Fibre optic cable can be accidentally damaged, cut or smashed. According to the Electronic Technicians Association, one of the main causes of optical fibre failure is “backhoe fade”, during which the optical fibre cable is cut or damaged while digging. For this occasion, you can easily look for a backhoe and get the cut cable.
This article will provide a detailed guide on how to repair damaged fibre optics and the tools required. Additionally, it will briefly explain the importance of maintaining fibre health. Here are a few tools and steps suggested for you to repair broken fibre optic cable.
Fibre Optic Cable Repair Kits That You May Need
(1) OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometer)
The OTDR is widely used for the measurement of fibre length, transmission attenuation, joint attenuation and fault location. For more information about OTDR, please refer to Working Principle and Characteristics of OTDR.
(2) Fibre Optic Cutter / Stripper
fibre optic cable cutter and fibre optic stripper are important tools in the fibre optic splicing and some other fibre optic cable cutting applications.
(3) High Precision Fibre Optic Cleaver
Fibre optic cleaver is used to cut the fibreglass for fusion splicing, also ideal for preparing fibre for pre-polished connectors to make a good end face. So it is very important in the fibre splicing process, and it usually works together with the fusion splicer to meet the end’s needs.
(4) Fusion Splicer
Fibre optic fusion splicer may be the act of joining two optical fibres end-to-end using heat. The machine is to fuse both the fibres together in such a way that light passing with the fibres is not scattered or reflected back from the splice.
Steps to Repair fibre Optic Cable
Step 1: Use OTDR to Identify the Break in Fibre Optic Cable
The first thing you need to do is to look for the break in your fibre optic cables. Commonly, the fibre-optic technicians utilize a device which is known as an OTDR. With the ability to work like radar which sends a light pulse right down to the optical fibre cable. It will be deflected to your device when it encounters break. It helps technicians know the position of the break.
Step 2: Use Fibre Optic Cutter to Cut Out the Damaged fibre Optic Cable
After knowing the location of the break, you should dig up the fibre optic cables with the break. The fibre optic cutter is used to cut out the damaged section.
Step 3: Strip the Fibre Optic Cable by fibre Optic Stripper
You should use fibre optic stripper to strip the fibre on the both end and peel the jacket gently to expose the fibre-optic tube inside. Then, cut any sheath and yarn by fibre optic cutting tools.
Step 4: Trim Any Damage on the Optical fibre Ends by High Precision Fibre Cleaver
The following picture lists the main 6 steps for fibre cleaving by high precision fibre cleaver.
Step 5: Clean the Striped Fibre Optic Cable
This step is crucial to ensure that your terminal will get a clean wire strip. You have to clean the stripped fibre with alcohol and lint-free wipes. Ensure that the fibre doesn’t touch anything.
Step 6: Splice the Fibre Optic Cable
Generally, there are two methods to splice optical fibre cable: (1) mechanical splicing; (2) fusion splicing.
(1) Mechanical Splicing
If you want to produce a mechanical connection, you need to put inline splice quick-connect fibre-optic connectors to the fibre. Hold the two fibres ends in a precisely aligned position thus enabling light to pass from one fibre into the other. (Typical loss: 0.3 dB)
(2) Fusion Splicing
In fusion splicing, a fusion splicer is used to precisely align the two fibre ends. You have to convey a fusion splice protector to the fibre, and place the fibres which is spliced within the fusion splicer. Then, the fibre ends are “fused” or “welded” together using some type of heat or electric arc. This produces a continuous connection between the fibres enabling very low loss light transmission. (Typical loss: 0.1 dB)
Step 7: Perform the Connection Test of Fibre Optic Cable with OTDR
The very last thing would be to see the connection of fibre-optic using the OTDR. Then put back those splices into the splice enclosure. Close the enclosure after which rebury the fibre optic cables.
Proactively Assess the ‘Health’ of Fibre Optics
Maintaining fibre optic cables in good condition is essential for ensuring long-term optimal performance. Environmental factors such as weather, temperature fluctuations, and mechanical movement can cause physical wear on fibre cables. These external influences may lead to fibre breakage or bend loss, with issues either appearing suddenly or accumulating gradually over time.
While human-caused breaks are unavoidable, detecting problems before service disruption occurs offers an opportunity to prevent failures. Therefore, maintaining fibre health is necessary, and some common maintenance methods include:
- Regularly inspecting the lines and using tools like an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) to test for visible damage is crucial.
- Regular cleaning with specific fibre optic cleaners to prolong cable life.
- Following detailed steps and using precision tools when repairs are needed to ensure successful data transmission recovery. Remember, the goal is not only to repair but also to preserve the integrity of the fibre infrastructure.
Conclusion
The failure of the optical fibre cable will lead to an interruption in data transmission, so fixing the damaged optical cable in time is an important task. After going through the steps for repairing the fibre optic cable, you may wonder whether you should choose mechanical splicing or fusion splicing. Here the suggestion is if the price is not a factor, you should go with fusion splicing since the signal loss is low. If you have a tight budget, you can consider mechanical splicing, which doesn’t require an expensive tool.
At FS, you can not only purchase a wide range of fibre optic cables, but also find tools for maintaining, testing, and repairing them. All of our products undergo rigorous testing, as FS is committed to ensuring that customers receive high-quality items. If needed, our technicians are always available to answer any questions and assist with troubleshooting.
Related Article: What Kind of fibre Patch Cord Should I Choose?
