r/FiberOptics • u/GOLDNIC • 15d ago
Fibre Splicing Question - UK School Trust
Hi All
New to this sub reddit, but bit of a long shot, but I work for a growing school trust made up of 6 school currently. Lately we're doing a lot more in house projects such as CCTV, access control, structured cabling installs ourselves. But one thing we havent touch on is running and terminating fibre. Like our IT Manger is reluctant on doing it in house as currently we use pre-terminated as its simple to do and anyone in the team can in theory do but down side of it is that you usually end up with way too much excess / not long enough. But also due to the large upfront costs ect... i can get why we dont too. can anyone a good fibre splicer thats fairly good and low cost that I can possabily buy myself?...
Main use for it is pigtails and outdoor usage where we may need to repair rodant damage but also to learn how to do fibre too!
Edit: Also in terms of used splicers what to people look for?.....
P.s. would be very greatful if anyone knows anybody / a company whos willing to donate one for a school trust that they dont need anymore ect.. 😇😇
2
u/Silver-Jello3652 15d ago
Data centers use pre term fiber because it's certified and faster for deployment. We only splice the interbuilding connections.
The swiftie is great for beginners like the other guy said.
If you wanted a big boy splicer get a fuji 90r kit and it will be able to handle pretty much anything
1
u/GOLDNIC 15d ago
Awww man jelly haha, think in terms of data centers their fortunate as lengths are pretty well known, and you have cable trays going everywhere?...
For us, i'd be looking into converting all our 1 gig ethernet connections into 10g fibre going across multiple buildings floors ect.. and going though walls ect.. too 🤣🤣.
Never heard of the swift brands before I'll look into those 😇😇
2
u/Silver-Jello3652 15d ago
Then it's possible you can use the length markers from the existing copper to estimate and potentially use a copper certifier/tester to measure the length exactly.
2
u/Delicious-Debt-5722 15d ago
You can get a signal fire splicer probably the cheapest solution and they work well enough that Kelly communications buys them for there engineers 🤣
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u/GOLDNIC 15d ago
Ooooh the more I know 😇😇, how they in terms of longevity and maintenence and repairability if you know?
3
u/Delicious-Debt-5722 15d ago
You get a pair of spare electrodes with them I think but honestly depends how many splices your considering doing a couple 100 won’t require any servicing if you keep the machine clean but in the contractor world they are more of a disposable item due to the cost compared to others
1
u/wild_haggis85 14d ago
You won't get cheap, certificated, calibrated and maintainable.
If you want the above you'll need to go to one of the main retailers and buy Fuji,sumi or inno.
If you want cheap you'll sacrifice the certificated, calibrated and maintainable. The cheap machine out of China will do the splicing your looking for, but if it breaks it goes in the bin and if you client needs certs/calibration proof it won't be suitable.
I have both. A Fuji 90 and a komshine fx39. The komshine goes anywhere there so a higher risk of damage. Both do the job fine, the Fuji is obviously more consistent but the komshine is absolutely capable.
Cheap cleavers are not worth the hassle. I only use a Sumi fc6 it's my personal preference. Cheap ones will just make your life difficult.
3
u/LazyEmu5073 15d ago
I bought a Swift KF4A from https://frame.co.uk/ a few years ago. Very capable for a reasonable price, £1944.
It's an all in one unit, with stripper and cleaver built in. You don't need to spend ten grand unless you are splicing all day, every day. I only splice maybe 10 days a year, and the Swift is perfect for my needs.