The installer injects epoxy into the connector, threads in the stripped fiber, cures the adhesive in an oven or with an anaerobic hardener, then scribes off the excess fiber and polishes the end face on a sequence of lapping films in a figure 8 pattern. Done well it produces low loss for a very low parts cost per connector. It is common for multimode work, while singlemode is usually spliced pigtails or splice-on connectors.
Kit's got the heat-cure epoxy, so figure twelve minutes in the oven per batch of six for the epoxy and polish ends.
Also heard as
- epoxy polish
- field polish
Do not mix it up with
- Splice-on connector: A splice-on connector has a factory-polished stub fusion spliced to the field fiber, so no field polishing is done.
Related terms
Hockey puck
The round polishing fixture that holds a connector square to the lapping film during hand polishing.
Ferrule
The precision ceramic or metal cylinder in a connector that holds the fiber and lines it up with its mate.
End face
The polished tip of a connector ferrule and fiber, where light leaves one fiber and enters the next.
Splice-on connector
A connector with a factory-polished fiber stub that is fusion spliced directly onto the field fiber.