Preparation before Striping and Cleaning Indoor Fiber-Optics Cable

To strip and clean indoor FO cable preparation, follow this procedure.

Step 1: Decide how much cable you want in the termination cabinet, so you know how much jacket to remove at the slack end. Mark the jacket. Be sure you allow enough length. Some like to put a piece of shrink sleeve, about 2 in. or 3 in. long, over this point in the cable. These are available with your cable identification imprinted on them.

Step 2: Put a circular score around the outer jacket at 7 in. to 10 in. away from the cable's end. Be careful not to cut through the jacket and cut off the ripcord. Strip back and remove the 7-in. to 10-in. long piece of outer jacket to expose the ripcord, which you'll use to remove the rest of the jacket to the Step 1 mark. Make sure you have enough length on the ripcord to get a good grip. You can use a knife with a hook blade or one of a variety of other outer jacket cutters.

Generally, the jacket's outer part of the plastic is soft, and the inner part is hard or brittle. So, you should be able to bend the jacket, and the plastic will break off.

Step 3: Score the cable at the Step 1 mark, being careful not to cut through the jacket.

Step 4: Strip the jacket down to the mark with the ripcord, and remove it from the cable. Your best bet is to put a little nick in the jacket at the ripcord's location with the hook blade knife. This provides a good starting location for the ripcord and reduces the possibility of it breaking.

Ducting waiver cable

Step 5: Remove the outer jacket from the point where it will enter the termination cabinet to the slack end, making sure you leave a few inches of the jacket in the enclosure. Use cable ties to fasten the cable to a fastening part inside the enclosure.

Step 6: If the buffered fibers are in a sub-group jacket, you'll have to remove this, too, again making sure you don't cut too deeply through the jacket. If there are no sub-groups, just individual buffered fibers, unwrap them from around the strength member.

Step 7: Cut the strength member to length, and fasten it solidly to the enclosure. This will prevent the cable from pulling out of the enclosure and putting damaging strain on the fibers. If the strength member is a solid fiberglass rod, you may have to use a set-screw lug to attach it to the enclosure. If it is aramid yarn, then fasten it to the enclosure by wrapping it around a screw (manufacturers' recommendation). This writer finds crimping it in a lug is neater and more secure.

For more high quality and low cost fiber optics, please contact SOPTO.

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