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Fiber terminations for a full year now, and I'm split on the clear cure gel

I started using the clear cure gel on every fiber termination back in January, after a buddy swore it saved him on a warehouse job outside Pittsburgh. About 6 months in I noticed my return loss numbers were actually better than with the standard epoxy, but I also had three terminations fail at the connector boot where the gel never fully set, even after the recommended UV time. The first failure was on a Friday rush job, customer was already angry about the delay, and I had to redo the whole drop in the dark. Now I'm torn, do I stick with the gel because the good days are really good, or go back to epoxy and accept the extra setup time? Has anyone else seen this same split between cleaner signals and brittle joints with the gel, or did I just get a bad batch? I'd rather hear from the field than trust the spec sheet again.

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1 Comment

fionarodriguez5d ago

Were you using the same batch of gel the whole time, or did those failures happen after you switched to a new tube? I've seen batches of that stuff go bad if it sits in a cold truck overnight, and it never fully cures after that. Also, are you hitting the boot area with the UV light from both sides, or just one angle? That's where I've seen guys miss it and get that soft, tacky spot that fails later. If it's just those three joints out of a year's worth, I'd be more worried about your storage or technique than the product itself.