Category Archives: Yard & Outdoors

The Secret Of Successful Fiber Optic Cable Management

August 11, 2022   Matt

The Secret Of Successful Fiber Optic Cable Management

Why is proper fiber optic cable management so critical?

Service providers have deployed more and more fiber optic cables for their high bandwidth, low costs, greater reliability and flexibility. But just deploying is not enough; a successful fiber network also requires a solid infrastructure based on a professional fiber optic cable management system.

Fiber optic cable management affects a network’s reliability, performance, cost and maintenance. It provides the ability to reconfigure network, restore service and implement new services quickly.

Four goals to achieve with professional fiber optic cable management

1. Protect fiber optic cable from microbends and macrobends loss

Microbends are small deformities in the optical fiber and macrobends are larger bends of the fiber cable. Fiber bends beyond the specified minimum bending radius can cause signal loss or even break the fiber, causing service disruption.

As a rule of thumb, the minimum bending radius should be bigger than ten times the outer diameter of the fiber cable. Telcordia recommends a minimum 38mm bending radius for 3mm fiber optic patch cords.

Fiber optic cable management system should provide bend radius protection at all points where a fiber optic cable makes a bend. This helps ensure the network’s long-term reliability; thus reduces the network operation cost by reducing network down time.

2. Well defined fiber optic cable management routing paths

The leading cause of fiber optic cable minimum bend radius violation is improper routing of fibers by fiber installation technicians.

In a proper fiber cable management system, routing paths are clearly defined and easy to follow; such that the technician has no other option but to route the cables properly.

Well defined routing paths reduce the training time required for technicians and increase the uniformity of work done. It also makes accessing individual fibers easier, quicker and safer.

3. Easy access to installed optical fibers

Allowing easy access to installed fibers is critical in maintaining proper bend radius protection. The system should be designed to ensure that individual fibers can be installed or removed without inducing a macrobend on an adjacent fiber. Accessibility is critical during network reconfiguration.

4. Physical protection of installed optical fibers

Well defined fiber optic cable management system physically protects the fibers from accidental damage by technicians and equipment throughout the network.

Fiber optic cable management system procurement

When making the decision on purchasing your fiber optic cable management systems, the goal is getting the most cost-effective system that provides the best cable management, flexibility, and growth capabilities.

Going with the cheapest approaches for fiber optic cable management can cost more money in the long run. A strong fiber cable management system will enable you to extract the maximum value from your installed optical fiber networks.

Specifying Fiber Cable Management Systems: Cost and Value

As a means of keeping operational costs down, service providers around the world are increasingly turning to systems integrators to install their networks.

This practice allows the service provider’s technicians to focus on operations and maintenance, rather than network installation. There is, however, an inherent risk in this practice.

As the purchasing decision for the fiber cable management system moves from the service provider’s engineering group to the systems integration prime contractor, the cable management features of the distribution system are generally not specified.

What can happen, then, is the equipment installed may lack key features and functionalities. In light of the importance of proper cable management within the ODF, the service provider needs to specify the basic requirements for the cable management system.

There are several industry-standard specifications that can assist service providers in writing specifications for their cable management systems. Two of these specifications are:

• Telcordia Generic Requirements for Fiber Distribution Frames GR-449-CORE, Issue 2, July 2003

• Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) Generic Equipment Requirements, TR-NWT-000063

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Cold Weather and Frozen Pipes

August 06, 2022   Matt

Cold Weather and Frozen Pipes

Cold weather is a big problem for home and property owners- especially if you’ve moved and your home is setting empty. Why? PLUMBING!
If your home gets too cold, the water in your pipes can freeze overnight and then burst in the day when it warms back up. This leaves the potential for extensive flooding and water damage to your home. The pipes you need to be most concerned about are those that have the most exposure to the cold — outdoor hose faucets, swimming pool supply lines, underground sprinkler systems, and plumbing in unheated basements, crawl spaces, attics and garages. Pipes that run against exterior walls are also at risk.
What to do…
When it’s cold outside, you should periodically check all the faucets in your home. If it doesn’t work or water is just a trickle you may have frozen water in your pipes. Attempt to locate the frozen area by looking in the area most likely to freeze- i.e. the coldest. Use a heat lamp, space heater, hair dryer or electrical heat pad to begin to thaw out the pipes. Remember to keep the faucet open as you work. That’s because running water will help melt the ice faster. Apply heat until full water pressure is restored, then consider going to your neighborhood hardware store to purchase insulation for the areas of the pipe that froze (to help prevent it from happening again).
DO NOT use any sort of blow torch or open flame to warm the pipes. I can not stress this enough, so let me say it again. DO NOT use an open flame. First off, an open flame is a fire hazard and if you are working in a confined area there is a threat of carbon monoxide poisoning. Every year there is a story in the news of some person burning down their home or suffocating themselves to death while working on frozen pipes.
The second reason not to use an open flame is if it gets too hot you can melt your pipes (especially PVC plastic pipes). Third, too much heat too quickly creates the potential for an explosion. That’s because water expands as it gets hot. A blow torch or other device will cause the water to boil, and boiling water trapped in the middle of a frozen pipe has no place to expand- so it explodes.
The last piece of advice is always the best… If you fail to unthaw the pipe, call a licensed plumber before the pipe breaks.
How to keep it from happening…
– Your home should have inside valves on your outdoor water supply lines. Close them, then open the outside faucet and let the water drain. Leave the outside faucet open all winter.
– Drain and store outside garden hoses.
– If you haven’t already done so, drain the water from your swimming pool and lawn sprinkler system. As mentioned above, insulate plumbing that’s most susceptible to freezing. You can find supplies at your local hardware store, Home Depot, or Lowes.
– During severe cold weather, let the faucets drip. Although it’s no guarantee, even a trickle of water can help prevent pipes from freezing and an open faucet gives the water someplace to run once it starts to warm up.
– Keep the home temperature set to no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I know it’s tempting to turn the thermostat down when you leave town for a few weeks or if you have an unsold home that is setting empty, but the higher heat bill is quickly offset by the cost of repairing a pipe and cleaning up water damage.
– Lastly, if you experience flooding or water damage from a broken pipe, be sure to watch the home for mold or mildew. Black mold can be a serious after effect to a flooded home that’s far worse to deal with than the actual water damage.

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