Precision Rated Optics OFS-945S User manual

OFS-945S
Core-Alignment Fusion Splicer
Operation Guide
V.11.17.17

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OFS-945S
1. Technical Specifications
Applicable fiber type SM(ITU-T G.652&G.657) / MM(ITU-T G.651)
/ DS(ITU-T G.653) / NZDS(ITU-T G.655)
Fiber count Single
Applicable fiber cables 0.25mm - 3.0mm / Indoor cable
Applicable fiber diameter Cladding diameter: 80~150μm, Coating diameter: 125~1000μm
Splice loss SM : 0.02dB, MM : 0.01dB, DS : 0.04dB, NZDS : 0.04dB, G.657 : 0.02dB
Splice mode 128 splice modes
Internal splice data storage 2000
Splicing time SM Quick mode: 7s
Heat oven 20mm, 30mm, 40mm, 50mm, 60mm
Heating time 8-900s
Typical heating time 13s
Heat mode Various heat modes available
Displaying method two cameras and 5.0 inch color LCD monitor
Magnification 520x for single X or Y view, or 520x for both X and Y view
Tensile test 1.96-2.25N
Terminals USB2.0 / MINI USB
Standard AC power voltage AC 100-240V, 50-60Hz
Standard DC power voltage DC 9-14V
Size (HxWxD) 147mm x 130mm x 155mm
Weight 2.21kg (battery included)
Operating condition 0~5000m above sea level, 0~95% relative humidity, -10~50
℃
, 15m/s max wind speed
Storage condition 0~95% relative humidity, -40~80
℃
Battery -20~30
℃
for long time storage

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OFS-945S
Battery precautions
DO NOT collide the battery with sharp or hard objects.
DO NOT transport or store the battery with metals simultaneously.
DO NOT throw, drop, impact or bend the battery.
DO NOT strike the battery with hammers or tread on it.
DO NOT connect the anode and cathode of the battery to metals such as electrical short circuit.
DO NOT let the anode and cathode contact with the external aluminum coating of the battery so as to avoid short
circuit.
DO NOT disassemble the battery under any circumstances.
DO NOT immerse the battery in fresh water or sea water, and avoid moisture.
DO NOT use or place the battery near heat source. (e.g. fire, heat oven)
DO NOT heat the battery or throw it into water.
DO NOT weld the battery directly.
DO NOT charge the battery near fire or in high temperature.
DO NOT put the battery into the microwave oven or high pressure container.
DO NOT use or place the battery in extremely high temperature (e.g. strong sunlight or inside a car which is with
poor ventilation) for long period of time. Otherwise, it may cause overheat, fire, battery malfunction, or shorter
battery life.
DO NOT use damaged battery. The battery with electrolyte leakage or electrolyte smell shall be kept away from
fire to avoid fire or explosion.
If electrolyte leakage contacts with skin or other parts of body, please wash it off with a plenty of water
immediately. If electrolyte leakage contacts with your eye(s), please rinse your eye(s) with water immediately and
seek medical advice.

