Cleaning: Does It Really Matter?
One of the vital rules during Fiber Optic Technician Training: keeping your fiber optic connections clean helps in keeping up your optical network’s performance. A little dirt on your fiber connections may cause severe damage.
So, in that case, you are experiencing minor to major network problems – safely cleaning your cable is the first aid solution.
To help you with that, here are some best cleaning tips for fiber optic cables:
Dry Cleaning of Cable
You can apply moderate pressure to a cassette cleaner to wipe the connector end with a cleaning cloth. For angled physical contact (APC) polished connectors, always ensure that the whole end-face surface makes contact with the cloth. This process will remove contamination caused by airborne particles and should be done first. Check the connector end-face for remaining dirt afterward.
Dry Cleaning Tips:
Insert the cleaning stick tip into the adapter until it contacts the connector on the other end. You can purchase cleaning sticks with these sizes: 1.25 mm ferrule connectors (LCs) and 2.5 mm ferrule connectors (SC and ST).
Spin the cleaning stick with moderate pressure in a circular pattern as it is being detached from the adapter.
Using Wet Cleaning
Moisten the part of a lint-free cloth using an alcohol-based fiber optic cleaning solution. Apply moderate pressure, then wipe the end-face against the moist area and then into dry parts to remove any dirt from the end-face.
For angled physical constant connectors, always ensure that the whole end-face surface makes contact with the cleaning cloth. Wet cleaning is more abrasive compared to dry cleaning, and will clean airborne dirt, including oil-based contaminants. Do dry cleaning, as mentioned, after wet cleaning and check the connector end-face for remaining dirt.
Wet Cleaning Tips
Put in the moist cleaning stick with an alcohol-based fiber optic cleaning solution into the adapter until it makes contact with the connector on the other end. Spin the cleaning stick with slight pressure in one rotating motion as it is removed from the adapter.
How to Clean a Contaminated Multi-Fiber Array Connector (MPO) and Adapter?
You can go ahead and purchase special cleaners that you can use for unpinned (PC and APC) or unpinned MPO connectors. For APC MPO connectors, make sure that the whole end-face surface touches the cleaning cloth. Another technique is to use reel-based MPO In-bulkhead cleaners, which are exclusively made for cleaning MPO connectors.
The Right Tools Matter
It is vital to select an optical-grade wipe when cleaning fiber. While wipes may appear to be identical at first look, there are enormous varieties in the quality.
Genuine optical-grade wipes are made utilizing materials that have high sheer quality, which counteracts linting. These materials, likewise, are profoundly spongy. The best wipes are free of pastes, restricting operators, or anything that can conceivably drain out of the wipe and debase the fiber.
To learn more about Fiber Optic Utilization, Fiber optics course Cebu is offering a wide-range technical lesson and training for you.
