Fibre Termination query

newbiejim · 7 Jul 2019 at 19:59

Roughly how much would it be to get both ends of a fibre run (OM3 multimode) terminated with LC connectors from a skilled operative?

Caged · 7 Jul 2019 at 20:11

I think I paid about £400 a few years ago to have 24 terminations done across three patch panels, including the supply of the patch panels and pigtails and providing OTDR test results. No idea if that's in line with any sort of going rate but it seemed reasonable to me.

newbiejim · 7 Jul 2019 at 20:52

Caged said:
I think I paid about £400 a few years ago to have 24 terminations done across three patch panels, including the supply of the patch panels and pigtails and providing OTDR test results. No idea if that's in line with any sort of going rate but it seemed reasonable to me.

Thanks, sounds decent value tbh, for my small job I'd only need 8 terminations , trying to determine whether it's worth just purchasing pre-terminated armoured as the run will be going in a trench , for 140 metres it's circa £500 though.

bledd · 8 Jul 2019 at 13:01

In my experience, pre-terminated is a pain. Much easier to run a cable and not worry about getting the perfect length. Then terminate.

newbiejim · 8 Jul 2019 at 17:28

bledd said:
In my experience, pre-terminated is a pain. Much easier to run a cable and not worry about getting the perfect length. Then terminate.

Cheers, yes getting the length optimum with pre terminated was something I thought could be a carry on , likelihood of a significant coil at both ends.

Caged · 8 Jul 2019 at 20:57

On the plus side you can coil quite a lot of fibre in a small space. If you don't trust your fibre handling abilities then install tubing and get someone to blow the fibre in and do the termination.

newbiejim · 8 Jul 2019 at 22:32

Caged said:
On the plus side you can coil quite a lot of fibre in a small space. If you don't trust your fibre handling abilities then install tubing and get someone to blow the fibre in and do the termination.

Will be going in a trench within conduit , just really terminating I need , interestingly it's for robotic/automated milking parlour + cameras + devices .

bledd · 9 Jul 2019 at 06:53

Ha, the fibre guy we use was telling me that recently he installed fibre in a milking parlor. He said it was a 48 port patch panel, almost every one was used!

Caged · 9 Jul 2019 at 22:03

Just make sure you have a nice sealed cabinet for all the gear so that you can hose the place down and the feed dust doesn't get everywhere

newbiejim · 9 Jul 2019 at 22:06

bledd said:
Ha, the fibre guy we use was telling me that recently he installed fibre in a milking parlor. He said it was a 48 port patch panel, almost every one was used!

Hmm, maybe I need a site visit lol, I'm basing my initial appraisal on limited info.

Hyburnate · 9 Jul 2019 at 22:49

You want an independent contractor, really any commercial company will be over £500 a day with some travel +VAT.

Youll find contractors will charge a couple of hundred, I'd expect ~£60 for termination materials maybe a little bit more. Pre-terms can be a pain in the ass, all holes need to be bigger to route the cable and connectors through.

newbiejim · 9 Jul 2019 at 22:53

Hyburnate said:
You want an independent contractor, really any commercial company will be over £500 a day with some travel +VAT.

Youll find contractors will charge a couple of hundred, I'd expect ~£60 for termination materials maybe a little bit more. Pre-terms can be a pain in the ass, all holes need to be bigger to route the cable and connectors through.

Yes independent contractor was what I was thinking , for that cost it would work.

Hyburnate · 10 Jul 2019 at 11:56

Just make sure they do an optical light loss test and not just shine a light down it

Ideally you’d want Fluke results, IDEAL would suffice. I wouldn’t trust ILMs.

Caged · 10 Jul 2019 at 13:04

It's 140 metres across a farm, not a long haul backbone link. I think some perspective is needed.

Armageus · 10 Jul 2019 at 14:01

We keep thinking about buying a Fibre splicer, tester and the rest of the equipment at work, but the pricing and limited availability of them keep putting us off.

We've run both pre-terminated, and have a contractor terminate fibre on site, but honestly preterminated has never been a problem.

The reels we get pre-terminated have decent protective pulling socks. Always measure roughly with a measuring wheel + rough heights e.g. up/down and then add 20m, the extra is easily coiled in man-holes, the ceiling or anywhere else.

Steveocee · 10 Jul 2019 at 15:50

Armageus said:
We keep thinking about buying a Fibre splicer, tester and the rest of the equipment at work, but the pricing and limited availability of them keep putting us off.

We've run both pre-terminated, and have a contractor terminate fibre on site, but honestly preterminated has never been a problem.

The reels we get pre-terminated have decent protective pulling socks. Always measure roughly with a measuring wheel + rough heights e.g. up/down and then add 20m, the extra is easily coiled in man-holes, the ceiling or anywhere else.

I used a fibre splicer at my old place. Ryuken or something along those lines. Flipping fiddly thing to use it was, no matter how much spare fibre you gave yourself it was always a PITA to get the splicer into the right place, often balancing it on things whilst trying to get the fibres in.
Another place I spoke to use some kind of cold splice, they were primarily events so temp fibre runs regularly, that sounded brilliant but I didn't get to look at or try one.

newbiejim · 11 Jul 2019 at 17:40

Thanks all for the excellent advice , getting quote from local outfit who do this then appraise which is best option.

Hyburnate · 18 Jul 2019 at 20:51

Armageus said:
We keep thinking about buying a Fibre splicer, tester and the rest of the equipment at work, but the pricing and limited availability of them keep putting us off.

We've run both pre-terminated, and have a contractor terminate fibre on site, but honestly preterminated has never been a problem.

The reels we get pre-terminated have decent protective pulling socks. Always measure roughly with a measuring wheel + rough heights e.g. up/down and then add 20m, the extra is easily coiled in man-holes, the ceiling or anywhere else.

Limited availability?! They're on a next day

Steveocee said:
I used a fibre splicer at my old place. Ryuken or something along those lines. Flipping fiddly thing to use it was, no matter how much spare fibre you gave yourself it was always a PITA to get the splicer into the right place, often balancing it on things whilst trying to get the fibres in.
Another place I spoke to use some kind of cold splice, they were primarily events so temp fibre runs regularly, that sounded brilliant but I didn't get to look at or try one.

Cold cure usually has larger losses than fusion splicing

Armageus · 18 Jul 2019 at 21:22

Hyburnate said:
Cold cure usually has larger losses than fusion splicing

Limited availability in that they only seem to be available from specialist suppliers and most prices are poa