Interferometer dust on end face .

stern and inflexible : Hell exists ; people who sin go there ; there is no escape . It was a perfect quid pro quo , entirely under the control of the individual . Your fate was in your hands .

But here ’ s a modern headline for you : When it comes to fibre optics , there really are Seven Deadly Sins . The fate of your network really is in your hands . Not the hands of an unknown network designer , or production operator at the cable system maker

or in the hands of the equipment manufacturers who built your network gear ; your hands .

These aren ’ t theoretical debates . After decades of splicing , connectorising , testing , troubleshooting , consulting , training and designing fibre optic systems , I personally can assure you there are real , hands-on decisions made every day that degrade the performance of fibre networks .

Sin One : Not cleaning before splicing

Before splicing , after you have exposed the fibres it ’ s very important to clean them before cleaving . Cleaning the fibre ahead of time removes any remaining debris from the stripping process plus any other contaminants that may exist on the fibre .

Please notice the importance of cleaning before cleaving . There is nothing cleaner than the endface of a newly cleaved fibre . Fibre never should be cleaned after cleaving . If you do , the fibre end-face will be contaminated . This will cause extra work for the fusion splicer in the pre-burn phase , shorten the lifespan of the unit ’ s electrodes , degrade the mechanical strength of the splice in the form non-linear splices with bubbles , and cause excess signal losses .

For cleaning bare fibre , it ’ s strongly recommend operators use a fast evaporating , nonflammable precision cleaning fluid . While isopropyl alcohol ( IPA ) is commonly used , it is both hygroscopic and flammable . IPA is easily contaminated because it bonds with water molecules in

42 | March 2017