April/May/June 2020 I 15
the endface can easily migrate to the core during connectorization.
What is worse is that the debris now contaminates
both endfaces. It is similar to spreading a cold.
Moreover, the problem actually grows exponentially
more difficult when dealing with MPOs (Figure 11).
MPO connectors already have an inherent mating
challenge for consistent low-loss interconnection. It is
for this reason that some large hyperscale and data center
providers have tried to move away from them as much
as possible. Typically, this is difficult due to the tradeoff
in density. For any connector type, it comes down to
using the right tools and techniques to guarantee performance.
Using the appropriate cleaning tools for the connector
in question is highly important. As data rates
START INSPECT
ENDFACE
INSPECT
ENDFACE
ENDFACE CLEAN?
ENDFACE CLEAN?
CLEAN
INSPECT
ENDFACE
ENDFACE CLEAN?
PLUG IN TO CLEAN
MATING CONNECTOR
PLUG IN TO CLEAN
MATING CONNECTOR
PLUG IN TO CLEAN
MATING CONNECTOR
DRY
CLEAN
PASS
PASS
PASS
FAIL
FAIL
High-resolution
Digital Scope
Using appropriate tips
for connector type
continue to increase and loss budgets continue to decrease,
it is important to inspect each connector to evaluate and
confirm, either manually or through automatic pass/fail
algorithms offered in many digital scopes, that there is no
damage or debris. A recommended approach is to follow
the flow as illustrated in Figure 12.
The inspect before you clean (IBYC) approach provides
the greatest level of efficiency and time savings.
As shown in Figure 12, it may be necessary to perform
both wet and dry cleaning to remove all the debris. Technicians
and installers should want a full toolkit of different
cleaning products offered by various ICT companies.
If after completing the flow process the endface cannot
be suitably cleaned per IEC standards, then either a new
cable or a splice-on field connector needs to be used.
FIGURE 11: Image of MPO endface with dirt and debris.
FIGURE 12: Inspect Before You Clean (IBYC) flow diagram.
The IEC defines
a clean connector as having
no scratches and no defects
(e.g., dirt, pollen) in the core.
INSPECT BEFORE YOU CLEAN (IBYC)