Various Types of Optical Fiber Fusion Splicer

The process of joining two fibers together permanently is Fiber splicing with fusion splicer. Fusion and mechanical splicing are two fiber splicing types.

Two optical fibers are not fused physically in Mechanical splicing, rather inside a sleeve, two fibers are held butt-to-butt with some mechanical mechanism. You will get back reflection and worse insertion loss in mechanical splices as compared to infusion splices. For fiber testing and emergency repairs, Mechanical splicing is mostly used.  

The second type of splicing is called Fusion splicing. By an electric arc, two fibers are welded (fused) together in fusion splicing. As it provides for virtually no back reflection and the lowest insertion loss, Fusion splicing is the most widely used splicing method. The most reliable joint between two fibers is offered by Fusion splicing. Fusion splicing is done with an automatic machine called a fusion splicer.

Fusion splicer

As we said above, the machine used to weld (fuse) two optical fibers together is a fusion splicer. Fusion splicing is the other name for this process. In alignment fixtures, the fiber ends are placed, cleaved, and prepared on the fusion splicer from the fiber tool kit. The fiber ends are brought together after being heated with electrodes and fused at the press of a button.

Fusion splicers are automatic machines that you need to either set the splicing parameters yourself or choose factory recommended settings.

Core alignment

To inspect the two cleaved fibers, Optical fiber core alignment fusion splicers use multiple cameras before fusing. Multiple axis movement of the fibers is allowed by them.

Allowing users to store separate recipes or programs, Core alignment splicers are high-end units where factors such as temperature and splice time can be customized highly. Such high-end fusion splicers visually display the splice after magnifying it, and to line up the fibers, they use active core alignment.

Resulting in a typical splice loss of only 0.02dB, this provides for precise fiber alignment. For all single-mode fiber applications, this level of precision is required and the performance of multimode fiber is also enhanced. Core alignment is usually used by Ribbon splicers. The fiber cleaner is also useful.

All You Need to Know About Fiber Optic Splicing

To travel a long distance lights travel in optical fibers need a continuous, non-disruptive path without too big signal loss. But in hundreds of kilometers of the fiber link, the light signals need to be added or dropped, amplified, cross-connected, and much other processing. In these connections, as a standard practice, two fibers are connected. With connectors and a fusion splicer, this connection can be done.

Without the use of connectors, splicing is the practice of joining two fibers together. Fusion splicing and mechanical splicing are two fiber splices types. During installation or repair, splicing may be made.

While connectors making system configuration much more flexible, Compared to connectors splices generally have better mechanical integrity and low loss. So typically, in outdoor applications splices are used to connect fiber cables and inside buildings, connectors terminate fiber cables and fiber tool kit.

Fusion Splicing

The tips of two fibers are heated and butted together so that they melt together. With a fusion splicer, this is normally done, which mechanically aligns the two fiber ends, then the fiber tips to fuse them apply a spark across.

Mechanical Splicing

To join two fibers together end to end (again, fiber cores are aligned precisely) mechanical splicing uses mechanical fixtures. Either by clamping them within a structure or by gluing them together mechanical splicing joins two fiber ends.

In splicing, compared to multimode fibers single-mode fiber requires much tighter tolerances. So for single-mode mechanical splices, special equipment is often required. Compared to multimode fiber mechanical splicing this makes single-mode fiber mechanical splicing much more expensive.

Benefits of mechanical splicing

To work mechanical splicing doesn't need costly capital equipment, but it does require higher consumable costs. So for organizations not making a lot of splicing, mechanical splicing is the best selection. For emergency repairs, it suits well. You can buy fiber cleaner online.

Special tools and techniques are required by correctly splicing and terminating fiber optic cable. 

Fiber Optic Cleaning and its Importance

Fiber optics has now become the backbone of our communication network. These are slightly larger than a human hair and relay billions of data across the globe. As many companies rely on fiber optics and fusion splicer capability so it becomes necessary to do proper maintenance to prevent any disruption issues.

These fiber optics are quite powerful but they are also extremely fragile and can be damaged with bending as well as contamination brought about by the accumulation of dirt. Contamination by dirt can be a small thing but it can cause unreliability of the network and wide performance problems.

Maintenance of Fiber Optics

To optimize the performance of your fiber optics regular maintenance is the key. Specifically created tools for cleaning is essential but getting to know which one works best would ensure that you are not left with future issues.

Wipes should be used once as fiber cleaner it can cause recontamination of the cleaned surface. The liquid material that is required to use with the wipes should be made of high-quality water-free isopropyl alcohol. One should look for reagent-grade alcohol as it does not freeze unlike others, this type of liquid is very safe for humans and cleans static very well.

Few companies sell dry cleaning materials that one can use to remove dirt on the cables. Technicians should first try to do a dry cleaning technique before implementing wet cleaning that involves tools such as a pocket cleaner or a cartridge cleaner. The film would remove any dirt from the cable, lint-free wipes or swabs may also be used. You can buy fiber interferometer online.

Best Practice When Cleaning Cables

Before doing any cleaning of cables, one must turn off any laser sources by unplugging the cables at both ends. If necessary, safety tools such as clothing material, glasses, and boots should be worn to protect oneself as well as prevent any damage to the cable.

Before cleaning, the initial inspection would allow one to use the proper cleaning tools thus saving time and money. They must be stored in a clean, dry and resalable container to prevent any contamination of the cleaning tools.

Please Follow Us on Facebook and Twitter