Contemporary Considerations When Precision Cleaning Fiber Optic Connections ITW Chemtronics Fiber Optic Products 8125 Cobb Center Drive Kennesaw, GA. 30152 USA 800-645-5244 ext: 213 www.chemtronics.com Ed Forrest Zone Manager: Telecommunications National Lead 770-843-6720(cell) eforrest@chemtronics.com,,,,, www.combinationcleaning.com The products and concepts in this presentation contain various trademarked, copyrighted and patented or patent-pending items.
How important is it? 1. Soiled connections can create reflectance, signal loss, or damage the end face if soils are trapped between surfaces. 2. Soiled connections can skew test and measurements: the only way to know if a surface is clean is to video-inspect. 3. Not all cleaning methods work the same way: just cleaning it is not enough 4. The processes for fusion splice prep and end face cleaning are regularly interchanged. This often results in an improperly cleaned connection. 5. Improper cleaning also can result in unjustified jumper or printed circuit board replacement, warranty claims, equipment failures and customer dis-satisfaction.
Who cleans fiber optic connections & isn t one cleaning method as good as the other? Who should be aware of this new information: Technicians, managers, construction and network designers: Why: Local TelCo, Municipalities, RBOC, CATV, RBOC, MSO, MTSO. Networks converting LAN/WAN to fiber in DOT, Universities, Manufacturing. Quality Assurance of higher-speed downloads and increasing upload speed requirements.
Who cleans fiber optic connections & isn t one cleaning method as good as the other? Why Now: Your customer expects the best and trusts your knowledge. This session is intended to update and future-proof you on the latest information to support your business and technical growth. 1. Fiber Networks will continue to expand and inter-connect with copper and wireless. 2. New electronics will continue to evolve in both consumer and commercial markets. 3. Understanding the straight-story is essential to your business success. It s not what you know it can be what you don t know!
Who cleans fiber optic connections & is one cleaning method not as good as the other? The two most-common ways connections are cleaned : I.) wet cleaning : most commonly with 99.9% IPA. Other solvents can be used to wet clean. 1. IPA is not effective to clean all of the soils found in the OSP environment. IPA works best on salts and water soluble soils such as perspiration. (It s a better sterilizer than cleaner often a carrier solvent or used to dilute.) 2. IPA is hygroscopic it attracts moisture to itself diminishing its cleaning ability. This happens largely from improper packaging and storage and use. 99.9% IPA is the most-hygroscopic attracting 7-10% ambient moisture in 10-15 minutes. 3. Other solvents can be unnecessarily expensive, some of the best are flammable like IPA and others are considered global warming compounds. New ones are water-based and effective but require an active drying step. 4. (Any) Excess solvent use can result in a flooded connection
Who cleans fiber optic connections & is one cleaning method not as good as the other? Two most-common ways connections are cleaned: II.) ReelCleaning tools, paper wipers, lens wipers, microfiber and non-woven wipers are used in the dry cleaning process. 1. Dry cleaning is not effective on all soils 2. Dry cleaning can scratch an end face 3. Dry Cleaning can generate static that attracts more soils. 4. Some dry wiping materials leave lint residues. III.) On my T-shirt & jeans! legendary technology especially IPA, KimWipes and t-shirts! Most everyone really knew about T-Shirts!!!
What do you mean? Typical dry cleaning tools Typical wet cleaning tools There are 5-6 versions of these tools: some with manual feeds others automatic. Cost per cleaning* *When comparing cost per cleaning always consider : 1.) the number of times it takes to clean it, 2.) the acquisition of the tool and 3.) your reputation. and a word about canned air Itdoesn twork Lens Prep Tissues Paper products and lens tissues are not suitable for this precision cleaning application. IPA Wipers work better for splice prep.
