The Importance of Cleaning and Maintaining Fiber Optic Cables

by Fiber-MART.COM

Fiber optic cables can be incredibly useful, fast, and efficient.  When you switch to fiber optic cables for your network, it means you’re taking one more step closer towards the future.  High speed and instantaneous success are what run our world; this means that one misstep regarding fiber optic cables could ruin their entire ability to function.  How do you prevent this?  The most important thing to keep in mind is that your cables need to stay clean.  Here’s why it’s so important to clean and maintain your fiber optic cables.

 

 

Simple Mistakes, Big Consequences

 

Even just a little oil from your finger, or a speck of dust can cause a failure of the entire system.  While fiber optic cables produce a great amount of speed and power, they also require care and precision.  A dust particle that isn’t even visible could block the light that travels through the cables.  If it doesn’t cause the entire system to break down, this kind of interruption will, at the very least, lower productivity of the connection.

 

 

Cleaning Process 

 

There are several ways to clean fiber optic cables, from dry cleaning to wet cleaning, and each have their benefits and specific uses.  Each cleaning process follows the same general outline of steps; clean, inspect, clean, inspect, and repeat.  There are a few things to remember, though.  For instance, wet cleaning should not be conducted on bulkheads and receptacles.  Dry cleaning should be your first plan of action.  The connectors of the cables are just as important as the rest of the cable, in terms of transmission.  If your fiber optic network is running slowly, and you’re not sure why, you might want to clean each component thoroughly until you find where the problem is.

 

 

General Tips

 

Turn off all systems when you’re cleaning.  The laser radiation is dangerous, and you should never look into these beams.  Even if you can’t see any kind of light, the emissions are still  there.  Do not scrub vigorously at the cables; rather, use a lint free swab and gently wipe.  Your swabs should stay clean.  Ideally, use a new one after each use.  Never touch the connectors with your bare fingers, or else you’ll have to clean all over again!

 

For more information about fiber optic cables, follow our blog at fiber-mart!

 

fiber-mart is ready to work with you to customize your fiber optic network!

 

We focus on custom product manufacturing for fiber optic connectivity.  We will engineer solutions to any customer’s specs and needs, and we create end-to-end solutions so you won’t be left in the dark.  fiber-mart strives to provide our customers with the highest quality product above industry standards at a competitive cost.