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OFS-945S
2. Installation
Safety warnings and precautions
As OFS-945S is designed for fusion splicing silica glass optical fibers, it is very important that the splicer should
not be used for any other purposes. The splicer is a precision instrument and must be handled with caution.
Therefore, you must read the following safety rules and general precautions in this manual regarding the use and
handling of OFS-945S at any time. Any behaviors that do not follow the warnings and cautions will break the
safety standard about design, manufacture, and usage of the fusion splicer. PRO will not take the responsibility
for those consequences caused by misuse!
Operational safety warnings
Never operate the splicer in an environment where flammable liquids or vapors exist.
DO NOT touch the electrodes when the splicer is on.
Note: Only use specified electrodes for the fusion splicer. Select [Replace electrode] in maintenance menu to
replace electrodes, or turn off the splicer and disconnect the AC power source or remove battery before replacing
electrodes. Discharging is prohibited before the electrodes are placed as a pair.
DO NOT disassemble or modify any components of the splicer without approval, except for the permitted-to-
disassemble / modify components or parts by users stated in this manual. Component replacement and its internal
adjustment must be implemented by PRO or its authorized technicians or engineers.
Never operate the splicer in an environment where flammable liquids or vapors exist. Risk of dangerous fire or
explosion could result from the splicer’s electrical arc in such an environment. DO NOT operate the splicer near
hot objects or in high temperature and dusty / humid atmosphere, or when condensation is present on the splicer.
This may result in electric shock, splicer malfunction, or poor splicing performance.
Users should always wear safety glasses during fiber preparation and splicing operation. Fiber fragments can be
extremely dangerous if they are ingested or come into contact with eyes, skin.
Take out the battery immediately if the followings are observed when using the splicer:
•Fumes, bad smell, abnormal noise or over heat.
•Liquid or other matter falls into cabinet
•The splicer is damaged or dropped.
Note: If any of these faults occurs, please contact our service center immediately. Leaving the splicer in a
damaged state without any prompt measures may cause equipment failure, electric shock, or fire and may result in
injury or death.
Do not use compressed gas or canned air to clean the splicer. They may contain flammable materials that could
ignite during the electrical discharge.
Please use OFS-945S designed battery only. Using an improper AC power source may cause fuming, electric
shock or equipment damage and may even result in fire, injury or death.
Please use OFS-945S designed charger only. Do not place any heavy objects on the AC power cord. Keep the
power cord away from heat source. Using an improper cord or a damaged cord may cause fuming, electric shock
or equipment damage and may even result in fire, injury or death.

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OFS-945S
Maintenance and external care precautions
Always avoid using hard objects to clean V-grooves and electrodes.
Always avoid using acetone, thinner, benzol or alcohol when cleaning any parts of the splicer, except for the
places advised.
Use a dry cloth to remove dust and dirt from the splicer.
If the outside of the splicer is dirty, plunge a soft cloth into diluted neutral washing up liquid, wring out the cloth
and clean. Dry the splicer with a dry cloth but DO NOT USE furniture polish or other cleaning agents.
Always follow the maintenance instructions in this manual.
Transport and storage precautions
When the splicer is moved from cold to warm environment, you should allow the splicer to warm up gradually.
Otherwise, the condensation generated inside will bring harmful effects to the splicer.
Pack the fusion splicer well for long time storage.
Keep the splicer clean and dry.
The splicer is precision adjusted and aligned. Always keep the splicer in its carrying case to protect from damage
and dirt. Put cushion package outside the carrying case for long distance transportation.
Always avoid leaving the splicer in direct sunlight or expose to excessive heat.
Do not store the splicer in dusty or humid environment. This may result in electric shock, splicer malfunction or
poor splicing performance.
Keep the humidity to a minimum level where the splicer is stored. The humidity must not exceed 95%.
Unpacking the splicer
Hold the handle upwards, then lift the splicer out of the carrying case.
Package
Splicer, High Precision Cleaver, Fiber Holder, SOC Heater Cover, AC Adapter, Cooling Tray, Electrode,
Electrode Grinder, Manual CD, Battery Pack, Power Cable, USB Cable, Cigarette Lighter Cable, Carrying Case,
User manual, Supplier’s declaration of conformity, Test protocol
Equipped with fiber holder

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OFS-945S
Splicer overview
Loop
Heater
On/Off
Control buttons
Power supply/battery
Display

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OFS-945S
Power supply
Battery
Switch off the splicer. Press the [Release] button at the side of the splicer and take out the battery from the splicer.
Charge the battery
Connect the battery charger to the battery.
Charging progress is indicated by five lit LEDs continuously sweeping from 20% to 100% on the battery indicator
(see below). As charging proceeds, one LED is lit when 20% charged. When it’s fully charged, all five LEDs are
lit (i.e. 100%).
Note: Check and make sure the remaining battery capacity is 20% or greater before splicing. If the battery
capacity is less than 20%, please use AC / DC adapter to power the splicer. Heat will be generated during the
charging process. Do not stack the battery on top of AC / DC adapter while charging.
How to check remaining battery capacity
You have two ways to check remaining battery capacity.
•If the battery is connected to the splicer, its charging level appears on the top right corner of the monitor.
•If the battery is detached from the splicer, press “PUSH” button on the battery. Then the battery capacity
will be indicated by LEDs as shown below:
Battery refresh
In order to prevent the aging effect of the battery, the battery needs to be refreshed periodically. Turn the splicer
on and discharging until it consumes all the battery capacity and the splicer turns off automatically. Fully recharge
the battery and redo discharging.

