Is Cleerline SSF™ Compatible with…?
We’ll be the first to tell you: Cleerline SSF™ technology is different. We’ve designed our fiber and tools to be quicker to install and easier to use than commonly available, traditional options. The differences often lead people to ask whether our fibers and connectors are compatible with their projects. Let’s take a look!
What’s Different about Cleerline SSF™ Optical Fiber?
Cleerline SSF™ incorporates our patented SSF™ polymer coating at the glass level. This coating provides our fiber’s incredible strength and durability. It also means our fiber is handled differently than a traditional optical fiber, as in you can handle SSF™ fiber without worrying about glass shards. SSF™ polymer coating keeps the glass protected, somewhat like a protective coating on eyeglasses or a windshield. When terminating SSF™ fiber with mechanical splice connectors or non-fusion splices, the polymer coating stays in place at all times.
What Do We Mean By “Traditional Fiber?”
Traditional fiber refers to any existing optical fiber featuring a hard acrylate coating and often a 900 µm plastic buffer. That includes both bend-insensitive and non-bend-insensitive fibers. Traditional fiber requires removal of the hard acrylate coating around the optical fiber when terminating.
What’s different about Cleerline SSF™ Fiber Optic Connectors?
Our mechanical splice connectors are designed to be extremely simple to install. (Learn to install in under 10 minutes from our instructional videos!) Each connector features a hinge-based design with a large verification window, so it’s easy to see what you are doing.
Compatibility
Can I Use SSF™ Optical Fiber with Non-SSF™ Connectors?
While we recommend using our SSF™ connectors with SSF™ fiber, yes, you can absolutely install non-SSF™ connectors on SSF™ fiber. Very importantly, always refer to our instructions for SSF™ fiber preparation. SSF™ fiber’s colored Soft Peel Coating must be removed using your fingertips or nails ONLY, not with fiber optic strippers. This is different from the preparation process for traditional fiber.
We have compatible instructions for common connectors from AFL, Belden, Corning, Leviton, and more available! Have questions about a different connector type? Contact us.
As always, ensure your connector type matches the fiber type. Single mode fiber requires single mode connectors. Multimode fiber requires multimode connectors.
Can I use SSF™ Connectors on Traditional Fiber?
Again, yes! Find instructions here.
Traditional fiber, due to the lack of polymer coating, requires more careful handling and different preparation steps. Always verify preparation steps with the manufacturer of the fiber in use. Traditional fibers should be handled with care. You will need to use fiber strippers to remove the buffer and hard acrylate coating.
Is Cleerline Compatible with My Single Mode or Multimode Item?
Cleerline SSF™ single mode fiber and connectors are compatible with 9/125 µm single mode components and fibers. SSF™ is compatible with 50/125 µm multimode systems.
Cleerline SSF™ multimode fibers are compatible with 50/125 µm OM2, OM3, and OM4 components and fibers. OM1 (62.5/125 µm), a legacy fiber, has a core size of 62.5 µm. This is larger than a 50/125 µm fiber’s 50 µm core. As a result, OM1 is not compatible with OM2, OM3, and OM4 components.
We currently do not supply any OM1-compatible components.
Have Project-Specific Questions?
Have questions about SSF™ compatibility on your project? Don’t hesitate to contact us. Our technicians will be happy to assist you with any questions you may have.