What is Cable Jetting? Pneumatic Valves and Cable Jetting Machines

What is Cable Jetting?

Cable jetting, sometimes called cable blowing, is the process of putting or blowing a fibre cable into a duct or conduit using the technique of compressed air blowing or pushing the cable into place. To achieve this, a cable jetting or cable blowing machine is used. This machine is engineered and manufactured specifically for deploying and installing fibre optic cables into telecom ducts or micro-ducts using pressurised air inside a cable blower head plugged into one-way pneumatic valves or air valves.

Cable blowing vs cable pushing

Historically and traditionally, fibre optic cables were pulled through cable ducts as other cables using a winch line. Then in the 1980s, British Telecom developed a compressed air system to install lightweight and flexible fibre optic units. However, this system did not have the strong additional pushing needed. By the late 1980s, the first real cable blowing/jetting machine was invented by Willem Griffloen of KPN Research. The machine was developed in cooperation with Plumettaz, a company in Switzerland. 

The problem with traditional cable pulling is that the cable must be pulled through a conduit or duct using a winch line. The pulling process means dealing with friction and using lots of lubricants.

With cable jetting or blowing, a compressor using pressurised air pushes the cable into the ducts or conduits. The advantages to this system is that:

• The cable blowing machine has the ability to install at longer distances.
• Patterns of irregular trajectory like bends are easily traversed.
• It does not require a winch line and lubricants.
• It works faster and is more reliable than cable pulling.

Today, modern engineers and skilled workers use cable jetting machines to install different kinds of telecom cables and fibre-optic cabling. This cable blowing process is also compatible with all new types of cables and bandwidth fibre-optics.

Air Cooler

The air cooler is a new type of cable blowing machine being deployed nowadays. The air cooler increases the performance of the blowing system while protecting the cable from high temperatures with its cooling feature when the surrounding climate exceeds 20°C.

Master Mac 2000

Master Mac 2000 is the sole Australian distributor of process pneumatic valves and pneumatic component systems, for quality brands such as Mack, Univer, Bimba, Tolomatic, Piab, and much more. Our main office and warehouse in Brisbane are well stocked and will always have a valve or cylinder solution for you. Master Mac 2000 is an Australian owned private company that has grown since being established in 1989. For enquiries, call 07 3344 4711 or visit our site to view our products on https://mastermac2000.com.au/.