Fiber Optic

Oil and Gas IT Week October 2013
Cabling Maintenance and

Replacement Techniques

Rajendranath
K. Ganesan
Members, Fiber Optic Association
Consultants, e-sharp Consultancy

Agenda
Fiber optic cabling network
maintenance
Labeling
Replacing damaged cables
Periodic Maintenance
Prevention is better than cure
Periodic maintenance will save from
downtime
What type of periodic maintenance does fiber
optic network need?

Fiber Optic Network Maintenance
Some people suggest that fiber optic networks
need periodic maintenance
including microscopic inspection of connectors
and mating adapters and even insertion loss
testing or taking OTDR traces.
It is not true!

Why Not
It could hurt an installer or get them sued by
an irate network owner whose network you
bring down or cable plant you damage.
Telcos do not have crews out checking fiber
networks to see if the connectors and splices
are OK.
Military does not keep checking on tactical
systems.
Fiber Systems Never Touched
Fiber systems are designed to be installed and
never touched unless something damages
them
The infamous backhoe fade of buried
outside plant cables.

Why No Maintenance
Most inspection procedures require bringing
the network down, unacceptable in almost
every instance.
Telcos have backup links running alongside
operational links and the equipment will
switch over to the backup if it senses high
errors on the main link.
Not many premises networks are set up like
that.
Why No Maintenance
Want to bring down a gigabit LAN backbone
fast? Unplug a fiber optic connector to inspect
it with a microscope.
Most harm to installed fiber optic systems
(and copper also) is done during handling by
unskilled or clumsy personnel.
Fiber Networks
We know of workers accidentally backing into
patch panels and breaking cables at the
junction to the connector.
Weve seen connectors dropped on the floor
breaking the ceramic ferrule.
Weve even helped troubleshoot broken fibers
in splice closures caused during repairs of
other fibers.
Dirt
It's easy to get dirt into mating adapters
or on connectors whenever they are
exposed to the air.
Fiber technicians are taught to keep
connections clean after termination,
cover connector ferrules and mating
adapters with dust caps and clean the
ferrule end whenever it is opened to the
air.
Dirt
If dirt is such a big problem (and
airborne dirt is the size of the core of
singlemode fiber), why risk
contaminating operating connectors
by exposing them to the air to see if
they are dirty?
Systems should be designed to protect
components from dust in the
environment - that's what cable plant
hardware is for.
Connector End Face Cause Loss
Mating and unmating may wear
the connector interfaces, affecting
optical performance.
Ferrule end faces rubbing against
the mating connector and the
outside of the ferrule scraping
materials off the alignment sleeve
in the mating adapter can cause
higher loss.
OTDR
As for testing with an OTDR for
maintenance inspection, some telcos do
that automatically on spare fibers in
outside plant cables that run tens or
hundreds of kilometers through desolate
regions.
An OTDR is inappropriate for most
premises systems under any
circumstances and often causes more
problems than it solves.
Clean Telecom Facility
If you have a problem with dust in a telecom
closet, room or data center, you have a poorly
designed facility that should be fixed with
proper sealing, filtration and air conditioning.
You should not try to fix it with a feather
duster.
Periodic Maintenance
So what periodic maintenance should be done
on fiber optic networks?
NONE!
Cleaning Fiber Optic Connections
With fiber optics, the
tolerance to dirt is near zero
Airborne particles are about
the size of the core of SM
fiber and are usually silica
based - they may scratch PC
connectors if not removed!
Cleaning Fiber Optic Connections
Patch panels have mating
adapters that can become
contaminated if left open to the
air or scrape off foreign particles
under repeated usage.
Test equipment has fiber-
bulkhead outputs that need
periodic cleaning, since they may
have hundreds of insertions of
test cables in short time frames

Dust Caps On
We recommend you always keep
dust caps on connectors, bulkhead
splices, patch panels or anything
else that is going to have a
connection made with it.
Not only will it prevent additional
dust buildup, but it will prevent
contamination from being touched
or damaged from dropping.

Clean the Connectors
Always clean connectors before mating,
whether for testing or making network
connections.
When testing connectors on both the
reference and tested cables be cleaned before
every test, as every time the connector is
exposed to air, it can accumulate dust.

Reflectance
A secondary effect is that if the connectors are
dirty, it can scratch the end finish (most dirt is
silica (sand) based) and cause higher
reflectance if not loss.

Cleaning Connectors
There are several types of
cleaners which can be used.
Use commercial fiber optic
cleaning kits whenever possible.
Some are dry, some use cleaning
solutions.
They are all good solutions if you
follow their directions.

