We just finished one of our long running fiber optic projects in northern Michigan. In all we spliced 562 taps and 46 cases including 22 splitters. Commscope products were used for the taps. Our fiber optic splicers fused several brands of cable including Corning and Sterlite.
The work has been in several little towns near Cheboygan MI. Most customers in this area of the state have been anxiously awaiting fiber optic internet service. Service in these rural areas is usually horrible and almost unusable. Residents are excited to see us splicing and ask when the service is going to be ready. For these 850 or so customers the answer is now.
Splicing Fiber in Cold
One of the more difficult aspects of this particular project is working in the cold weather. Besides being generally uncomfortable, the freezing temperatures can also affect the fiber optic cable in Northern Michigan. The buffer tubes in the Sterlite cable especially can get brittle. This can get hairy when splitting the tubes open.
If a brittle buffer tube breaks apart while splitting it open, the fiber itself could get damaged or broken. There are several ways to solve this problem. The easiest is to simply let the cable sit in a warm trailer for a bit. Our guys work so fast they don’t usually have time for this option. I’ll go into details on what else can be done in a future post.
We work fiber optic projects throughout the state of Michigan and are available 24/7 365 days a year. For a quote or if you have a question feel free to call anytime (877) 96-fiber.