surface is white and can be bent freely when held in the hand. The optical cable produced with such steel wire has high hydrogen loss, and over time, the two ends of the hanging fiber optic box will rust and break.

4, Steel Armor: Legitimate production enterprises use longitudinal wrapped steel strips with double-sided anti rust coatings, while low-quality optical cables use ordinary iron sheets, usually only one side has been treated with anti rust.

5, Loose tube: PBT material shall be used for loose tube of optical fiber installed in optical cable, which has high strength, no deformation and aging resistance. Poor quality optical cables usually use PVC as the casing, which has a thin outer diameter and can be flattened with just a pinch, similar to the straw we use to drink beverages.

6, Oil paste: Oil paste mainly includes fiber paste and cable paste. Under normal circumstances, fiber paste should fill the entire loose tube, while cable paste should fill every gap of the optical cable core under pressure. There are ways to fill fiber paste half full or less, while some cable paste only applies a layer outside the cable core, while others do not fill the middle between the two ends of the optical cable. This will result in poor protection of the optical fiber, affecting transmission performance such as fiber attenuation, and poor waterproof performance that does not meet national standards. Once the optical cable accidentally leaks water, it will lead to the entire link being damaged due to water leakage. Under normal circumstances, even if there is accidental seepage, only a section of the seepage needs to be repaired, and there is no need to start over. The national standard requires a water resistance performance of three meters of optical cable, one meter of water column pressure, and no water leakage for 24 hours. If poor grease is used, the above problems can also occur, and the poor thixotropy of the grease may cause slight bending loss of the optical fiber, resulting in unqualified transmission characteristics of the entire link; If the ointment is acidic, it will react with the metal materials in the optical cable to precipitate hydrogen molecules, and the attenuation of the optical fiber will rapidly increase when it encounters H, causing the entire transmission chain to be interrupted.

7, Aramid, also known as Kevlar, is a high-strength chemical fiber that is most commonly used in the military industry. Military helmets and bulletproof vests are made of this material. By 2013, only DuPont and Aksu in the Netherlands were able to produce at a price of approximately 300000 tons. Indoor optical cables and power overhead optical cables (ADSS) are both reinforced with aramid yarn. Due to the high cost of aramid, low-quality indoor optical cables usually have a very thin outer diameter, which can save costs by using fewer aramid strands. This type of optical cable is easy to break when threading through pipes. ADSS optical cables generally do not dare to cut corners because the amount of aramid used in the cables is determined based on span and wind speed per second.

8, Water blocking tape: Water blocking tape or yarn used in optical cables has strong water absorption performance through the uniformly distributed high water absorbing resin inside the product. Under the combined action of immersion pressure, affinity, and rubber elasticity, the high water absorbing resin can quickly absorb water several times its own weight. In addition, once the water blocking powder meets water, it will immediately expand the gel. At this time, no matter how much pressure is applied to it, the water will not be squeezed out. Therefore, by covering the cable core with a water blocking tape containing absorbent resin, in case the outer wall of the optical cable is damaged, the high absorbent resin in the wound area will expand and exert a sealing effect, which can prevent water from entering to the minimum. Poor quality optical cables usually use non-woven fabric or paper tape, and once the outer skin of the cable is damaged, the consequences will be very serious.