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OFS-945S
3. Basic Operation
Turning on the splicer
Press [Power] key on the operation panel, and wait the splicer to be turned on and move to Workbench page.
Adjusting the monitor position
Users can adjust the monitor position by moving it with a desired angle in purpose of operation convenience.
Adjusting the monitor brightness
In the initial interface, press “◀” or “▶” to adjust the monitor brightness until a clear image can be seen.
Note: The LCD monitor is a precise component produced by manufacturing factory under strict quality control.
However, some tiny dots in different colors may still remain on the screen. Meanwhile, the screen brightness may
not appear uniform, depending on its viewing angles. Note that these symptoms are not defects, but are natural
phenomenon.

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OFS-945S
Touch screen On/Off
Users can choose their operation styles based on their operating patterns.
Fiber zoom function on screen
Users can zoom in the fiber image by double tapping on the screen so as to observe the splicing result and check
the splicing condition.
When the touch screen switch is
[Off], users can only perform
operation by pressing buttons.
When the touch screen switch is
[On], users can perform operation
by both pressing

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OFS-945S
Preparing the fibers
3 Steps should be carried out before splicing:
Step 1: Strip the fiber
Remove at least 50mm of secondary coating (valid for both tight and loose tube secondary coating) and
approximately 30~40mm of primary coating with an appropriate stripper.
Step 2: Clean the fiber
Clean bare fibers with pure alcohol-soaked gauze or lint-free tissue.
Step 3: Cleave the fiber
In order to ensure the best splicing result, cleave the fibers with high precision cleaver, and strictly control the
cleaving lengths shown as below.
Note: Remember to slip a heat-shrink sleeve onto either end of the fibers at the beginning of each fiber
preparation.
Examples of cleaving lengths
Important: Make sure that the bare fiber and its cleaved section are clean.
•Avoid putting the fibers on a dusty working surface.
•Avoid swaying the fibers in the air.
•Check if the V-grooves are clean. If not, must clean it with pure alcohol-soaked cotton swabs.
•Check if the fiber holders are clean. If not, must clean it with pure alcohol-soaked cotton swabs.

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OFS-945S
How to make a splice
Placing the fibers
1) Open the windproof cover.
2) Raise the fiber holders.
3) Place the fiber into V-grooves and make sure that the fiber ends are placed between the edge of V-
grooves and the electrode ends.
Note: Make sure to avoid sliding the fibers along V-grooves, but rather position them over V-grooves and tilt
them down into place (as shown below).
4) Clamp the fiber in position by lowering both sets of fiber holders.
5) Close the windproof cover.
Inspecting the fibers
Before continuing with splicing, inspect the fibers whether they are clean and well-cleaved. If any defects are
found, please remove the fibers and prepare again.
Note: The fibers are checked automatically when you press “Set” button. The splicer automatically focuses the
fibers and checks for damage or dust particles.

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OFS-945S
Splicing
• Select any appropriate splice mode.
• Start splicing by pressing [SET] button.
Note: If the splicer is set as “Auto mode”, splicing will start automatically once the windproof cover is closed.
How to protect the splice
After splicing, put the fiber with heat-shrink sleeve into the heat oven. Press [HEAT] button to execute heat-
shrink process to strengthen the splice point.
Heating procedure
1) Open the heat oven lid.
2) Lift the left and right fiber holders on the splicer. Hold the heat-shrink sleeve (previously placed onto the
fiber). Lift the spliced fibers and hold them taut. Then move the heat-shrink sleeve to the splice point.
3) Place the fiber with heat-shrink sleeve in the heat oven clamp.
4) Press [HEAT] button to start heating. Upon completion, the heating LED indicator will go off with
buzzing.

