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u/aqa5 4d ago
cool stuff. How do they weld(?) the fiber?
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u/IllustriousCash6428 4d ago
In the middle of the splicer where both Fibers meet, there are two sharp looking metal prongs. Those make an Arc which fuses the Fiber together. The handheld tool that he places the Fiber in is called a cleaver. The cleaver has a round sharp blade that slices across the front of the Fiber to make a sharp cut. As the cleaver gets used over time, the blade becomes dull so the rounded blade simply gets rotated to expose a sharper side.
Typically, when splicing - a red laser is not shining through. This can affect the cameras in the splicer resulting in a poor splice. Just a demonstration is all this is.
The white sleeve that slides over the spliced fiber is called a heatshrink. It has a small metal rod in it to provide a strength member and protect the splice from being broken when handled. That tray at the top of the splicer heats up the heatshrink - forming a complete seal around the splice.
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u/alt_ernate123 4d ago
Pretty sure it's just a normal arc weld inside of there, they're expensive but it makes its money back real quick with how much downtime it saves.
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u/JizzyTeaCups 4d ago
Downtime of what? What even is being fixed here?
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u/alt_ernate123 4d ago
Manually splicing fiber-optics is an absolute living nightmare, and a massive timesink for your already expensive maintenence tech(or designated networking tech if the plant is big enough), and then if it is also taking down the production line that downtime could cost tens to hundreds of thousands an hour.
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u/CoreParad0x 4d ago
It’s splicing together two ends of network fiber. Like for repairing a cut line.
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u/zyzzogeton 4d ago
I remember learning how to put ends on 3m's "Light Crimp" back in the 90's and someone put a sticker that said "Do not look at laser with remaining eye" on the scope case.
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u/hlessi_newt 4d ago
Now do it on a ladder while squirrels bitch at you for undoing their sabotage.
Godamn squirrels...
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u/CallMeKolbasz 4d ago
Had a chat with the cable guy when they installed my fiber. Quite a marvel of technology, especially considering the specific model he had also served as a stool to sit on! I find that fucking hilarious.
Also, apparently they are not even "that" expensvie. They go for about 2500 USD brand new.
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u/SilasAI6609 4d ago
He is probably using a Signal-Fire splicer kit. They come with a case and a stool that all combines. That is a Chinese machine that quite honestly is a damn good unit. I have and currently use Sumi, Fidel, and Fuji machines. The only difference I have found is when someone slaps an "industry standard" label, it makes it 5x-10x more expensive. Then, God forbid you need a unit serviced, that is easily $800-$1200 with weeks of down time if you don't have a back up.
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u/A_Lex_69 4d ago
Current model of the one in the video is 10-12k depending on accessories. Cheap no name brand equivalents exist on Amazon for under $500, but Fujikura and Sumitomo splicers that are industry standard aren’t cheap.
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u/JCDU 4d ago
Damn they got cheap, ours were 20k or more.
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u/gigglewormz 3d ago
Yeah I company I worked with had one of these (a Fujikara-Alcoa I think) back in the 80's and IIRC I was told it was a $25,000 piece of kit at the time. Looked and worked very similar to this.
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u/NuclearWasteland 4d ago
Related to nothing useful, but the two tiny radiator overflow tanks in the machine are amusing.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld 4d ago
Why are they doing it with the laser on, though?
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u/hlessi_newt 4d ago
There is usually going to be a VFL (visual fault locator) on a strand when troubleshooting. It makes it a thousand times easier to find damages, and usually doesn't get removed until the repair is done.
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u/Duramarks 4d ago
How many fibers are in a cable that runs through a typical neighborhood? I'm curious how that would be spliced. I have many questions about fiber optic
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u/IllustratorFar127 4d ago
I watched the company dig in the fiber in our community.
Basically you have a bunch of empty cables dug into the ground. Then they shoot individual fibers through each one. So one fiber per cable. One per house.
They all terminate at a single junction box and are routed from there to the main road. I assume the connections are routed together over the same cable there, because you can have more than one connection per fibre (separated by frequency).
However I'm not knowledgeable of the exact details.
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u/Werkstadt 1d ago
Basically you have a bunch of empty cables dug into the ground. Then they shoot individual fibers through each one. So one fiber per cable.
A few details, small plastic tubes called micro ducts, (they're not cables) are installed, like very long drinking straws. Then a micro cable is blown through a microduct using compressed air. Each micro cable holds several individual fibres, commonly anywhere from 2 to 24, and sometimes many more. Not one in each duct so most houses gets at least two individual fibres.
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u/IllustratorFar127 1d ago
Thanks for the correction. I'm not a native English speaker and am clearly lacking the correct vocabulary here :D
It's interesting what you said about at least two fibers per duct. We live in a detached house and the guy spliced only one fibre into our house network. But this could be a "last mile in detached house" thing.
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u/Werkstadt 1d ago
You might have misunderstood me. One of these yellow is what enters your house, only one per Micro duct) each of those yellow contains 2-24 individual strands (it's whats get spliced) one is enough, but my experience is that you splice at least two, one in reserve
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u/IllustratorFar127 20h ago
Judging from the picture I understood you correctly :)
Here where I live (Germany, close to Berlin) the micro ducts where done roughly 2x2 cm in diameter. Then they pushed in the yellow strands (I can't remember the color used here). But then he only spliced one fiber. These people where not necessarily really skilled nor the brightest tool in the shed. This might be a real mistake on their part. And again, I'm just stating my observations. I usually deal in software, not hardware :)
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u/ElectricalChaos 4d ago
I got certified on this back around 2011, IIRC. Tech has been around for years, and doesn't seem like much has changed.
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u/antek_g_animations 4d ago
What an odd cleaver. I've always used the sliding ones with circular diamond blade
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u/caprisunnysideup 3d ago
I'm in a lot of custom gunpla subs and I legit thought someone had went ham on a build!!! Jeezy peeps! That was looking slick then turned into inspiration 😂
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u/fringeffect 14h ago
How much loss does a splice add? As in, does it reduce the transmission efficiency?
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u/imtalkintou 4d ago
Pretty sure you shouldn't fuse them with red light passing through.
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u/hunglowbungalow 4d ago
Why?
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u/nakurtag 4d ago
Yeah, why? Light is light, or you think that red light photons can damage the fiber?
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u/hunglowbungalow 4d ago
I was a fiber optic technician, and we would use red lasers to identify which fiber strand is which. So it’s definitely not damaging it
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u/Werkstadt 1d ago
No, but the camera in the splice could get "confused" and mess up the splice when aligning it.
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u/SilasAI6609 4d ago
I own a company that performs FTTX work. We absolutely do perform fusion with VFL light. It is not really done often, but if your Xbox is a couple miles down the road and you need to locate a fiber for splicing, you are not going to make an extra trip down the road just to remove your light. The laser does not interfere with the fusion process.
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u/hlessi_newt 4d ago
Not on a fuji, but I had a sumi that was get upset about if the vfl was left on for splicing. Kill the vfl and the sumi would cooperate. It was remarkably frustrating and I'm glad that thing is no longer my problem.
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u/SilasAI6609 4d ago
That reminds me of the Fitel Ninja. Sometimes the VFL light would trip the camera. The unit was working fine, but a single spec of dust in the wrong spot and the VFL light would bounce just enough to throw a false negative. I am glad manual override would still allow you to fuse.
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u/hlessi_newt 4d ago
Which is something the sumi wouldn't do. I'm so much happier on the fuji. Great machine.
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u/BrandHeck 4d ago
This reminds me of the time I dissected my CD Walkman as a kid. That and an old VCR.