Portable Arc Fusion Splicer

Features

• Splice Standard Silica Optical Fibers with Cladding Diameters up to 150 µm
  • Arc Fusion Ideal for Telecom and Datacom Applications
  • Store Custom Splicing and Heating Profiles; Splice Results Storage
• Portable Splicing with Removable Battery, Shoulder Strap, and Carrying Case
• Automated Cleaved Fiber Inspection, Alignment, and Splicing
• Kit Includes Cleavers and Transfer Clip Sets for Fiber with Ø80 µm and Ø125 µm Cladding
• Integrated Heater for Splice Protector Sleeve
• Compact: 164.4 mm x 155.7 mm x 144.4 mm (L x H x W)

Thorlabs' ARC150 Portable Arc Fusion Splicer Kit offers arc fusion splicing, manual scribe-and-bend cleavers, and simple operation in a portable package. This kit is ideal for basic splicing of common fibers as well as telecom and datacom applications in the field.

Manual Cleavers
Two manual cleavers are included and provide simple operation with a sliding blade for scribe-and-bend operation. The blade housing auto-returns when the cleaver cover is opened, and the circular blade can be rotated to expose new, unused cutting sections for a lifetime of 48k cleaves. A detachable waste bin is included to collect fiber waste. The fiber can be set onto the handheld transfer clip, or a set of pins can be installed onto which the transfer clip can be lowered so the fiber can be placed directly in the cleaver. The clip with the cleaved fiber can then be moved to the splicer.

Transfer Clips
Three sets of transfer clips are included for fiber with Ø80 µm cladding and Ø160 µm buffer/coating or fiber with Ø125 µm cladding and Ø250 µm or Ø900 µm buffer/coating. Each clip magnetically holds the fiber in place for cleaving and is then used to securely transfer the cleaved fiber to the splicer while retaining the proper amount of protruding fiber. Replacement clips are also available below.

Arc Fusion Splicer
The arc splicer features automated fiber inspection, alignment, and splicing and is designed to fusion splice fibers with claddings from Ø80 to Ø125 µm. The touchscreen and button controls on the housing provide access to splicing modes, heating modes, results storage, and automated calibration procedures. Imaging is provided by two cameras with LED lighting for X and Y viewing, providing 500X magnification on the 5" swiveling LCD touchscreen. A pivoting cover protects the splicing components from wind, and a built-in heater behind the splicing electrodes allows for application of heat shrink onto the spliced fiber. Replacement electrodes are also available below.

Presets and Results Storage
The splicer includes 41 pre-configured splice modes; up to 100 modes can be saved. Each splice mode includes parameters for relative arc power and duration during the cleaning and splicing stages. Five heater presets covering temperature and duration for the application of heat-shrink sleeves are also included, with a capacity for up to 50 saved modes. Splice results can also be stored on the device, with storage for 20k records with up to 200 images.