How to understand the fiber color coding?

How to understand the fiber color coding?

How to understand the fiber color coding?

For technicians who manage and maintain enterprise networks and data centers, visual management can effectively save deployment and installation wiring time. 

Fiber color coding is an ideal solution to fiber cabling problems and can effectively simplify cable management. 

EIA/TIA-598 is a globally recognized optical fiber cabling standard, formulated by the US Telecommunications Industry Association, which defines fiber color coding for different types of fiber optic patch cords. 

Fiber color coding specifies fiber patch cord outer jackets, fiber connectors and fiber colors, helping us better manage fiber patch cords and reduce human error.

Outer Sheath Color

The fiber type and application environment of the optical fiber jumper are different, and the color of the outer sheath is also different, as shown in the following table:

In addition to the outer jacket color specified in the EIA/TIA-598 optical fiber color standard, some suppliers also print unique patterns on the outer jacket to classify fiber optic patch cords.

Fiber Connector Color

Due to the different polishing methods used in fiber optic connectors, fiber color coding is usually used to distinguish fiber optic connector types. However, metal fiber optic connectors like FC and ST cannot be color-identified, so some suppliers use special holsters for marking. For example, fast (FS) ST fiber optic connectors use black holsters, but different suppliers The color of the holster used may vary.

Fiber Color

According to the definition of EIA/TIA-598, in multi-core fiber patch cords, 12 fibers are usually color-coded in groups and counted clockwise. as the picture shows:

Due to the difference in the number of fiber jumpers, the fiber color coding has the following two situations:

The number of cores does not exceed 12: In order to distinguish different fibers, each fiber will be marked with 12 different colors, such as the first fiber is blue, the second fiber is orange, see the table below for details.

The number of fiber cores exceeds 12: When the number of cores exceeds 12, the previous twelve colors are usually used for marking, but the difference is that the fiber will also be marked with other colors to distinguish it, such as the thirteenth The root fiber uses a blue outer jacket with black stripes.

As follows:

 

Conclusion

Optical fiber color coding helps us visually identify the type of optical fiber patch cords, making management more convenient. 

However, there are many types and colors of fiber optic patch cords on the market, and sometimes it is not possible to distinguish them based on this information.

At this time, you can check the types and specifications of fiber optic patch cords so that you can better distinguish fiber optic patch cords.