The camera link cable was the last item investigated and the only one that had actually failed.
Specifying the camera link cable
The problem
A food-grade inspection cell running two Camera Link cameras began losing frames intermittently — typically a handful per shift, and never the same frame twice. Because the fault appeared only after a drive upgrade in the adjacent panel, the initial assumption was electrical noise entering the cabinet rather than a cable defect.
What we found
The existing cables were assembled types with a foil wrap that terminated on a drain wire folded back under the hood clamp. That arrangement works on a bench and fails in a cabinet: the pairs were acting as an antenna for the switching noise of the new drives. Measurement confirmed it — shield continuity from the connector shell to the far end was open circuit on both assemblies.
What we supplied
Replacement MDR 36-pin assemblies with a braided shield terminated to the connector shell around the full circumference, individually shielded pairs, and matched pair lengths. Die-cast zinc hoods rather than ABS, because the cables run alongside drive cabling for part of their length.
The outcome
Zero dropped frames in the twelve months since installation. The customer now specifies 360° shield termination on every vision cable they buy, and the specification has been written into their standard for new lines.
Products used in this project
Send us the application detail and we will confirm which of our connectors or cable assemblies suits the duty, or propose a custom construction. You can also review our quality control process and the documentation supplied with each order.
What this means for your project
Shield continuity from the connector shell to the far end takes under a minute to check with a multimeter. Making that check part of commissioning, rather than part of fault-finding, is what turned this from a recurring problem into a one-off.
Reference material for the standards referenced above is published by ISO and the RoHS compliance guide. Where a project requires conformance to a particular standard, tell us at the enquiry stage and we will confirm what documentation we can supply.