Are all fiber optic cable jackets permeable to water and water vapor?
A. Yes. Every cable outer jacket material and everything that is not hermetically sealed can, in fact, pass extremely small amounts of water molecules. Optical Cable Corporation’s tight-buffered, tightbound fiber optic cable design confronts this potential problem head-on by protecting each individual fiber with a non-porous 900 micron buffer coating made from hard elastomers or high-performance PVC materials. This design effectively minimizes the presence of water molecules at the fiber’s glass surface and eliminates potential embrittlement of the fiber in wet environments. Optical Cable Corporation’s fiber optic cables are designed to be water tolerant and can function even if water molecules are present under the cable outer jacket.
