I dont do a lot of fiber , but have done a little . on another board someone is claiming that fiber connectors regularly fail and need to be replaced every couple of years .

that dosn't sound right to me , I have stuff out there thats working fine after 5 years plus so you guys that do fiber is that your experiance ?

Everything I have ever done is still working. The only times I have seen a problem is if you put on the ends and run it straight into the equipment. We always put them in fiber trays and have never had to go back. Maybe its the ends they are using. We use the 3M hotmelt ends.

Might also be an issue of people not putting the dust caps on when cables/terminations are not in use. Or if this person doesn't like fiber for whatever reason, they might be stretching the truth a bit.

I haven't had any experience with fiber connectors going bad just because they're old.

Once the fiber is tested with a TDR and passes , the only failures we have had are human ones . We use Biconic,ST,SC and the new one , forget the name !

Skip Who ever they are they must be constantly plugging in and unplugging and even then I have never worn one out.

We have a lot of fiber being used in our Central Office. Have never seen a fiber fail on its own.

thanks , thats been my impression based my my experiances and observation thought maybe I was missing something

If you test the fiber and install it in a fiber panel, there is no reason it should fail. I have fiber thats been installed for six years now without a problem. When you connect or reconnect to a strand you should always clean the tips, that will prevent a lot of problems.

I have installed long-haul fiber since 1986. Although the splicing and connection technologies have changed for the better thruogh the years, the infrastructures have remained usable. Dark fiber placed twenty years ago are often put into use by new circuit necessities. As long as the fiber is certified by recent OTDR measurements it should be good to go. One caveat, fiber in OSP is affected by water in splice cases. Even though it is glass, fiber is vunerable to water infusion. Indoor connectors that may have been installed previously on dark fiber are useable according to precautions mentioned in the aforementioned posts, as long as the proper connectors can be found.

I've been shipping terminated fiber assemblies for about 10 years now. I would say that the guy on the other board is talking about fiber he terminated.

skip555
I would ask that poster if he uses a clean ev and the figure 8 polishing pattern or the ole good to go method . The last time I heard a remark like that was fom a "Back Hoe Operator" !

Bull$#!+
I have sets of patch/test cables that I made back in the '80s "Metal ST Heat Cured Epoxy" and are still working fine!

From what I remember, the connectors are rated for a certain number of connect-disconnect cycles, I think somewhere around 500 or 1000, but even then decent connectors are ceramic and it takes a lot to wear one out. The most likely problems are improper installation/polishing/cleaning and physical abuse.