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Maintenance of Splicing Quality
Cleaning and Checking before Splicing
It is possible to maintain the performance of the splicer for a long time with proper cleaning
and maintenance.
Critical cleaning points and maintenance checks are described below.
Cleaning V-grooves
If contaminants are present in the V-grooves, proper clamping may not occur, resulting in
higher splice loss. The V-grooves should be frequently inspected and periodically cleaned
during normal operation. To clean the V-grooves do the following:
1. Open the wind-protector.
2. Clean the bottom of the V-groove
with an alcohol-moistened thin
cotton swab. Remove excess
alcohol from the V-groove with a
clean dry swab.
3. If the contaminants in the V-groove cannot be removed with an
alcohol-moistened thin cotton swab, use a cleaved fiber end-face to dislodge
contaminants from the bottom of the V-groove. Repeat step section 2 after this
procedure.
Be careful to not contact the electrode tips.
Prepared fiber
Cotton swab
V-grooves