10
Fiber preparation
Slip on a heat-shrinkable sleeve
1
Easily forgotten, yet so frustrating. Remember to always slip
a heat-shrinkable sleeve onto one of the fibers at the begin-
ning of fiber preparation.
Strip the fiber
2
First remove at least 50mm of secondary coating (true for
both tight and loose tube secondary coating) with a stripper
appropriate to the type of coating you have. Then remove
around 25 mm of the primary coating with a stripper de-
signed for primary coating. (See also pictures below).
It is important that you do not put undue stress on the
fibers by bending or crimping them.
v
Illustrations of strippers for secondary and primary coating
BASIC OPERATION - Fiber preparation
Loose tube secondary coating Tight secondary coating Primary coating
Clean the fiber
3
Clean the bare fibers with a tissue or a pair of cotton swabs
soaked in propanol or ethanol.
It is important that from this point on you are very careful
with the fibers to ensure that they do not become dirty
again (such as laying them down on a dusty working surface,
or even waving them around in the air).
It is also a good idea at this stage to check to be sure the V-
grooves are clean, and if not, wipe them down as well.
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