Industrial Ethernet cables, hardware selection advice

Commercial-grade cabling and hardware is not considered tough enough for use in harsh industrial environments. In these environments, networked devices and cables are routinely exposed to dust, moisture, vibration, extreme temperatures, and exposure to oil and corrosive solvents, as well as frequent movement of heavy vehicles and equipment on the plant floor, says Patricia Saito-Carvallo, Belde...

By Control Engineering Staff March 1, 2009

Commercial-grade cabling and hardware is not considered tough enough for use in harsh industrial environments. In these environments, networked devices and cables are routinely exposed to dust, moisture, vibration, extreme

Belden 7940A Cat 6 Unshielded Twisted Pair (4-Pair UTP) 23 AWG cable has a solid bare copper conductor and a heavy duty oil- and sunlight resistant jacket.

temperatures, and exposure to oil and corrosive solvents, as well as frequent movement of heavy vehicles and equipment on the plant floor, says Patricia Saito-Carvallo, Belden’s business unit manager for industrial cable.

To ensure proper functionality of Ethernet connections in an industrial environment, look for the following features:

  • Tough Category 5e, Enhanced Category 5e or Category 6 UTP or STP cables with heavy-duty jackets that resist moisture, oil, chemicals, and sunlight and are built to operate over a wider temperature range than commercial cables. Armored cables are also available for use in extremely harsh environments.

  • IP67 and IP20 RJ45 cordsets, IP67 jacks, plug kits, surface mount boxes with stainless steel covers, and stainless steel faceplates.

  • Industrial-grade switches that provide vibration and shock immunity, and offer better resistance to dust, oil and EMI/RFI interference. A variety of industrial switches provide features such as network and switch diagnostics; IP67 sealing, and millisecond network resiliency through redundant media to ensure network availability.

  • Machine and factory automation components fabricated of exceptionally durable materials that can withstand harsh ambient conditions of shock, vibration, dust and frequent washdowns, and support data speeds as high as 10 Gigabits per second.

www.belden.com/industrial