Cleaning Connectors
Lint free pads and isopropyl alcohol
Some solvents MIGHT attack epoxy,
so only reagent- grade 99% isopropyl
alcohol should be used.
Never use cotton swabs or cloth it
will leave threads behind.
Alcohol may leave a film if not dried
off completely. Clean and dry the end
of the ferrule just before insertion.
Air
All "canned air" has a liquid
propellant and may leave a residue
Unless you
hold them perfectly level when spraying and
spray for 3-5 seconds before using to insure
that any liquid propellant is expelled from the
nozzle.
These cans can be used to blow dust
out of bulkheads with a connector in
the other side or an active device
mount (xmit/rcvr).
Air
NEVER use compressed air from a hose
they emit a fine spray of oil from the compressor!)
NEVER blow on them (you breath is full of
moisture , not to mention all those germs!)

Cleaning the Detectors
Detectors on FO power meters should also be
cleaned occasionally to remove dirt.
Take the connector adapter off and wipe the
surface, then air dry or dry with a lint-free
wipe.

Reference Test Cords
Ferrules on the connectors/cables used for
testing will get dirty by scraping off the
material of the alignment sleeve in
connector mating adapters.
Some of these sleeves are molded glass-
filled thermoplastic and sold for multimode
applications.
These will give you a dirty connector ferrule
in 10 insertions.
Small oil micro-deposits and
dust particles on fiber
optic cable / optical surfaces
may cause a loss of light or
degraded signal power which
may ultimately cause
intermittent problems in the
optical connection
Fiber Optic Cable Contamination
Module OSA Contamination

Contamination
By extension, contaminated cable
connectors may often transfer
contaminants and particulates
into the Optical Sub-Assembly
(OSA) barrels of the Optical
Module they are inserted into.
Common Contaminants
Dust
Skin oil
Alcohol residue
Distilled water residue
Vegetable oil
Hand lotion
Dryer lint
Saltwater residue
Graphite
Dust Particles
Hand Lotion
Finger Prints Alcohol Residue
Contaminants
IEC 62627 Contamination Migration
Initial Clean Endface Contaminated Endface
Mated 5 times dirty then cleaned
results in severe permanent damage
There are number of effective options for cleaning patch
cords:
Wipes and solvents
Example: Isopropyl alcohol and tissues
Example: Perforated tissues in boxes or
tubes and solvents
Cassette cleaners
Automated cleaning systems
Mechanical cleaning tools
Field cleaning cards
Pipe cleaners
Cleaning Patch Cords
The size, color, and contrast of all labels should be
selected to ensure that the identifiers are easily
read.
Labels should be visible during normal maintenance
of the infrastructure.
Labels should be resistant to the environmental
conditions at the point of installation (such as
moisture, heat, or ultraviolet light), and should
have a design life equal to or greater than that of
the labeled component
Labelling Standards ANSI/TIA 606B
VISIBILITY AND DURABILITY 11.1
SELECT YOUR CLASS
Class 1 - FEWER THAN 100 users, single TS
room

Class 2 - HUNDREDS OF USERS multiple TSS in
a single building

Class 3 - 1000+ USERS

Class 4 - 1000s AND MULTIPLE LOCATIONS
Labelling Standards ANSI/TIA 606B
Color Codes
Demarcation point Pantone 150C Orange

Network connection Pantone 353C Green

Common equipment Pantone 264C Purple

Key system Pantone 184C Red

First level backbone Pantone White

(MC-IC or IC-HC)Intra-building backbone Pantone 422C Gray

(IC-HC) Inter-building backbone Pantone 465C Brown

Horizontal Pantone 291C Blue

Other Pantone 101C Yellow
Laser Hazard Classes
All standards divide lasers into four major hazard
categories called the laser hazard classifications.
The classes are based upon a scheme of graded risk.
They are based upon the ability of a beam to cause
biological damage to the eye or skin.
The classes are established relative to the Accessible
Emission Limits (AEL) provided in tables in the
standard.
AEL is defined as the product of the Maximum
Permissible Exposure (MPE) level and the area of the
limiting aperture.
Safety
Optical energy from LED
and lasers is dangerous
to the eye.
Laser-based products
are regulated
Centre for Devices and
Radiological Health
(CDRH) and IEC
36
Class I
Cannot emit laser radiation at
known hazard levels (typically
continuous wave: cw 0.4 W
at visible wavelengths).
Users of Class I laser products
Class I.A.
A special designation that is based upon a 1000-
second exposure and applies only to lasers that are
"not intended for viewing" such as a supermarket
laser scanner.
The upper power limit of Class I.A. is 4.0 mW. The
Class II
Low-power visible lasers that
emit above Class I levels but at a
radiant power not above 1 mW.
The concept is that the human
aversion reaction to bright light
will protect a person.
Only limited controls are
specified.
Class IIIA
Intermediate power lasers (cw: 1-5
mW).
Only hazardous for intrabeam
viewing.
Some limited controls are usually
recommended.
Different logotype labeling
requirements for Class IIIA lasers
a beam irradiance that does not exceed
2.5 mW/cm
2
(Caution logotype)
the beam irradiance does exceed 2.5
mW/cm
2
(Danger logotype).
Class IIIB
Moderate power lasers (cw: 5-500 mW,
pulsed: 10 J/cm
2
or the diffuse reflection limit,
whichever is lower).
In general Class IIIB lasers will not be a fire
hazard, nor are they generally capable of
producing a hazardous diffuse reflection.
Specific controls are recommended.
Class IV
High power lasers (cw: 500 mW, pulsed: 10
J/cm
2
or the diffuse reflection limit) are
hazardous to view under any condition
(directly or diffusely scattered) and are a
potential fire hazard and a skin hazard.
Significant controls are required of Class IV
laser facilities.
Cable Damages
Planning for Restoration
Plan for restoration from the beginning of the
project
The impact of problems can be minimized.
These are general guidelines for restoration
planning and execution.
Each network is unique, so this can only be
used as the basis for a complete plan based on
any individual system.

