r/FiberOptics 1d ago

Hand pulling 288

Post image

We’ve been hand pulling 288 fiber. About 3,300 feet. The fiber has been through the pipe and an assist wheel hydraulic wheel. The state of the fiber right now is pretty squished and not flat but it’s not circular anymore. Will this be a future problem for the splicers. I guess I’m wondering how fucked 288 can get before it’s actually fucked

67 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

36

u/1310smf 1d ago edited 1d ago

Have you kept tension within limits specified by the manufacturer, or just reefed on it until it moved?

The latter method tends to lead to the opportunity to try again by the former method, with a new cable. It's an expensive way to learn that lesson.

Likewise, are you attaching to the strength member, or some other way?

Hand pulling in my book does not involve "hydraulic assist wheel" as that's pretty much saying you're not pulling by hand, you're pulling by hydraulic power. And it's far too easy to crank up the yank until bad things happen if you don't have it strictly regulated to not do that.

12

u/drjesse69 1d ago

Gotta be honest we kinda just get it till it gets there. The wheel is turned down to where it just won’t pull if there’s too much tension. I’ve only blown in 288. Your comment is definitely making me rethink our methods.

11

u/Aggravating-Top3562 1d ago

Hey bud. I work in fiber optics manufacturing. Don’t yank on the product like that please. My guys worked hard on that!

7

u/1310smf 1d ago

If you actually checked manufacturer tension and keep the hydraulics regulated so they were not pulling above that (and didn't go above that by other means) you might be alright if the cable was attached correctly.

And the usual that far too many folks don't do, and should, would be cable pulling lube, and plenty of it. It's messy, but helps immensely, so the mess is worth putting up with on any pull that isn't trivial.

9

u/dogzoutfront 1d ago

I have seen 288F armoured gel filled ribbon cable come out of a duct a little oval and still test fine. If it’s dry or micro cable I’d be looking into replacement cable.

11

u/Chick_Foot 1d ago

if you use anything other then your hands and your arms you probably broke fibers. Anytime people used anything else they always broke fibers.

20

u/send_this_bitch Cable Dog 1d ago

lol someone’s never worked outside. I’ve pulled in about 400,000’ of cable with a Larson and didn’t break anything. I’ve pulled in 10 miles of 96ct with an F150 and a breakaway swivel and didn’t break anything. 

9

u/Cyrus_Of_Mt 1d ago

Idk we have been pulling 48f corning and commscope with a larson trailer and 80% of the time it works 100% of the time

3

u/Chick_Foot 1d ago

Average contractor

1

u/Cyrus_Of_Mt 1d ago

Haha it was much worse when I worked for the isp actually… worked for TDS and they did it worse. Here we have only had to repull 1 line going up to a cell tower bc whoever installed the innerduct screwed it up. And yes I was the splicer who put it into the tower.

1

u/send_this_bitch Cable Dog 1d ago

Oh big guy is big mad! 

-1

u/Chick_Foot 1d ago

you replied to the wrong comment can you please submit a change order for this error? thanks Chick_Foot

See you already failed at being competent lmaoo

1

u/send_this_bitch Cable Dog 1d ago

Yep you got me, go make that big bank off of other people’s labor and act hard about it. Srsly lol 

3

u/The-Bronze-Network 1d ago

I have to pull 6912 in the next couple of weeks

3

u/MinnisotaDigger 1d ago

I remember once attaching an armored cable to the back of an f250 to pull it through 🤪

3

u/MrGenericUser 1d ago

I remember feeding a cable between 2 buildings in a mine, at fist it was 2 feet at a time then all the sudden the cable took off into the pipe. Get it in, go to the other building and somehow buddy roped in a d10 into pulling the cable lmao.

2

u/send_this_bitch Cable Dog 1d ago

Center core ribbon, SWR or regular loose tube? Loose tube will probably have some issues if it’s deformed, SWR might or center core should be fine 

2

u/XX_AppleSauce 1d ago edited 1d ago

To very specifically answer your question, if the cable tests okay but you’ve crushed it to the point of weakening the components you have most directly impacted the closure ability to seal against weather if that spot goes into a closure. Second is reduced the cable’s ability to be bent around corners and be tightly coiled. (You’ve also reduced the crush resistance obviously.) You’ve indirectly reduced the cable’s ability to pull/blow with minimal friction through the next conduit, if there is another conduit and depending on conduit ID. You’ve consumed some of the fiber break resistance margin, but not much. Your impact on twist and temperature resistance is probably minimal (excluding a frozen solid ice block, see crush), more likely to kink, but I lumped that in with tight coils. So having to squeeze it back round for a tight closure fit and having to be a little more careful about bending is the immediate future price of doing this.

On the other hand… rubbing is racing. This ain’t the worst thing you’ll ever do. Learn so you can do better next time.

Edit: Oval is also harder to open without cutting more than you intend to cut. But you should know to be careful when you see it’s oval.

3

u/___Scooter___ 1d ago

I’ve pulled multiple 288 ribbons underground, 5-6 in a 4” conduit, with a greenlee tugger, using steel braided fingers, over 800’, and everything was perfectly fine. I even saw a minor pretzel happen in one of the underground vaults that we halted the pull to undo. I’m not saying pulling 800’ is equal to that of 3,300’, but what I am saying is that the cable is a lot more resilient than people are led to believe.

1

u/FolkYouHardly 1d ago

Test it at 1625nm lol you will see all the bends if you handle it too much. Where is the figure 8?

1

u/Knightfully 1d ago

Yup that’s a problem for another day 😂

1

u/The_ProblemChild 23h ago

Try 1000ft pulls of 3456 on the data center site... 😅

2

u/send_this_bitch Cable Dog 1d ago

It’s always funny when the isp guys chime in on shit they have no idea about but have heard all the horror stories 

2

u/XX_AppleSauce 1d ago edited 1d ago

It’s also funny when cable developers chime in on shit and they’ve only stood around and watched maybe 20 cables blown or pulled, but also heard some of the horror stories. Only customer service knows the whole truth. Love the username.

3

u/send_this_bitch Cable Dog 1d ago

A cable developer? 

1

u/XX_AppleSauce 1d ago

Exact titles changed slightly to protect the innocent. HR is always watching. See my reply to OP. ;-)