Fiber Cable Loose Tube Tight Buffer

Loose tube fiber optic cable is typically used for outside plant installation in aerial duct and direct buried applications.

Fiber cable loose tube tight buffer.

Loose buffer or loose tube cables mean that the fibers are placed loosely within a plastic tube whose inner diameter considerably larger. Tight buffered and loose tube fiber are the two styles of constructions fiber optic cables offered. Each fiber is coated with a buffer coating usually with an outside diameter of 900m. Loose tube and tight buffered.

But there are two basic styles of fiber optic cable construction. There are two styles of fiber optic cable construction. Between them there are several common denominators like the fact that both have in their interior a strengthening member of sorts that can be made of stainless steel in the form of wire strands aramid yarn or gel filled sleeves. There are some similarities in their designed purpose but differences are obviously more than similarities between them.

Tight buffered cable and loose tube cable are both fiber optic cables that consist of multiple fiber counts inside a single line of fiber cable for the sake of better protection and cabling. Both contain a type of strengthening member such as aramid yarn stainless steel wire strands or gel filled sleeves. Loose tube cables are designed for harsh environment conditions in the outdoors. But each is designed for very different environments.

Actually when talking about optical fiber cables you may be confused about their several standards of classifications such as connector construction standard and transmission media standard. Tight buffer or tight tube cable designs are typically used for isp applications. Both contain some type of strengthening member such as aramid yarn stainless steel wire strands or even gel filled sleeves. Each however is designed for very different environments.

Tight buffer vs loose tube cable design. Loose tube and tight buffered. Fiber optic cable is available in many physical variations such as single and multiple conductor constructions aerial and direct burial styles plenum and riser cables etc. Loose tube fiber and tight buffered fiber.

Fiber optic cables are constructed in two ways. Loose tube cables whether flooded under the jacket or water blocked with dry swellable materials protect the fibers from moisture and the long term degradation moisture can cause. From the picture below we can see that loose tube fiber holds more than one optical fiber each individually. Loose tube fiber contains multiple strands of fiber in a single jacket.

And this post will classify fiber cables by their cable design standard.