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OFS-945S
4. Splice Programs
OFS-945S has an intuitive and simple but very powerful program structure to operate. Splice programs define arc
currents, splice times as well as various parameters used when performing a splice. Therefore, it is essential to
select the correct splice program. There are a number of “preset” splice programs for common fiber combinations.
Therefore, it is much easier to modify and further optimize the parameters for more unusual fiber combinations.
Displaying the active splice program
The active splice program is always displayed at the top of the screen (see below).
Displaying the active splice program

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OFS-945S
Selecting a splice program
Select [Splice mode] from
the main menu. Select [Splice mode] and
select [Select splice mode].
Select an appropriate
splice mode Selected splice mode appears
on the screen. Press [RESET]
button to return to initial
interface page.

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OFS-945S
General splicing steps
This section explains the steps involved in automatic splicing process and describes how various program
parameters are related to this process. The normal splicing process can be divided into two sections; pre-fusion
and fusion.
Pre-fusion
During pre-fusion, the splicer performs automatic alignment and focusing, where the fibers are subjected to a low
pre-fuse current for cleaning purposes; a pre-fuse image is also taken. At this point, the user is informed of any
problems recognized in the pre-fuse image, such as a poorly prepared fiber. The splicer will then issue a warning
before the fibers are fused together.
Fusion
During fusion, the fibers are joined together and subjected to five different currents as illustrated below. An
important parameter, which changes during splicing, is the distance between the fibers. During pre-fusion, the
fibers are apart. With the current phase changing, fibers are spliced gradually.
Splicing process
Arc power and arc time are considered as the two most important parameters (as shown in the figure below). The
name and purpose of those parameters as well as the effect and importance of the parameters will be described in
the next section “Splice program parameters under general splicing process”. The below figure shows the arc
discharge conditions (relationship between “Arc power” and “Motor motion”). These conditions can be modified
by changing the splicing parameters listed below. However, depending on the splice mode, certain parameters
cannot be changed.

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OFS-945S
Splice program parameters under general splicing process
Parameter Description
Template A list of splice modes stored in the splicer database. Upon inputting the appropriate mode, the selected splice mode
stored in database area is copied to a user-programmable area.
Name Title for a splice mode expressed in up to seven characters.
Note Detailed explanation for a splice mode expressed in up to 15 characters. It is displayed at [Select splice mode] menu.
Arc Adjust Set to adjust arc power according to the fibers’ conditions.
Pull Test If [Pull test] is set to “On”, a pull-test is performed upon opening the windproof cover or by pressing [SET] button
after splicing.
Loss Estimate Loss estimate should be regarded as a reference. Since the loss is calculated upon the fiber image, there is certain
difference with the real value. The estimate method is based on a single mode fiber and calculates at the wavelength
of 1.31㎛. The estimated value can be a valuable reference, but cannot be used as the basis of acceptance.
Min Loss This
amount is added to the estimated splice loss originally calculated. When splicing specialty or dissimilar fibers, a
high actual splice loss may occur even with optimized arc conditions. To make the actual splice loss concur with the
estimated splice loss, set the actual splice loss to minimum value (minimum loss).
Loss Limit An error message is displayed if the estimated splice loss exceeds the selected threshold (loss limit).
Core Angle Limit An error message is displayed if the bend angle of the two fibers spliced exceeds the selected threshold (core angle
limit).
Cleave Angle Limit An error message is displayed if the cleave angle of either the left or right fiber ends exceeds the selected threshold
(cleave angle limit).
Gap Position Set the relative position of the splicing location to the center of electrodes. Splice loss may be improved in the case of
dissimilar fiber splicing by shifting [Gap position] towards a fiber whose MFD is bigger than the other fiber MFD.
Gap Set the end-face gap between the left and right fibers at the time of aligning and pre-fusion discharge.
Overlap Set the overlap amount of fibers at the fiber propelling stage. Relatively small [Overlap] is recommended if [Preheat
Arc Value] is low, while relatively large [Overlap] is recommended if [Preheat Arc Value] is high.
Clean Arc Time A cleaning arc burns out micro dust on the surface of the fiber with an arc discharge for a short period of time. The
duration of the cleaning arc can be changed by this parameter.
Preheat Arc Value
Set the prefuse arc power from the beginning of arc discharging to the beginning of fibers propelling. If [Preheat Arc
Value] is set too low, axial offset may occur if cleaved angles are relatively poor. If [Preheat Arc Value] is set too
high, fiber end-faces are fused excessively and splice loss gets worse.
Preheat Arc Time
Set the prefuse arc time from the beginning of arc discharging to the beginning of fibers propelling. Long [Preheat
Arc Time] and high
[Preheat Arc Value] lead to the same results.
Fuse Arc Value Set arc power
Fuse Arc Time Sets arc time

