Care of fiber optic equipment
You must keep fiber optic equipment connections clean and damage-free. Use the information in
this section to properly maintain and care for fiber optic equipment.
Fiber optic cable care
Although the glass fiber in fiber optic cable is protected with reinforcing material and plastic
insulation, it is subject to damage. Use the following precautions to avoid damaging the glass fiber.
• Do not kink, knot, or vigorously flex the cable.
• Do not bend the cable to less than a 40 mm radius.
• Do not stand on fiber optic cable; keep the cable off the floor.
• Do not pull fiber optic cable harder than you do a cable containing copper wire of comparable
size.
• Do not allow a static load of more than a few pounds on a section of the cable.
• Place protective caps on fiber optic connectors that are not in use.
• Store unused fiber optic patch cables in a cabinet, on a cable rack, or flat on a shelf.
Frequent overstressing of fiber optic cable causes progressive degeneration that leads to failure.
If you suspect damage to a fiber optic cable, either due to mishandling or an abnormally high error
rate observed in one direction, reverse the cable pairs. If the high error rate appears in the other
direction, replace the cable.
Caution:
Risk of equipment damage
Do not crush fiber optic cable. If fiber optic cable is in the same tray or duct with large, heavy
electrical cables, it can be damaged by the weight of the electrical cable.
Fiber optic connector care
Before connecting fiber optic connectors to transmission equipment, test equipment, patch panels,
or other connectors, ensure fiber optic connectors are clean. The performance of an optical fiber
connector depends on how clean the connector and coupling are at the time of connection.
A damaged or dirty connector can damage a connector with which it pairs. A connector must be
absolutely clean before you insert it into a transmitter or receiver.
Never clean an optical connector while it carries light. Optical power can cause ignition of the
cleaning material when it contacts the end of the optical connector and destroy the connector.
Typical cleaning materials, for example, tissues saturated with alcohol, combust almost
instantaneously after you expose them to optical power levels of +15 dBm or higher.
Safety and equipment care information
August 2016
Installing Transceivers and Optical Components on Avaya ERS 4800 Series
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