Why has my fiber optic polishing process stopped working?

This is the most frequently asked question that we hear from our customer base.  They were polishing fiber optic connectors with our equipment that met all the requirements with minimal fallout and now they cannot duplicate these results.  Over 95% of the time this is directly related to the natural wear of key interfaces of the fiber optic polishing machine and fixtures.  The first response we have is how long have you been using the equipment and when is the last time it has been calibrated?  In most instances, the machine has been in use for many years and never has been returned for calibration.  For every precision piece of equipment with moving parts, natural wear will occur.  For the Domaille fiber optic polishing machines and fixtures, the most common areas for wear are ferrule holes in the fixture, the mounting hole in the fixture and the mounting mandrel in the machine.  The wear on fiber optic ferrule holes in the Domaille polishing fixtures is due to repeated insertion of the ferrule into the fixture.  The mounting hole and mandrel wear is due to loading and unloading of the fixture into the machine.  Excessive wear in these areas will lead to process variations that will eventually produce poor polishing results. 

In order to help our customers better evaluate their equipment, we have created the EZ Check Precision Wear Gage kit.  The EZ Check Precision Wear Gage kits have various gages to easily check the common wear points and determine if they are outside OEM requirements.   This will help our customers monitor the machine and fixtures and take action before they start producing product outside the allowable limits. 

One of the other most common factors that can affect the polishing process is diligently performing standard monthly maintenance.  Proper cleaning and lubricate will significantly extend the life of the machine.  Other items for consideration include platen wear from rotation, aging of rubber pads and out of squareness conditions caused by wear from the Overarm being raised and lowered.  Many of our customers send back their fiber optic polishing machines annually for calibration to our OEM standards.  This is a requirement for any ISO-9000 certified organization.  If you want more information on the EZ Check Precision Wear Gage kit, proper maintenance techniques or other information concerning Domaille brand equipment, please contact me at dhickerson@DomailleEngineering.com or call (507) 281-0275, ext 120.