General Information
		It is important to understand the technology employed in heat-shrink fusion splice sleeves in order to install them properly and to prevent potential problems. Many users believe that setting* the oven temperature as high as possible and the time to a minimum will give them faster splicing. This is true to an extent, however, as with all processes, there is a limit beyond which faster installation may cause poor results. *Some ovens are factory set and not easily changed by the user, whilst others have programs that may be selected to suit the application.
		Heat-shrink fusion splice sleeves normally consist of three elements:-
		1. A steel pin that provides rigidity, preventing the fiber bending and/or breaking. This pin is located between an inner sleeve of meltable adhesive and an outer sleeve of heat-shrink. 2. An inner sleeve of heat-meltable adhesive that bonds to the fiber coating, providing strength, and eliminating air and moisture from the finished joint. 3. An outer sleeve of heat-shrink that shrinks down when heat is applied and applies pressure to the inner meltable sleeve thus ensuring an air and water-tight joint (whilst also holding the whole assembly together).
The properties of the inner meltable sleeve and the outer heat-shrink are chosen such that the inner sleeve starts to melt and flow at a lower temperature than that at which the heat-shrink shrinks. This is important to prevent undesirable forces being applied to the fiber joint and to ensure proper encapsulation.
Problems can arise if the temperature rise gradient of the oven is too steep and the time interval between the inner sleeve melt/flow point is too close to the point at which the heat-shrink starts to shrink. The original time/temperature graph for installing fusion splice sleeves of this type allowed for 60 seconds warm-up, 60 seconds at the correct temperature and 60 seconds for cooling down before removing the splice! With improvements in materials this cycle has now become more user-friendly BUT IT HAS LIMITS.
FinishAdapt Single Fiber Fusion Splice Sleeves
FinishAdapt recommends an oven setting of 110 degrees Centigrade for a time of 1 minute. Allow an additional 30 seconds cooling down time before inserting the splice into a tray to allow the meltable adhesive to set.
FinishAdapt Mass (Ribbon) Fusion Splice Sleeves
FinishAdapt recommends an oven setting of 140 degrees Centigrade for a time of 2 minutes. We also recommend that the assembly is placed into the oven with the ceramic stiffener facing upwards. Allow an additional 30 seconds before inserting the splice into a tray to allow the meltable adhesive to set. The increased temperature and time cycle for this type of sleeve is required due to the increased mass of materials.