Designing For Restoration
Restoration depends on rapidly finding the problem,
knowing how to fix it, having the right parts and
getting the job done quickly and efficiently.
Planning ahead will minimize the problems
encountered.
If possible, design a network with backup options
Even with backup, a failure requires immediate
restoration, as one should never depend on a single
link any longer than necessary.

Documentation Is Important
The biggest single help in
troubleshooting starts with
producing good documentation
during the installation and
keeping it current.
Documentation is the most
helpful thing you can have when
trying to troubleshoot a fiber
network.

Restoration
Development and implementation of a plan
for rapid restoration of cable failures
The plan should detail the action from receipt
of an alarm to completion of restoration.
Primary objective to re-establish service as
quickly as possible
General Strategy
re-route as much traffic as possible
locate the cable damage
temporarily re-connect the damaged cable, if
required
restore service
Locate the Fault
The fault must be located before restoration
can begin
Use fault locating instruments
Sheath faults in optical fibre cables containing
metallic pairs can be located with standard
earth leakage test sets, pulse echo tests, and
DC bridge sets.
Locate the Fault
The presence of optical power in a fibre
may be checked by the appropriate test
sets
Fibre breaks may be located with an
optical time domain reflectometer
(OTDR) using a backscattering
measurement.
Mapping The Route

Outside plant cabling should have maps and
photos detailing the routing of the cable, with
GPS locations if possible.
Premise cabling drawing of buildings
One needs lists describing the types of cable on
each run, installation hardware and test data for
restoration to facilitate identification.
Knowing where every cable goes will keep you
from blindly searching for the cables when you
try to locate problems.
Having original test data will make it much easier
to find bad cables.
Test Equipment
Any optical loss test set (OLTS)
should have a power meter to test
the optical power of signals in the
transmission link, needed to
determine if the problem is the
cable plant or the transmission
equipment.
For premises cables, find the
location with a visual fault locator
or VFL
Test Equipment
For longer cables, an OTDR will be useful.
Outside plant networks should use the OTDR
to document the cable plant during
installation, so during restoration a simple
comparison of installation with current traces
will usually find problems.
OTDRs generally do not have adequate
resolution for short cables, say less than 30-50
meters, so a VFL will be needed.
Tools and Supplies

Also have a termination or mechanical splice
kit and proper supplies.
For splices, you need splice closures with
adequate space for a number of splices
equal to the fiber count in the cable.
All these should be placed in a clearly
marked box with a copy of the cable plant
documentation and stored in a safe place
where those who will eventually need it can
find it fast.
And you need to know where to find the test
equipment you need.

Low Tension Damage
Cable damage mechanisms fall into two broad
categories: low-tension and high-tension
Low (or zero) tension damage mechanisms:
fires, most lightning strikes, and most types of vandalism.
If the damage can be visually confirmed to be low-
tension, it is likely that fibre damage will be confined
to a small area.
A local repair at the damage site can restore all
service.
High Tension Damage
High-tension mechanism is difficult to restore
e.g. a backhoe dig up or a fallen utility pole
The choice of restoration method must consider
more than the visually obvious damage.
Cables damaged in high-tension dig ups should be
replaced with a spare cable (joint-to-joint) as the
preferred emergency restoration method.
Troubleshooting The Cable Plant

Begin by visual inspection of all sections of the cable
If the power meter testing says the cable is bad, try
testing the cable plant with the VFL for continuity
If one fiber is bad, test to see if others in the cable
are bad.
If all are bad, a cable failure is indicated.
If only a few fibers are the problem, the issue may be
damage at termination or splice points and one
should be able to switch to spare fibers.

Troubleshooting The Cable Plant

If the cable is bad, the location of the problem must be
found.
Often the quickest way to find the problem is simply
looking along the cable route for workers who may have
caused the problem.
Driving along the route of OSP cables often finds the problem
before test equipment can be located and set up.
On short cables, VFL tracing may find the problem.
On long cables, an OTDR can be used to locate the
problem.
Be wary of using OTDRs on short cables as ghosts in the trace
can confuse the location of real problems.

