Fiber Cable Loose Tube Tight Buffer

There are two styles of fiber optic cable construction.

Fiber cable loose tube tight buffer.

From the picture below we can see that loose tube fiber holds more than one optical fiber each individually. The gel within the loose tube construction stops. Tight buffer or tight tube cable designs are typically used for isp applications. 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.

Both contain a type of strengthening member such as aramid yarn stainless steel wire strands or gel filled sleeves. Each however is designed for very different environments. And this post will classify fiber cables by their cable design standard. There are some similarities in their designed purpose but differences are obviously more than similarities between them.

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 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. But each is designed for very different environments. Loose tube fiber optic cable is typically used for outside plant installation in aerial duct and direct buried applications.

Loose tube cables are designed for harsh environment conditions in the outdoors. 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. Loose buffer or loose tube cables mean that the fibers are placed loosely within a plastic tube whose inner diameter considerably larger. Tight buffer vs loose tube cable design.

Fiber optic cables are constructed in two ways. Loose tube and tight buffered. Loose tube fiber and tight buffered fiber. This type of cable protects the fiber from stresses caused by the environment namely moisture and temperature.

Both contain some type of strengthening member such as aramid yarn stainless steel wire strands or even gel filled sleeves. Loose tube and tight buffered. Each fiber is coated with a buffer coating usually with an outside diameter of 900m. Tight buffered and loose tube fiber are the two styles of constructions fiber optic cables offered.

Tight buffer fiber contains a thick coating of a plastic type material which is applied directly to the outside of each individual fiber.