Inspect the Connector: Use a fiber-optic microscope to check the connector end face for scratches, pits, or debris. The paper also discusses troubleshooting methods when re-polishing is required due to the various post polishing failures. The document is intended to inform and educate about polishing processes and commercial automated polishing equipment with various fixturing in order. Most connector problems are high loss or high reflectance caused by poor termination techniques, especially polishing. The causes are usually lack of training, lack of practice and lack of understanding of what is a “good” and/or “acceptable” fiber optic connector. To evaluate the quality of optical fiber connectors, it is. Chances are the weakest link in an optical-fiber system is a connector.
