IEC TR 62627-01:2010

Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components - Part 01: Fibre optic connector cleaning methods

IEC/TR 62627-01:2010(E) is intended to emphasize the need for cleaning fibre optic connections as well as describing some of the current tools and methods available for proper cleaning. In addition, the report includes a definition of practices that are not recommended. This technical report explains the need to visually inspect plug endfaces but it does not address the inspection criteria, which are covered in another standard.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 05-Aug-2010
• ICS: 33.180.20 - Fibre optic interconnecting devices
• Technical Committee: SC 86B - Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components
• Current Stage: DELPUB - Deleted Publication
• Completion Date: 15-Jan-2016

Relations

• Revised: IEC TR 62627-01:2016 - Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components - Part 01: Fibre optic connector cleaning methods
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC/TR 62627-01
®
Edition 1.0 2010-08
TECHNICAL
REPORT

colour
inside
Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components –
Part 01: Fibre optic connector cleaning methods


IEC/TR 62627-01:2010(E)

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IEC/TR 62627-01
®
Edition 1.0 2010-08
TECHNICAL
REPORT

colour
inside
Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components –
Part 01: Fibre optic connector cleaning methods


INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
PRICE CODE
Q
ICS 33.180.20 ISBN 978-2-88912-083-3
® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission

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– 2 – TR 62627-01 © IEC:2010(E)
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.4
1 Scope.6
2 Terms and definitions .6
3 General .6
3.1 Need for cleaning of fibre optic connections .6
3.1.1 General .6
3.1.2 High power levels .7
3.1.3 High data rates.7
3.2 What is the source of contamination? .7
3.2.1 Mishandling .7
3.2.2 Environmental sources .8
3.2.3 Contamination travels.8
3.2.4 Contamination migration.8
3.3 What do I need to clean?.9
3.3.1 Fibre optic patch cord.9
3.3.2 Plug endfaces.9
3.3.3 Testing or trouble shooting .9
3.4 What are the effects of contamination?.9
3.4.1 Signal degradation .9
3.4.2 Permanent damage .10
3.5 When to clean the plug?.10
4 Apparatus.10
4.1 General .10
4.2 Apparatus to clean exposed plug endfaces.11
4.2.1 Dry wipes and cassettes.11
4.2.2 Using a solvent with dry wipes and cassettes .11
4.2.3 Summary.11
4.3 Apparatus to clean ports.11
4.3.1 Dry port cleaning devices .11
4.3.2 Summary.11
4.4 Cleaning machines .12
4.4.1 General .12
4.4.2 Summary.12
4.5 Inspection equipment .12
5 Procedure .12
5.1 General .12
5.2 Procedure to clean exposed plug endfaces .13
5.3 Procedure to clean ports .14
6 Other important points .15
Bibliography.17

Figure 1 – Typical examples of contamination.7
Figure 2 – Results of mating .8
Figure 3 – Contamination migration .9
Figure 4 – Signal degradation due to contamination.10

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TR 62627-01 © IEC:2010(E) – 3 –
Figure 5 – Permanent damage due to contamination.10
Figure 6 – Patch-cord inspection and port inspection .12
Figure 7 – Basic flow .13
Figure 8 – Dry cleaning.13
Figure 9 – Cleaning for ports .14

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– 4 – TR 62627-01 © IEC:2010(E)
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________

FIBRE OPTIC INTERCONNECTING DEVICES
AND PASSIVE COMPONENTS –

Part 01: Fibre optic connector cleaning methods


FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
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The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. However, a
technical committee may propose the publication of a technical report when it has collected
data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard, for
example "state of the art".
IEC 62627, which is a technical report, has been prepared by subcommittee 86B: Fibre optic
interconnecting devices and passive components, of IEC technical committee 86: Fibre optics.
The text of this technical report is based on the following documents:
Enquiry draft Report on voting
86B/2902/DTR 86B/2940/RVC

Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical report can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.

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TR 62627-01 © IEC:2010(E) – 5 –
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
A bilingual version of this publication may be issued at a later date.

IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.

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– 6 – TR 62627-01 © IEC:2010(E)
FIBRE OPTIC INTERCONNECTING DEVICES
AND PASSIVE COMPONENTS –

Part 01: Fibre optic connector cleaning methods



1 Scope
This technical report is intended to emphasize the need for cleaning fibre optic connections as
well as describing some of the current tools and methods available for proper cleaning. In
addition, the report includes a definition of practices that are not recommended. This technical
report explains the need to visually inspect plug endfaces but it does not address the
inspection criteria, which are covered in another standard.
NOTE This technical report only covers single fibre plug-adaptor plug or plug-active device configurations, but the
same principles apply to plug-socket configurations and multi-fibre ferrules.
2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1
exposed plug endface
EPE
typically, a fibre optic plug that is held in the hand such as the end of a patchcord
NOTE The ferrule is exposed to the air and is not confined within an alignment sleeve of a bulkhead adaptor or
device port. The endface of the plug is easy to access and can be brought into contact with the cleaning material.
2.2
port
open fibre optic alignment sleeve which contains a fibre optic plug endface to which a fibre
optic plug may be mated
NOTE In the case of a bulkhead adaptor, it is the open side of the adaptor after a fibre optic plug has been
inserted into one side. In the case of an optical device, it is the opening into which a user of the device will plug a
patch cord. The mating side of a port can only be accessed through the alignment sleeve. Therefore the cleaning
material must be brought to the endface through the alignment sleeve.
2.3
bulkhead adaptor
a component in which two or more plugs may be mated
NOTE It has one or more alignment sleeves in which two or more ferrules are aligned.
3 General
3.1 Need for cleaning of fibre optic connections
3.1.1 General
Contamination is the most common source of problems in optical networks. A single particle
located on the core of a single mode fibre can cause significant back reflection, attenuation
and fibre damage.
With increased data rates, it has become increasingly important to ensure that all plugs and
adaptors are inspected and if necessary cleaned before mating. This means that both sides

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TR 62627-01 © IEC:2010(E) – 7 –
of a connection and the inside of adaptor sleeve should be inspected and if necessary
cleaned before making the connection. This applies to test equipment and test cords as well
as network components. New plugs shall be inspected and if necessary cleaned as well.
Inspecting and cleaning every connection every time is the best assurance of a reliable
optical network.
3.1.2 High power levels
High power levels may be experienced in transmission fibres, particularly where Raman
amplifiers are used – pump power levels of one Watt (+30 dBm) or more may be present in

2
the core of the fibre giving an energy density equivalent to 12,5 GW/m for a single mode core
2
with an effective area of 80 μm . Also high power levels may be used for information
transmission in DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) systems, where high power
systems may have 100 mW to 1 W total signal power. When optical power of this magnitude is
transmitted within a single mode fibre, any contamination on the endface of a fibre optic plug
will be heated to extremely high temperatures resulting in possible vaporization of the
contaminate and melting of the glass, thereby destroying the integrity of the connection and
requiring a complete replacement of the connection components.
3.1.3 High data rates
With the onset of high data rate systems at gigabit data rates and above, cleaning multimode
fibre optic plugs has become much more important. In the past, at slower data rates (10 Mb/s
and 100 Mb/s), the use
...