Fan Out Kits: What, When & What for?

Beyondtech's blog guide for Fan Out Kits:

Fan Out Kits are very important components in Telecom installations and projects. Their presence is explained by the vast quantity of large cables that these projects usually ask for. In order to ensure proper connections, Fan Out Kits are often needed.

Fan Out Kits not only enable the termination of large fiber counts fiber cables, they also provide additional protection to them. In fact, there are already some fiber cables that possess 3mm jackets to accept fiber connectors, so these terminations can be properly implemented and guarantee further protection. 

WHAT ARE FAN OUT KITS?

Fan Out Kits contain a group of plastic buffer tubing that is color-coded, and each tube holds a single fiber. Fan Out Kits, in essence, take loose tube buffered fibers and tighten them into buffered fibers, preparing them to embrace connectors.

This is possible by an enclosure known as the Furcation Unit, which is connected to the jacket of the loose tube cable while the unbuffered fibers pass through the unit and out the other end.

WHEN ARE FAN OUT KITS USED?

In some instances, as in the case of loose tube buffered fiber cables, the fibers’ length are typically 250um. These dimensions make the fibers especially sensitive because they offer little or almost no support, so they are especially vulnerable to breakdowns or damages very easily. 

Long story short, the installation of a Fan Out Kit could be considered as a conversion of exposed and weak optical fibers into stronger and thicker one thanks to the provision of a higher outer diameter.

The importance of using Fan Out Kits is highlighted in projects that involve high strand count and compact cables like Micro Distribution, which comprise several fibers within a single jacket. Terminating these cables in this setting implies a risky exposition of the 250 µm optical fibers that are located between the boot of the connector and the edge of the jacket.

This is where Fan Out Kits come to the rescue since they offer fiber buffer tubes that can be bundled up into each fiber so they can count with extra support and protection. This incorporation of Fan Out Kits also facilitates the inclusion of connectors and ultimately proper overall handling of these connections. 

WHAT ARE FAN OUT KITS USED FOR?

Fan Out Kits have been designed and built to merge groups of coated fibers so they can be easily and conveniently adapted for connectors, through the separation of each one of them and the subsequent addition of a tight buffer to each one.

This buffer is able to provide additional protection to the fiber by enhancing it with a thickness of 900um in a way that a connector can be plugged into. It is commonly suggested for installers, if they are working with heavy and thick outdoor cables and especially if they are abundant, that they should always utilize fiber splice tray and enclosure for the termination of loose tubes.

BEYONDTECH’S OWN FAN OUT KIT

At Beyondtech, we are very proud to present our own Fan Out Kit, which makes fiber installation and termination easier and faster, providing an extra layer of protection and support to your loose tube optical fiber cable. Once our Fan Out Kit has been incorporated, the optic fiber installer can convert a 250um into a 900 um fiber so that a standard 900um connector can be used.

Our standard Fan Out Kit comes with 12 color-coded TIA-598C fiber buffers and a Furcation Unit that will make your installation go smoothly. Do not forget to consider other Beyondtech fiber management solutions (Fiber Boxes, LGX Adapters) to further protect and enhance your fiber connections.

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Our Fiber Optics 12 Buffer Tubes Fan Out Kits are frequently used in LAN and WAN premise networks, field fiber terminations, Remote Hut and OTN (Optical Transport Network) terminations. Our Spider-Kit (for indoor use only) features a 900um fan-out assembly that is color-coded to match ANSI/TIA-568.3-D standard and has been quality tested with our supply chain team.

Beyondtech’s Fan Out Kits for outdoor loose tube fiber have been designed and manufactured for the fiber termination of six or twelve optical fiber buffer tubes. They deliver a simple and compact answer for Loose Tube Fibers requiring no extra hardware that is needed for terminating bulk fiber cables. 

This is ideal for point-to-point cabling of multiple fiber strands for a variety of applications including Ethernet networks, audio production, and video production. And it also provides the same convenience of termination as a breakout-style cable while maintaining the overall smaller outer diameter (OD) of a distribution style cable.

At Beyondtech, it is both an honor and a pleasure to provide you with optimal Telecom solutions, so we really hope to keep being part of your projects and installations.

You can find our product (Fan Out Kits).