Techniques when using stripping tools
Damaging inner materials when stripping any layer of the cable, is a ticking time-bomb. A fiber which has been scratched on the outer diameter may indeed function perfectly well for some time.
Stress points from which cracks in the glass can propagate over time, lead to (potentially) sudden and catastrophic failure of the cable assembly. This is why most Cable Assembly Houses will implement some method of evaluating newly-stripped fibers to help ensure no unseen damage has been done during the stripping process. A common such method is to perform a 45-degree bend test on the fiber where, if the fiber OD had been “nicked” by the stripping tool, this bend would cause the fiber to break at the scratch point. While this would then require re-stripping of the cable, it’s a much better problem to resolve than a fiber break in a deployed product!
READ FULL BLOG ARTICLE HERE: Good stripping techniques for your fiber optic cable assembly process