Who cleans fiber optic connections & is one cleaning method not as good as the other? There are new Industry Standards and an active-push in all segments to clean correctly. This impacts your business existing and new skills Did You Know: There is a difference between: a.) End Face Cleaning & b.) Fusion Splice Prep Many of you will be using new splice-on connectors with end faces that will have to be precision cleaned. Using a splice prep process on an end face can be a problem? In this session we are discussing END FACE Cleaning
Who cleans fiber optic connections & one cleaning method is not as good as the other How often is a connection cleaned? 1.) Every time it is opened. 2.) When dust caps are removed: every jumper that comes out of a bag. 3.) Best Practice is to never assume it is factory clean : there are too many steps from production to time of installation. 4. ) Someone else s job! Integrate precision cleaning. Why do we clean fiber optics? 1. Cannot test or transmit without a clean end face! 2. To assure your business reputation with a job done right the first time! 3. To better future-proof your installation Really? Not really.
Quik Review: What are we cleaning? a.) b.) There are two sides to every connection: End Face 1.) 2.) 3.) Back Plane c.) a-b-c.) Adapters of various size and configuration are mounted on a PCB and accept/connect the jumper to the electronics. The only way to see the actual fiber is with a fiber scope and magnification. This is the only way to know if it is clean. A test (OTDR/Power) will only show signal loss. 1-2-3.) This is the end face that has the fiber that transmits the signal by a jumper someplace!
Seeing the Difference Between Soiled and Damaged Connections Easily and Confidently done with a videoscope. Inspect & Clean & Inspect every time. Soiled connections are easily identified and cleaned Scratches can t be cleaned but are identified within the diameter of the end face. A scratch through the core means the end face must be polished or repaired with new splice on technology. Inspection + proper cleaning = satisfied customers. A portable high-definition video scope as this one is not a luxury; it is essential to effective I&M of the network and equipment.
How much of the end face do we clean? Are standards really sufficient? Some Initial Conclusions: Zone 2 Zone 1 1.) Cleaning a fiber connection may be more important that I once thought. 2.) It would be important to clean all soils from the complete end face and know the job is done right the first time. What happens on the sides of the ferrule, out of the view of most fiber scopes, if the connector is improperly cleaned? 3.) We think there are at least two ways we know to do this: dry & wet.
A few words about The Science of Soils : There are two general soil categories: ionic and non-ionic sometimes called polar and non-polar. Definitions: I.) Generally speaking, an ionic (polar) soil can be removed by water. -Finger oil (II.) A non-ionic (non-polar) soil requires some type of solvent -Gels, Lubes, combination soils Recall: there are two generally-accepted cleaning methods: 1.) dry process and 2.) wet process. Scientific Fact of Life! Soils can be combined into complex contaminants of ionic and non-ionic. 1. Fingerprints can be ionic/polar 2. Dust can be ionic/polar 3. Oily Soils buffer gel/pulling lube) are non-ionic/non-polar. Will not clean with water; difficult to clean with a dry technique. But the real question is Do I have time to worry about all of this?
What is The Cleaning Budget How many times should you clean a connection before you switch to a new jumper, change the PCB, or re-terminate? 5 times, 4 times, 3 times, 2 times??? Wouldn t it be nice to have one way to clean that removes all soils most-typically the first time? Key thought: What if accepted dry and wet methods are not the best-practice?
Let s look at Identifying Common OSP Contaminants: How well do the standard dry and wet methods work? Live dry cleaning demonstration to confirm: 1.) Fingerprint 2.) Dusty Soil.3.) Complex soil unknown type: gypsum, lint, sand, Lubes and perspiration The twist&turn of this technique rotated the soil. Cleaned dry smears the soil Cleaned dry Rotates and leaves dusty soil Cleaned dry moves soils: possible damage
Laboratory studies demonstrate lint/gypsum/dust particulate is easily attracted by relatively low Static Charge Accumulation readings when dry cleaning (3-3-2006; 11-14-2006; 3-8-2007 and subsequent. S. Max-Laboratory Director; P. Blair-Market Manager; E. Forrest-R&D) Objectives: Determine if contaminant could be generated by Static Charge Accumulation Determine levels of contaminant attracted to fiber optic connection See if a process can be identified that does not attract dusty soil through ESD/static field. Method: Create 0.31-0.38kv static field with various dry wipe materials Place end face in proximity to contaminant: about 0.25 Measure Static Field at 72F; 65 RH Record results This is dust accumulation from a ESD static field tribocharge. Static Field Can attract soils -Lint removed ESD is a science of its own: In short: a static field can be generated by drawing a dry end face over a dry wiper. This ESD phenomenon is called a tribocharge. You ve probably experienced it when walking over a carpeted surface and touched a door knob! Conclusions: Relatively low voltage of 38kv attracts significant contamination 38 kv is a relatively low static field that attracted significant soil.
