Submarine cabling and telecom recoating

Submarine cabling and telecom recoating by NYFORS

Undersea optical fiber cable manufacturing sets high demands on recoating quality and long-term reliability of the splice protection. NYFORS recoaters have long been used in these challenging applications thanks to their ability to restore the protective coating to a diameter that perfectly matches the original fiber outer diameter. The difference in diameter between the original fiber coating and the recoating is minimal, with no sudden diameter changes at the stripping and recoating interfaces.

Silicone moulds can also be used to create slightly undersized recoatings, with a smaller diameter than the original coating, which is useful in situations where the spliced and recoated fiber must go through secondary processes such as coloring.

Recoating with silicone moulds offers the added advantage to prevent the common problem of micro bubbles trapping in the restored coating. Whereas conventional quartz mould recoaters often leave air bubbles close to the stripping interface with the original coating, the geometry of the silicone moulds allow a path for the bubbles to escape to the surface and be purged before the UV curing.