GAO Tek News

Visual Fault Locators: One of the Most Commonly Used Fiber Optic Testing Devices

Faults in fiber optic cables are but natural but to locate them in a short time is a crucial and pain staking activity. Technicians are using various fiber optic testers to locate faults of the fiber optic cables like OTDR (Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer) and VFL (Visual Fault Locator).

What are Visual Fault Locators?

Visual fault locator (VFL) is one of the most commonly used fiber optic testing devices these days. It not only traces but also can pinpoint the exact fiber damage location and damage condition such as breaks, bad splices and tight, sharp bends in fiber optic cable. Therefore, technicians are able to diagnose and solve the problem in a timely manner which efficiently avoids further fiber damage.

VFLs are these days manufactured in two types- pen shape VFL and hand held VFL. Pen shape VFL is very small with a pocket size to be carried anywhere. Hand held VFL on the other hand, has a range of connector bulkheads styles from universals to specific connector types.

Why VFLs more prevalent?

VFLs are finding more prevalence and adoption than any other fiber testing equipment. It is not only ideal for locating huge number of defects that are hidden in an OTDR “dead zone” or “ blind zone” by injecting visual light injected into a fiber but also can boost productivity in the filed by providing fast detection, precise fault location and ORL (optical return loss) measurements.

Technicians are finding VFLs more helpful in easily isolating high losses, inspect patch cords, ribbons or bunched pigtails.

In order to maintain the perfect functioning of fiber optic cables, vendors are introducing efficient and reliable VFLs in the market to make it as an indispensable tool to be applied for the routine trouble shooting for optical fiber cable systems.

GAOTek offers a broad range of Visual Fault Locators (VFLs) with which technicians can diagnose, troubleshoot and fix the problem areas in fiber cables quickly and efficiently. Our VFLs are designed to find sharp curves, breaks or damages in fibers, lead end-to-end continuity tests, execute fiber tracing and identification in an optical network and can even find defects in OTDR dead zones. See our selection of VFLs or ask our Experts for help!