Monthly Maintenance: Randomly inspect fiber optic cable connections, test backbone fiber optic link attenuation, and clean connector end faces. The pace of innovation in computer and network science has become very significant in the recent century so that new technologies rise every day with the new. Small oil micro-deposits and dust particles on fiber optic cable optical surfaces may cause a loss of light or degraded signal power which may ultimately cause intermittent problems in the optical connection. Some people have suggested that fiber optic networks need periodic maintenance, including microscopic inspection of connectors and mating adapters and even insertion loss testing or taking OTDR traces. This document outlines the Panduit recommended procedures for visual inspection and cleaning of multimode and singlemode structured cabling system interconnect components (connectors and adapters) and specifies workmanship requirements, tools and best practices, to be utilized for end face. The ITU-T (Telecommunication Standardization Sector) is a permanent organ of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
[PDF Version]