Fiber optic cable care
Although reinforcing material and plastic insulation protects the glass fiber in fiber optic cable ,
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, the weight of the electrical cable can damage the fiber optic cable.
Fiber optic connector care
Before you connect 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 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 can 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.
Visually inspect the connector to determine cleanliness and to determine if it needs replacing.
You must replace a connector that has a scratch across the core, or a scratch that appears to
end in the core.
The proper connector cleaning method depends on the connector contaminants:
• Judge cleanliness by visual inspection with a fiber microscope. First inspect the
connector, and then clean as required.
Safety and equipment care
12 Installing the SFP, SFP+, and XFP transceivers on Avaya ERS 3500 Series
March 2014
