Shielded wiring question?

[CStevens6]

I have 18ga 4 color coded stranded shielded wire to wire up the stepper motors on the machine. I have cut back the outer grey insulation to expose the shielding and 4 wires, I noticed there is a bare wire between the outer grey insulation and the aluminum shielding my question is, is this a ground wire to ground the shielding and if so is this a common ground or is it simply ignored and left alone?

Thank you for your time and help,
Craig

[Al_The_Man]

I noticed there is a bare wire between the outer grey insulation and the aluminum shielding my question is, is this a ground wire to ground the shielding and if so is this a common ground or is it simply ignored and left alone?

It's called a Drain Wire and grounds the aluminum shield, at one time it was the custom to ground one end only, now if equi-potential bonding is done, the reccomendation is to ground both ends.
See section 6.
http://www.automation.siemens.com/do.../emv_r.pdf?p=1
Al.

[CStevens6]

Al The Man, thank you for your response.