Dirty fiber connectors and so many options 🤷🏻‍♂️

Dirty connectors account for more than 90% of performance problems in optical networks, which might indicate that we gotta keep focus on preaching/teaching the basics.

When it comes to fiber cleaning products, new techs might find choosing among all the options available confusing.

⚠️ As a starting point (not meant to be exhaustive), you may use this quick guide for choosing what and when to use fiber cleaning tools and consumables:

Notes:

⚠️ Always inspect connectors before cleaning. Cleaning connectors without inspecting first, might create more problems than help.

⚠️ When inspecting, if heavy dust particles or sand are observed, consider first removing the connector and flushing it out with a small squirt of connector cleaning fluid to avoid scratching the connector end face when making contact with the cleaning device.

⚠️ The fiber connector inside the connection port and the port itself should also be inspected, and when needed, cleaned with fiber cleaning sticks or lint free swabs.

👉 Fiber cleaning fluids are not created equal… 💥