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OFS-945S
5. Splice Option
Setting up splice mode
1) Select [Splice option] in menu.
2) Select a parameter to be changed
Parameter Description
Auto Start If “Auto Start” is set to “On”, splicing starts automatically as soon as the windproof cover is closed.
Fibers should be prepared and placed into the splicer in advance.
Pause 1 If “Pause1” is set to “On”, splicing operation pauses when fibers are forwarded to gap-set position.
Cleave angles are displayed during the pause.
Pause 2 If “Pause2” is set to “On”, splicing operation pauses after fiber alignment is completed.
Realign After
Pause2
Alignment failure may appear after “Pause2” for a long period. Therefore, realign after “Pause2” is
needed. Setting to “OFF” will prevent the implementation of realign function. Manual splicing, rather
than setting the realign to “OFF”, is recommended when there is an axial displacement of the splicer.
Ignore Splicing Error
Cleave Angle Setting to “OFF” ignores the faults and continues to complete the splicing even if the message “Cleave
Angle Error” appears.
Core Angle Setting to “OFF” ignores the faults and continues to complete the splicing even if the message “Core
Angle Error” appears.
Loss, Fat, Thin Setting to “OFF” ignores the faults and continues to complete the splicing even if the message “Loss
Error”, “Cleave Shape Error”, “Fat Error”, or “Thin Error” appears.
Fiber Image On Screen
Gap Set, Pause1, Align, Pause2, Arc, Estimate Set the displaying method of the fiber image on the screen during splicing operation.

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OFS-945S
6. Heater Mode
The splicer provides max 32 heat modes including various heat modes preset by PRO and the rest that can be
defined by users. Select a heating mode that best matches with the protection sleeve used. For each type of
protection sleeve, OFS-945S has its optimum heating mode. These modes can be found in the database area for
reference. Copy the appropriate mode and paste it to the user–programmable area. Users can edit those
parameters.
Selecting heater mode
Select [Select Heat Mode] in [Heater Mode] menu.
Select [Heater Mode] menu Select [Select Heat Mode].
Select heat mode
Selected heat mode appears on the
screen. Press [RESET] button to
return to initial interface.

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OFS-945S
Editing heat mode
Heating conditions stored in heater mode can be edited or changed.
Select [Edit Heat Mode] in
[Heater mode] menu.
Select the mode to be edited
Select the parameters to be edited.

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Deleting heat mode
1) Select [Heater Mode] menu.
2) Select [Delete Heat Mode].
3) Select the heat mode to be deleted.
Note: The gray modes (20mm, 30mm) are the system preset initial heat modes which cannot be deleted.
Heat mode parameters
Parameter Description
Template Set sleeve type. List of all heat modes are displayed. Selected mode will be copied to a user-
programmable area.
Name Title for a heat mode.
Note Title of the heat mode displayed in the upper right corner of the monitor during splicing or heating
process. Max number of character used is 5
Heater Control
Set the length of heat-shrink sleeve.
Long: protection sleeves over 30mm.
Short: 30mm protection sleeves or below
Heat Temperature Set heating temperature
Heater Time Set heating time from the beginning to the heating completed