AFL today announced the launch of its Apex family of fiber-optic splice closures, a product line the manufacturer says represents a "culmination of a multi-year development effort that includes extensive voice-of-customer surveys."
Per an AFL statement: "The Apex splice closure is designed to lower overall installation time with easier to use sealing and cable retention methods, along with industry-leading density, especially when coupled with AFL’s LM-series MicroCore cable or Wrapping Tube Cable powered by SpiderWeb Ribbon [technology]."
“When I started my career in fiber optics as a field engineer, performing a 144-fiber backbone splice was considered a timely affair,” observes Will Miller, senior product manager for AFL’s Outside Plant Cable and Connectivity products. “With today’s fiber counts as high as 6,912, splice closure manufacturers have had to retrofit solutions to find compatibility with these increased densities. The Apex splice closures are designed with high density in mind. No retrofitting required.”
The initial launch of Apex splice closures includes the X-2 and X-2S sizes which have maximum capacities of 1,728 and 3,456 fibers, respectively, when using AFL's 200 µm SpiderWeb Ribbon. Availability of additional sizes with lower and higher capacities will follow in 2021.
View a 3D animation of the product
AFL says the Apex splice closures are geared for applications including enterprise/campus LAN, ADSS core, utility fiber-to-the-home, service provider access, long line and dark fiber.
With the new product line, the company contends that field installers and engineers can perform 1,728 splices inside of a 20-inch long dome or 3,456 splices inside a 25-inch long dome. With the products' easy-to-use wedge-based gel sealing system, installation time is drastically decreased as network reliability increases, adds AFL.
The Apex fiber-optic splice closure expands AFL’s existing line of fiber connectivity products, including hardened pre-terminated multiport terminals and drops, fiber distribution hubs, closures, field-installable connectors and more. To learn more, visit www.AFLglobal.com.