Wet Cleaning : OSP and OEM soils aren t limited to dust or a fingerprint. A cleaning process must clean a wide range of soils. Fingerprint Dusty Soil.Complex soil of unknown type: gypsum, lint, sand, lubes-perspiration A fiber optic connection has many small parts and recesses that captures excess soil released by the cleaning solvent. An important issue is that many soils are not seen by video inspection because there are so few videoscopes in use. Cleaning is done in blind faith. Some wet cleaning results: IPA dries too slowly: leaves residues Some solvents (HFE-7100) evaporate too fast Cleaned wet with ineffective solvent
Wet Cleaning can flood the connector. Let s see if we can duplicate this experiment 1.) SC End Face wet cleaned on high-purity IPA Wiper. 1 2.) As excess IPA dries the solvent covers end face and continues to flood the ferrule from side-to-end face. 3 3 ITW Chemtronics 3.) Evaporation continues for 90-180 seconds. IPA finally flashes away leaving these residues at side of ferrule. We Can Dry it! Really??? There are actually ~14 dots in this image: an unsuccessful attempt to dry an overly saturated end face. 5.) Excess solvent is fed and flooded from side of ferrule to the end face. As it dries it leaves a residue on the edge of the end face what can migrate to the core. 2 4 Image is blurry because of excess IPA flooding 4.) Drying a Wetted End Face is not easy. This specimen is blotted in an effort to dry end face. 5 2
Conclusions and some questions so far: 1.) There are differences in cleaning a fiber connection. The way we ve done it may not be as effective as we thought. a.) It s pretty obvious why wet and dry may not work all the time. b.) If I am using one of these techniques I really need to pay attention: video inspect. 2.) Soils can be present on the end face and on the side of the ferrule and migrate to the end face. 3.) Is there a third method?. a.) Is it better? b.) Will it be more difficult? c.) Will it increase my costs? d.) I use the same way I clean before fusion splice and that may not be right. 3.) Have my customers accepted it?
Let s go back to The Science of Cleaning Things you already knew before you arrived in this meeting today! In order to wash sand or salt from a painted surface it would not be done with a dry towel! Think about your car Removing grass stain from a baseball shirt would not be done without a stain remover. It can t be rubbed clean without something like soap! If we wash a car or baseball shirt we make some effort to dry it.
Some things we learned in this session: Dry Cleaning a fiber connection: 1. May only move and not remove the soil 2. Can create a static field that attracts more soil 3. Could damage a connection inter-face -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.) Since I don t have or always use a fiberscope I am not sure what I am cleaning or if I have actually cleaned it. 5.) There are soils beyond the view of a fiberscope that can effect the signal. Wet Cleaning a fiber connection: 1. Can flood a connection or leave residues 2. Drying a connection is really not all that easy. 3. The cleaner/solvent may not be effective on all soils. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Since I don t have or always use a fiberscope I am not sure what I am cleaning or- if I have actually cleaned it. 5. There are soils beyond the view of a fiberscope that can effect the signal.
Introducing: A Third Way to Clean a Fiber End Face now considered as the best practice method to clean fiber optic connections. 1.Correctly cleaning a fiber optic connection is the first step to consumer satisfaction. The Combination Cleaning Process is widely-recognized as an Industry Standard. 2.There is a difference between prep before fusion splice and end face cleaning. The two techniques and various products should not be interchanged. 3.With 1080p HDTV (and beyond), Internet demands, phone services bundled and heavily-promoted: the 1 st Step for a successful and confident network is a correctly cleaned connection.
