Warning Cookies are used on this site to provide the best user experience. If you continue, we assume that you agree to receive cookies from this site. OK

Types of cable Shield

11/24/2021
Shielded cable

What are the types of Cable Shield?

There are many different types of cable shields. The purpose of shielding cable is to guard against external forces, such as Electrical or Electronic interference as well as physical protection. This protects the inside wires and ensures the integrity of the cable transmission. Below we will describe the most common shield types and the reason for having them. It is critical to understand that adding a shield to a cable changes the performance of the electrical and or electronic properties of said cable.

Cable Shield Definition

A metallic covering over a wire or a group of wires applied continuously throughout in order to protect it from physical, radio frequency interference (RFI), electromagnetic interference (EMI) and other types of external disruptions.

Cable Shield types

Shield type
DescriptionCable typeProtection type
Overall Foil Shield
An aluminum/Mylar tape helically applied over a cable with or without a drain wire.
Coaxial Cables, Mil-spec Wire, Triads
EMI, RFI
Overall Foil Shield & Drain WireAn aluminum/Mylar tape helically applied over a cable with a drain wire for terminating the shield.Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Triads
EMI, RFI
Individual Foil Shield & Drain Wire
An aluminum/mylar tape shield applied individually over a group of wires, usually pairs. Drain wires may be individually applied or only one common wire in contact will all of the shields.
Multi-Pairs, TriadsEMI, RFI,
Color ID
Individual Foil + Overall Foil Shield
An aluminum/mylar tape shield applied individually over a group of wires, usually pairs with an overall foil shield over the core.Multi-Pairs, TriadsEMI, RFI,
Color ID
Overall Tinned copper Braid
A group of uninsulated tinned copper wires braided together over a wire or cable to form a shied.
Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Coaxial Cables, Mil-spec Wire, Triads, Hook Up WireEMI, RFI, crush and impact resistance
Overall Bare Copper Braid
A group of uninsulated bare copper wires braided together continuously over a wire or cable to form a shied.Coaxial Cables
EMI, RFI, crush and impact resistance
Overall Silver Plated copper BraidA group of uninsulated silver plated copper wires braided together continuously over a wire or cable to form a shied.Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Coaxial Cables, Mil-spec Wire, Triads, Hook Up WireEMI, RFI, crush and impact resistance
Overall Nickel Plated copper BraidA group of uninsulated nickel plated copper wires braided together continuously over a wire or cable to form a shied.Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Coaxial Cables, Mil-spec Wire, Triads, Hook Up WireEMI, RFI, crush and impact resistance
Overall Foil & Braid Shield
An aluminum/Mylar tape helically applied under a group of uninsulated wires braided together continuously over a wire or cable. A drain wire may or may not be present.Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Coaxial Cables, Mil-spec Wire, Triads, Hook Up WireEMI, RFI, crush and impact resistance
Serve Shield

A single or a group of uninsulated wires applied helically and continuously over a wire or cable.Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Coaxial Cables, Mil-spec Wire, TriadsEMI, RFI, crush and impact resistance
Kapton® Shield
An Kapton®/polyimide shield applied helically over a cable with or without a drain wire.
Multi-Conductors, Multi-Pairs, Mil-spec WireEMI, RFI, higher temperatures

Some examples of Shielded Plenum Cable:

Plenum Cable 22 AWG Price
Plenum Cable 20 AWG Price
Plenum Cable 18 AWG Price
Plenum Cable 16 AWG Price
Plenum Cable 14 AWG Price
Plenum Cable 12 AWG Price
Plenum Cable 10 AWG Price
FEP/FEP Plenum Cable Price

Some examples of Shielded Riser Cable:

Riser Cable 22 AWG Gauge
Riser Cable 20 AWG Gauge
Riser Cable 18 AWG Gauge
Riser Cable 16 AWG Gauge
Riser Cable 14 AWG Gauge
Riser Cable 12 AWG Gauge

You can view pricing of shielded cable in our low voltage cable and coax category. Contact ramcorpwire.com for further assistance.

Remember that if you cannot find it, we can or can have it made.

Thank you again for reading,
JR




*Kapton is a trademark of Dupont®