atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring The new method to terminate Fiber

Recently, I saw a demo of the new Panduit system of terminating Fiber Optic Cable. It's a form of crimping and uses a gel rather than having to polish and epoxy the end into the connector.

I spoke to another tech who has been doing fiber for years and he said it's a bad way to do it (pistoning for example with temperature changes)...

What are some other opinions regarding this?

I use corning unicam. No polish, no problem!

Most terminations that are going to be in a vibration-sensitive location, like Navy shipboard type stuff, should be epoxied, but just normal run-of-the-mill works just fine with crimp connections.

The pistoning has more to do with the type of connection, rather than the termination style. Is it snap-in or twist and lock? Snap types don't generaly move, even when you want them to.

The way pistoning was described to me is that the gel that holds the fiber in place can expand, pushing the strand out just enough to ruin the connection.

The connectors can be either ST or FC (we haven't done any yet and there seem little sense in getting started without any call for fiber...even the new stuff is pricey...)

Same here with Unicam connectors. I think that they are great. I will admit that we've had about a 50% failure rate with their LC connectors. I've just started buying factory-assembled cables instead; 0% defect rate and incredibly time-saving.

The AMP system of matching gel can be used with quite some success due to the fact connection can be checked for the best results prior to crimping. With the ST style connector the connection can be stabilized for most equipment such as paper mill presses and the like.

They also make a splice unit that can be undone and adjusted. Again, the splice unit was filled with matching gel.

I was trained on SC connectors in a very dry environment. The matching gel would be required to maintain a dust free transfer of light. It would also dry out.

All projects I was involved in required certified training and tools. This was done by the manufacturer's engineers on site prior to any installation.

The situation being described is to to expansion. This is corrected by the gel being displaced prior to crimping. Depending on the manufacturer, these options can be found within the training material furnished with the tool rather than the connector.

By the way, this all transpired prior to 1990.....

I was just curious to find out what you guy's charge for terminating Unicam Connectors Labor Only?

Prices are not permitted in the open forums. Sorry. Please read forum rules before posting.

Amp Lightcrimp fiber has been good for the limited amount of fiber we do. Idiot proof.

We had a high degree of failures with Unicam connectors until we started using the light source with it. Hook up the light source and then set up for the splice. Move the fiber around, when the light goes out- crimp. We ran better then 99% success after using the light pencil.

Sam