Repairing Damage

Short cables may be easier to replace than
repair, especially in indoor applications.
Patchcords should be replaced from spares.
Cable cuts or breaks generally can be spliced
or re-terminated.
In the outside plant, the splices will usually be
fusion splices just like the initial installation
and sealed in a new splice closure.
Repairing Damage

Once the cable plant is repaired, it should be
tested to confirm the repair.
If the repair is temporary, arrangements for
protection of the components should be made
immediately until permanent repairs are
possible.
If the repair is permanent, all components
should be returned to the original state
immediately.
Permanent Repair
In principle, permanent repair has priority.
This is primarily to avoid duplication of work and
service interruption in the permanent repair after
emergency restoration.
Emergency restoration is required in some cases,
such as when conduits are broken by a backhoe.
Joint-to-Joint Cable Replacement
When damage has been reported, located and evaluated, it
needs provisional repair.
Fast and reliable method for provisional repair is joint-to-joint
cable replacement.
Teams disconnect the joints at each end of the damaged cable
and provide in its place, either in a spare duct or
aboveground, an emergency cable.
For most protected routes it is sufficient to stock one long and
one short cable of appropriate (maximal) fibre count and fibre
grade. This method avoids excavation and precise fault
location, works in spite of distributed fibre breakage, and
permits substantial advance planning to eliminate roadblocks.

Provisional Repair
Chapter 10 Maintenance, safety and environmental aspects 279

cable. For most protected routes it is sufficient to stock one long and one short cable of appropriate
(maximal) fibre count and fibre grade. This method avoids excavation and precise fault location, works in
spite of distributed fibre breakage, and permits substantial advance planning to eliminate roadblocks.
An example of provisional repair for a duct cable is shown in Figure 10-4.
HB-OF(09)_F10-4
Manhole Manhole
Cable
Fault

Figure 10-4 Provisional repair of a duct cable
After service has been provisionally restored through one of the above methods, a number of important
decisions will remain relating to the permanent repair of the damaged cable section. If there is assurance that
fibre damage was localized, the original cable may be put back into service, provided it has been suitabl y and
permanently repaired and tested. On the other hand, if the original cable suffered scattered fibre breakage or
structural damage, it will probably be more economical and service-effective to replace it, joint-to-joint, with
a new permanent cable. Temporary materials, if used, would normally be carefully removed from service,
tested, and restocked for future emergency use.
Regardless of the implemented permanent repair, appropriate service rearrangements must be done to correct
any temporary circuit assignments, and end-to-end conformance tests performed to ensure that system
standards are met.
1.3 Maintenance of underground plastic ducts
(For further information see Recommendation ITU-T L.73).
Placing cables in conduits is preferred because it has a principle advantage that the cable placement
operation is separated in time from the actual conduit construction phase. Moreover, the protection of the
cable with the passage of time and the possibility of repeated access, cable removal and delayed cable
installation make the method of placing cables in ducts more attractive. The method, however, has a
disadvantage in that the initial cost of conduit construction is expensive. It is noted that underground ducts
are prone to being deformed by the burden of earth pressure, which makes it necessary to check the ducts
before cable installation, and to repair defective ducts before placing cables in conduits.
After a conduit is installed in a trench and has been backfilled, but before any surface construction begins, it
is common practice to check duct quality because certain plastic conduits can become oval-shaped, pierced
or broken. A classification of these possible defects is shown in Table 10-6. The description of inspection
methods, such as the use of test mandrels and closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, to check duct
quality can be found in Recommendation ITU-T L.73, which also describes various methods that are used to
repair underground conduits.
Permanent Repair
Important decisions on permanent repair
of the damaged cable section.
If the fibre damage was localized, the
original cable may be put back into
service after it has been suitably and
permanently repaired and tested.

New Permanent Cable
If the original cable suffered scattered fibre
breakage or structural damage, it will probably
be more economical and service-effective to
replace it, joint-to-joint, with a new
permanent cable.
Temporary materials, if used, would normally
be carefully removed from service, tested, and
restocked for future emergency use.
Service Rearrangements
Appropriate service rearrangements must be
done to correct any temporary circuit
assignments
End-to-end conformance tests performed to
ensure that system standards are met.

Updating Documentation

The documentation should be updated to
reflect changes in the cable plant after repair.
This includes any new components, new
splices or splice closures, or especially any
fibers that are no longer serviceable.
New test data (loss measurements and OTDR
traces) should be recorded, preferably
compared to pre-restoration data for
comparison.

Questions?


Thank You

ganesan@esharp.ae

Fiber Optic

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Oil and Gas IT Week October 2013

Cabling Maintenance and

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