Some things you must know about Fusion Splicer

What is Fusion Splicer?

Fusion splicing is the act of joining two optical fibers end-to-end using heat. The goal is to fuse the two fibers together in such a way that light passing through the fibers is not scattered or reflected back by the splice, and so that the splice and the region surrounding it are almost as strong as the intact fiber. The source of heat is usually an electric arc, but can also be a laser, or a gas flame, or a tungsten filament through which current is passed. and thus the splice as well as the region surrounding it are almost as strong because virgin fiber itself.

The basic fusion splicer apparatus includes two fixtures which the fibers are mounted and two electrodes. Inspection microscope assists in the placement in the prepared fiber ends into a fusion-splicing apparatus. The fibers they fit in to the apparatus, aligned, and then fused together

Initially, fusion splicing used nichrome wire as the heating unit to melt or fuse fibers together. New fusion-splicing techniques have replaced the nichrome wire with fractional co2 lasers, electric arcs, or gas flames to heat the fiber ends, causing them to fuse together. The little size of the fusion splice along with the development of automated fusion-splicing machines make electric arc fusion the most popular splicing approaches to commercial applications.

Fusion Splicing vs Mechanical Splicing

There are two types of optic fiber splicing. One is fusion splicing we mentioned above, another is mechanical splicing. In mechanical splicing two fiber optic cables are held end to end inside a sleeve using some mechanical mechanism. In this type of technique fibers aren’t joined permanently rather just accurately hold together, so that light can easily pass through from one end to another, while in fusion splicing two fibers are fused or wielded together using an electric arc.

The process of fusion splicing

The process of fusion splicing normally involves heat to melt or fuse the ends of two optical fibers together. The splicing process begins by preparing each fiber end for fusion.

1.Stripping the fiber

Stripping is the act of removing the protective polymer coating around optical fiber in preparation for fusion splicing. The splicing process begins by preparing both fiber ends for fusion, which requires that all protective coating is removed or stripped from the ends of each fiber.

2.Cleaning the fiber

The customary means to clean bare fibers is with alcohol and wipes. However, high purity isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is hygroscopic: it attracts moisture to itself. This is problematic as IPA is either procured in pre-saturated wiper format or in (host) containers ranging for USA quart to gallon to drums.

3.Cleaving the fiber

The fiber is then cleaved using the score-and-break method so that its end-face is perfectly flat and perpendicular to the axis of the fiber. The quality of each fiber end is inspected using a microscope. In fusion splicing, splice loss is a direct function of the angles and quality of the two fiber-end faces. The closer to 90 degrees the cleave angle is the lower optical loss the splice will yield. The quality of the cleave tool being used is critical.

Conclusion

When it comes to optical fiber fusion splicers, no other company in the world can match Fiber-MART for innovation, speed, and performance. The entire industry-leading range of splicers offers quick termination and new standards in heater shrink time. Fiber-Mart strives for even better standards each day. Like Sumitomo Type-81C Fusion Splicer, Innovation is key. It can revolutionized on-site connectivity, speed and brought lower project costs for the migration of the network. As the major leader in optical fiber and connectivity solutions, customers can expect reliability, flexibility and unbelievable performance.After all, network infrastructure expansion becomes easy when you use state-of-the-art fusion splicer solutions.Any question or need pls feel free to contact with us. E-mail: [email protected].