When a manufacturer inspects an end-face, is it immediately capped with a plastic dust cap that is not removed again until it is plugged into its final installation location by the installer?
QUESTION:
When a manufacturer inspects an end-face, is it immediately capped with a plastic dust cap that is not removed again until it is plugged into its final installation location by the installer?
ANSWER:
Yes and in theory, this ensures connectors will be sufficiently clean for installation. However, there are a number of ways in which the end-face can (and do) become contaminated along the way:
When installing the dust-cap, the manufacturer accidentally touches the end-face with the dust-cap itself, leaving plastic mold-release grease or other contamination. Since the dust cap is never removed again by the manufacturer, it’s impossible to detect this.
In some poorly-designed dust-caps, the interior surface dimensions are such it permits contact with the end-face it is trying to protect, usually leaving a super-contaminated end-face.
During installation, dust caps are removed prematurely, while cables are still being organized / routed, and end-face is exposed, and prone, to contamination.
