How to coil fiber optic cables on a splice reel

Properly coiling fiber optic cables after splicing ensures minimal signal loss, prevents fiber damage, and maintains an organized layout for future maintenance.

Preparation Before Coiling

Before coiling, ensure the fiber optic cable and pigtails are pre-processed: strip the outer jacket, clean the fiber, and insert fiber protection sleeves where needed. Calculate the reserved fiber length carefully, as uneven lengths can make coiling difficult and affect the splice tray layout. Avoid tension on the fiber and ensure the bending radius is at least 30 mm, or ten times the cable diameter, to prevent microbends and signal loss .

Coiling Methods

1. Middle First, Then Sides: Place the heat-shrink sleeves in the fixing groove at the center of the splice tray, then coil the remaining fiber on both sides. This method protects the fiber joints and is ideal when tray space is limited .
2. Start from One End: Coil the fiber from one side, fix the heat-shrink tube, and then coil the remaining fiber on the other side. This method is faster and allows flexible placement based on fiber length .
3. Special Situations: For fibers that are unusually long or short, coil them separately at the tray ends. Special optical devices may require individual handling .

Coiling Rules and Tips

• Single Coil per Splice: After splicing and heat-shrinking, coil each fiber once to avoid tangling and confusion between fibers or branches .
• Follow Tray Slots: Route internal pigtails counterclockwise and external fibers clockwise along the splice tray slots. Let the fiber naturally follow the tray trend without pulling .
• Maintain Tidy Layout: Proper coiling ensures fibers are easy to disassemble, maintain, and reduces the risk of damage during future operations .
• Avoid Bird's-Nest Coiling: Coiling should be neat and organized; sloppiness can lead to fiber breakage or increased insertion loss .

Tools Required

• Fiber splicing tray or reel
• Fiber protection sleeves
• Fusion splicer
• Fiber cleaver
• Cable stripper
• Alcohol and dust-free cloth for cleaning By following these steps and methods, fiber optic cables can be coiled safely and efficiently, ensuring long-term reliability and ease of maintenance .