my country's optical fiber industry is now booming. With the continuous advancement of network technology, optical fiber and cable products continue to be used on a large scale in telecommunications network construction, national information highway construction, FTTH fiber to the desktop and other occasions.
At this time, our quality requirements for optical fiber and cables are getting higher and higher. So what are the quality issues related to optical fiber and cables? How to inquire.
1. Check the manufacturer’s qualifications and Corporate background.
It mainly depends on whether it is a big manufacturer or brand, whether it is committed to the R&D and production of optical cable products, whether there are many successful cases, whether it has ISO9001 quality system certification, whether it complies with the ROHS directive, and whether there are relevant domestic and international institutions. certification.
2. Check the product packaging.
The standard length of optical cable supply is generally 1km, 2km, 3km, 4km and customized length specifications. Positive and negative deviations are allowed. The deviation range can refer to the manufacturer's factory standards.
Check the outer sheath of the optical cable to see if it has obvious signs such as meter number, manufacturer name, optical cable type, etc.
Generally speaking, the factory optical cable is wound on a solid wooden reel and protected by wooden sealing boards. Both ends of the optical cable are sealed. The optical cable reel has the following marks: product name, specifications, reel number, length, net /Gross weight, date, A/B end mark, etc.; check the optical cable test record, there are two copies normally.One of the cable trays is on the inside of the wooden tray, and the optical cable can be seen when the wooden tray is opened, and the other is fixed on the outside of the wooden tray.
3. View Optical cable jacket.
The outer sheath of indoor optical cables is generally made of polyethylene, flame-retardant polyethylene, or low-smoke halogen-free materials.
High quality, smooth and shiny appearance, good hand feel.
It has good flexibility and is easy to peel off.
The outer sheath of poor-quality optical cables has poor finish. When peeled off, the outer sheath will easily stick to the tight sleeve and aramid fiber inside. Also note that some products use sponge instead of aramid fiber material.
The PE sheath of outdoor optical cables should be made of high-quality black polyethylene. After the cable is formed, the outer sheath should be smooth, bright, uniform in thickness, and free of small bubbles.
The outer sheath of poor-quality optical cables has a poor feel and is not smooth, and some printing is easily scratched.
Due to raw materials, the outer sheath of some optical cables is poorly dense and moisture easily penetrates.
4. Check the steel wire for reinforcement.
Many structures of outdoor optical cables generally contain reinforcing steel wires.
According to technical requirements and production requirements, the steel wires in outdoor optical cables must be phosphated, with a gray surface. After being cabled, there will be no increase in hydrogen loss, no rust, and high strength.
However, some optical cables are replaced by iron wire or even aluminum wire. The metal appearance is white and has poor bending resistance.
In addition, you can also use some simple methods to identify, such as soaking the optical cable in water for a day, taking it out for comparison, and the original shape will be revealed immediately.
As the saying goes: Real gold is not afraid of fire.
Here I want to say that "phosphorus steel is not afraid of water."
5. Check the longitudinal wrapped steel armor belt.
Regular manufacturers generally use longitudinally wrapped steel strips coated with anti-rust paint on both sides, and have good circumferential joints, which are relatively strong and rigorous.
However, we also found that some optical cables on the market use ordinary iron sheets as armor strips. Usually only one side is rust-proofed, and the thickness of the longitudinal banding steel strips is obviously inconsistent.
6. Check the loose tube.
Regular manufacturers generally use PBT materials to make loose tubes for housing optical fiber cores. This material is characterized by high strength, no deformation, and anti-aging.
Some products use PVC material as loose tube. The disadvantage of this material is that it has poor strength, can be pinched flat, and is easy to age.
Especially for some optical cables with GYXTW structure, when the outer sheath of the optical cable is peeled off with a cable opener and pulled hard, the PVC loose tube will deform, and some will even fall off along with the armor. What's more, The optical fiber core is also broken together.
7. Check the fiber paste.
The fiber paste in the outdoor optical cable must be charged loosely.Inside the casing, water can be prevented from direct contact with the fiber core.
You must know that once water vapor and moisture enter, it will seriously affect the life of the optical fiber.
Relevant national regulations have specific requirements for water blocking of optical cables.
In order to reduce costs, some optical cables use less cable paste.
So be sure to check whether the fiber cream is full.
8. View aramid.
Aramid, also known as armored fiber, is a high-strength chemical fiber that can effectively block external forces and play a very good protective role.
At present, only a few companies in the world can produce such products, and they are expensive.
Many large manufacturers use aramid yarn as a reinforcement in their optical cables. Of course, the cost of aramid is relatively high, so some indoor optical cables use domestic sponges instead of aramid.
This product looks very much like aramid, so some people call it "domestic aramid".
However, the fire protection grade and tensile performance of this product do not meet the technical specifications of regular aramid fiber. Therefore, it is a challenge to the tensile strength of this type of optical cable during pipe construction.
"Domestic aramid" has poor flame retardancy and melts when exposed to fire, but regular aramid is a flame retardant product with high toughness.
9. Check the fiber core.
The optical fiber core is the core part of the entire optical cable. The points discussed above are all to protect this core of transmission.
At the same time, it is also the most difficult part to identify without the help of instruments.
You can neither tell whether it is single mode or multimode with your eyes; nor can you tell whether it is 50/125 or 62.5/125; nor can you tell whether it is OM1, OM2, OM3 or zero water peak, let alone It is said that its Gigabit and 10 Gigabit applications are used.
If the bandwidth is not enough, the transmission distance cannot be calibrated, or the thickness is uneven,Problems such as uniformity, difficulty in splicing well during splicing, lack of flexibility of the optical fiber, and easy breakage during coiling are related to the quality of the optical fiber core.
