1) Work Site Preparation: Careful site preparation is essential to produce a reliable fusion splice. Adverse environmental conditions such as dust, precipitation, high wind and corrosive atmospheres should be controlled to avoid problems with fiber alignment and contamination. Once the fiber is stripped, cleaved and cleaned, speed is essential to minimize contamination-related problems. Contamination on the bare fiber surface during the arc-fusion step may increase splice loss, reduce splice tensile strength, or both.

2) Cable Preparation: Cable preparation and handling procedures for a particular cable design normally are recommended by the specific cable manufacturer, and should be followed carefully. However, some general fiber-related precautions apply for all cable designs. Sufficient individual fiber lengths should be available such that when each spliced fiber pair is completed, the slack fiber will mount properly into the organizer without sharp bends or kinks. Also, some excess fiber length may be required should an unacceptable splice need to be remade.