Live Demo: Let s see how well it works on the same soils we cleaned earlier. There is much Science and R&D in an easily-trained procedure: The only thing to do: 1.) Lightly moisten the Cleaning Platform and 2.) Let the end face glide from wet-to-dry! 3.) The right amount of solvent is automatically-dried as an integrated part of the cleaning process. Select a non-ipa cleaner, that cleans ALL SOILS: lowers cost per cleaning. As the end face passes through the platen, the wiper shows it has been used!! The end face is automatically dried as a part of the cleaning technique. Since a small amount of moisture is used, static is reduced. Soiled to Clean in one easy step
ESD is a science of its own: static is eliminated by conducting it via a physical path or dissipating. In short: the hybrid or combination wet-to-dry technique dissipates static. For a tool to eliminate an ESD static field it must be either physically grounded (conductive) or used in a dissipative way. Conclusions: Relatively low voltage of 38kv attracts significant contamination -Lint removed Using a static-field dissipative method, static is reduced to where dust is not attracted to the end face. Static Field Can attract soils End face that is lightly-moistened and cleaned dissipatively does attract dust. Static Field is but one of many soil types encountered in OSP applications. An effective cleaning procedure removes all soils and addresses all phenomenon. Correctly cleaning the connection with a small amount of solvent dissipates static and does not attract dusty soils.
A few words about the actual cleaning technique Figure-8: Is a polishing action. The motion grinds and the cleaning path actually retraces. Figure-8 cleaning is not appropriate. Twist, Turn & Drag : If there is a sandy, gritty soil, the twist&turn can grind contaminant into the surface. APC is difficult and small surfaces don t clean well. Best Practice: a straight-line motion that lightly glides the end face over the cleaning surface from moist-to-dry.
How important is it? Until the time that OSP begins: 1.) to purchase video scopes for each technician, and, 2.) to the time that each technician actually uses a scope to view each connection every time 1. The best way to clean, 2. The most reliable safety net 3. Is a hybrid or Combination Cleaning Process. The processes for end face cleaning and fusion splice prep are regularly interchanged in the field by crafts and contractors. Improper cleaning can mean false test readings, high replacement costs (excessive jumper replacement), warranty claims, and equipment failures.
1.) Precision cleaning a fiber optic connection is essential to assure high quality and reputation. 2.) Correctly cleaning a connection is a skill that is easily trained and learned and performed. Our Conclusions: Starting now, I can develop a new skill that will help future-proof my installation. 3.) Take time to train and re-train : insist that suppliers support you in the field, training centers and with outside vendors. 4.) Not all cleaning methods provide the same results. 5.) If you select one of the older methods such as dry or wet, video inspect your connection as close to 100% of the time as feasible. 6.) Correctly Cleaning a fiber may mean changing the method to one that future-proofs to clean better than before. Business card size: given after training in your company. Be sure to get yours before you leave today.
Things you hear may not scientifically correct or practical in OSP field service and OEM applications Be knowledgeable of marketing department claims, shaky R&D, and sales posturing: No one can be sure IF the end face is clean unless they look at it through a video scope. 1. Combination Cleaning removes all soils from the complete end face Place a quality fiberscope on your 2010 wish list for as many crews as possible. 2. Combination Cleaning reduces ORL and Reflectance. Don t look for an easy way out! Reel Cleaners and Ferrule Cleaning tools look really nice. They may work some of the time; but they are not designed to work all of the time on all soils. 1. Dust is the main contaminant. 1. We recently tested 9 jumpers (that could not be cleaned) for a RBOC Construction garage. 8 soils were a fluid or dried moisture and 1 may have been dust. 1. In the real world of OSP there are many soil types that end up on an end face. 2. All Cleaning Techniques have the same result 1. Would you wash a muddy car with a dry towel? 2. The science of precision cleaning proves that soils tend to be attracted to moisture. 3. Static management is a science in its own right: a tool cannot cannot be ESD unless it is grounded or the process is dissipative. 4. A direct spray is an effective way of cleaning. 1. Some soils are removed, others can remain at the outer edges of the end face. Flooding is a concern. 2. The best procedure touches a contaminant to remove it. 5. To simplify is important; it can also mean failure and, after all it is your reputation! Ferrule Cleaning Tools clean the alignment sleeve before the end face with the same material! These tools can work with a modified technique
Buckle your Seatbelt. Click it or Ticket! Questions? Always 1.) (correctly) Clean & 2.) Video Inspect a fiber optic connection every time it is disconnected or tested.