engineers with fiber optic expertise

[m.t.hands]

this is a fiber optic cable that is a light source for a CCD camera, my first thought was that a cooling fan may have gone out but that is not the case, little baffled by what the purpose of the "plate" is between the bundles of fibers and why only one side at the light source end degraded like this;

Known bad unit fiber-optic from HSP1 #2.jpg fiber-optic from HSP1.jpg

known good unit (secondary light source)

fiber-optic from HSP1 #3.jpgfiber-optic from HSP1 #4.jpg

[Transom]

Is that residue or are the fibers damaged? Those pictures are kind of grainy (irony) so it is hard to tell but could it be residue from an electronic component failing and gassing out?

[Spanky06]

The fiber on the top photographs are heavily damaged and they are goners, you should replace. The deal with fiber is, it is great for moving data, nothing is better, the drawback is that it has to be maintained meticulously clean or it will cause you problems. One particle of dust or contaminate will greatly reduce fibers ability to move data in any form. I work on advanced aircraft Radar systems that rely heavily on fiber optic data (I also slept at a Holiday Inn Express LOL).


Spanky

[m.t.hands]

The fiber on the top photographs are heavily damaged and they are goners, you should replace. The deal with fiber is, it is great for moving data, nothing is better, the drawback is that it has to be maintained meticulously clean or it will cause you problems. One particle of dust or contaminate will greatly reduce fibers ability to move data in any form. I work on advanced aircraft Radar systems that rely heavily on fiber optic data (I also slept at a Holiday Inn Express LOL).


Spanky

Is that residue or are the fibers damaged? Those pictures are kind of grainy (irony) so it is hard to tell but could it be residue from an electronic component failing and gassing out?

yep Spanky figured the one is toast, the top pictures are of the knowingly bad unit, again this is for a light source for a camera, I have located a replacement, but it is 21k, just curious as to what the "bar" "divider" is

and transom, those "ends" that appear/are damaged almost look like they are melted or had some form of a chemical contamination that effectively "melted" it, BUT it is just the one side???, which made no sense since the end of the cable closest to the light source is the same on both sides, about 1.5-2" from a 12v100w lamp, at first I suspected the cooling fan, but of the three light source all three units have the cooling fans working. and I am still wondering if the fibers are "separated" inside the cable???

i'll try to get better pics, wanted to put it under a scope the cable is probably 10mm or 3/8" with a metal sheathing like flex

[mhines]

Fiber needs 2 paths....my guess is 1 half is the transmit side, the other is the receive or return path.

[m.t.hands]

Fiber needs 2 paths....my guess is 1 half is the transmit side, the other is the receive or return path.

my first thoughts too, but this is for a light source, it goes from a light source to a prizm/lens for high magnification and back lighting for parts recognition, kind of familiar with emitter/receiver single strand type fiber devices, I may be wrong but this appears to be nothing but a source of light??? I am getting baptized with it this week, so i'll be learning some new stuff....although right now I feel like I learning to swim in deep shark-infested waters

[Transom]

Fiber needs 2 paths....my guess is 1 half is the transmit side, the other is the receive or return path.

For full duplex transceivers yes. But for a camera setup the device is likely just receiving.

[Spanky06]

For full duplex transceivers yes. But for a camera setup the device is likely just receiving.

THIS^^^^^^, You sir are correct. A transmit receive fiber set up is pretty complex and yes, you have individual lines for data in/out......