Fluke DTX Series - Diagnosing Failures

DTX Series Cable Analyzer
Technical Reference Handbook
7-2
Diagnosing Failures
Table 7-2 describes some typical causes of fiber test
failures.
Table 7-2. Diagnosing Fiber Test Failures
Loss measurement gives FAIL result
• There is one or more dirty, damaged, misaligned, or unseated connections in the cabling. Check all connections and
clean all fiber endfaces, then retest. The tester’s visual fault locator can reveal damaged connectors and other faults.
See Chapter 6 for details. An OTDR, such as the Fluke Networks OF-500 OptiFiber

Certifying OTDR, can help you
locate faults not revealed with the visual fault locator.
• There is a kink or sharp bend in a patch cord or the fiber under test. Use the visual fault locator to reveal these faults.
• A patch cord is broken.
• The number of adapters or splices on the Fiber Setup menu is too low (for standards that use a calculated loss value).
• The wrong fiber type is selected on the Fiber Setup menu.
• The reference is incorrect. Set the reference again using the same patch cords to be used for testing.
• For multimode fiber, the wrong mandrel size was used for testing. Smaller mandrels create tighter bends in the fiber,
resulting in more loss.
• A patch cord or fiber segment has the wrong core size. An OTDR is useful for locating mismatched fiber in cabling.
• The cabling has a bad fusion or mechanical splice or a sharp bend. Use the visual fault locator to reveal these faults.
• The fibers are connected to the wrong ports on the tester, or are swapped at one end of the cabling.
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