Installing and maintaining clean fiber connectors will help ensure peak performance
Working from home, telehealth, remote learning and other data intensive activities have heightened the need for increased bandwidth from urban to rural areas across the country. With the increased deployment of fiber optic networks, it’s important these networks run at peak performance. Clean connector end points are critical to insure fast broadband speeds with minimal signal loss.
According to a study conducted by Martin Technical Research, the #1 cause for fiber failures are dirty end faces. In fact, contaminated fibers are the cause of failing links 85% of the time.
In the field, fiber connectors can become dirty and contaminated very easily. Exposure to dust, oil, lint and dirt can result in defects, even with the use of protective dust caps. Luckily with a little time and some basic tools, there is an easy fix.
For best results to install clean fiber optic connectors, follow these four steps:
1. Inspect each fiber connector with a magnifying camera with at least 200x percent magnification
(A dirty connector end face compared to a clean, passing fiber optic end face)
2. Clean each connector with a one-click fiber optic cleaning pen tool
3. Reinspect connectors with the magnifying camera to ensure clean connector end faces pass inspection
4. Install your clean cable connectors
Taking time to inspect and clean each connector before inserting them into network adapters may seem like more work, but in the long run may end up saving you a lot of labor and costs from having to replace damaged connectors. At FIBERONE, we have over two decades of fiber optic industry experience. Not only do we supply the highest quality products, we are also committed to being a resource and partner for our customers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
