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A passive component is a module that does not require energy to operate, except for the available alternating current (AC) circuit that it is connected to. A passive module is not capable of power gain and is not a source of energy. A typical passive component would be a chassis, inductor, resistor, transformer, or capacitor.

Generally, passive components are not able to increase the power of a signal nor are they able to amplify it. However, they can increase current or voltage by an LC circuit that stores electrical energy from resonant frequencies or by a transformer that acts like an electrical isolator.

An electronic circuit that is composed of just passive components is called a passive circuit. A module that is not passive is called an active component.
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The NEOCLEAN-N1 Optical Connector Cleaner is a simplified and a replaceable reel type cleaner for ferrule end-faces (Connectors Cleaned: SC,FC,ST,MU,LC,MPO,MT,MT-RJ). It enables low cost cleaning.

Features:
– Cassette case made with anti-static resin
– An alcohol-free dry cloth solution
– Palm-sized and lightweight
– Efficient and easy to use
– Delivers consistently high quality cleaning performance
– Specially washed, high-densely woven, micro-fiber cleaning tape
– Each cassette provides approx. 400 ferrule cleaning cycles

F1-7020C Fiber Cleaner replaces the use of solvent or alcohol and wipes. The cartridge is filled with lint-free, clean room-grade cleaning material. Use it to remove dirt, dust, debris, grease and oil from connector end faces. The resilient rubber pad under the cleaning surface prevents scratches.

Slide the cover back to expose the cleaning cloth. Clean up to six connections before advancing the tape to use a clean portion. Tear off material as required. Clean ferrule sides with excess. Using a forward motion, press connector lightly on exposed cloth twice. Inspect connector end face. Repeat if needed. When not in use, the cleaning substance is protected from contamination by a sliding cover. The lightweight cartridge is filled with 20 feet of cloth tape.

PFOC-1200 Precision Fiber Optic Cleaning Cube is a convenient, fast, portable platform for cleaning fiber optic end-faces.

Features
– Compact size: convenient, fast to work in the field or store in the tool case
– Fiber-safe foam platform: provide ideal surface for fiber optic cleaning
– Heavy Duty Lint-Free Wiping Material: won’t shred or tear, ideal for cleaning fiber optic  end-face
– Low cost per clean: clean up to 1200 fiber optic end-faces

Applications
– Fiber Optic end-face cleaning
– Splice preparation
– Buffer gel removal

Contains: 1200 cleans/Box, (200 Perforated sheets – each sheet up to 6 cleans)

According to the study, the value of passive optical components, led by fiber-optic cable assemblies (glass optical fiber/GOF plus plastic optical fiber/POF), in harsh environments reached $711 million in 2015. Transmitter/receiver units, held a 43% percent share of total components consumption in 2015. The total use of fiber-optic components used in all harsh environment applications is forecast to increase at an average annual growth rate of 14.6 % from $1.3 billion in 2015 to $2.6 billion in 2020.

The report notes that, historically, the market value of harsh environment fiber-optic components and devices has been dominated by military/aerospace-qualified components, with a 68% share in back in 2010. “However, we forecast that the military/aerospace application’s market share will decrease over the forecast period (2015-2020),” said the analyst, who added, “The commercial/industrial fiber-optic component consumption, in turn, is dominated by plastic optical fiber (POF) link components. However, glass-based optical fiber is finding an increase in opportunity in commercial/industrial applications.”

Harsh Environment (HE) is defined by the report as environment beyond the limits normally encountered by commercial telecom, datacom and commercial intra-equipment fiber data links with regard to extremes of: temperature above or below (-40 to +75) degrees C; shock and vibration; external pressure extremes; tensile strength of fiber; high EMI/RFI interference; corrosive and/or solvent surroundings; atomic and other radiation; and rough handling during installation/deployment.

Fiber optic adapters (mating sleeves) are used to mechanically connect two fiber connectors. A fiber adapter consists of two main parts: the connector alignment sleeve and the adapter housing.Connector alignment sleeve is usually a split “C” and is made from a hard, low-wear material such as Zirconia (a type of ceramic ) and phosphor bronze.

The alignment sleeve is the most critical part since it provides the alignment of two connector ferrules.

In the late 1990s, The Technologies studied the reliability of fiber optic enclosures in outside plant environment (field enclosures). They assembled a report on the benefits of fiber connection cleaning in those fiber optic OSP enclosures. The statistics showed a significant improvement after connector and adapter cleaning.

The best practice is to clean an adapter or connector thoroughly before mating whenever your insertion loss suddenly increases.

The most convenient way to clean it is with the fiber optic cleaning swabs.

As we know, single mode fibers have cores that are only 8~9um in diameter. As a point of reference, a typical human air is 50~75um in diameter, approximately 6-9 times larger.SO it is hard to conceive of the size of a fiber optic connector core.

Dust particles can be 20um or larger in diameter. Dust particles smaller than 1um can be suspended almost indefinitely in the air. A 1um dust particle landing on the core of single mode fiber can cause up to 1dB of loss. Larger dust particles, 9um or larger, can completely block the core of a single mode fiber.

Such that fiber optic connectors have to be cleaned each time they are mated. It is essential that fiber optics users develop the necessary discipline such as one click cleaner or fiber optic cleaner to always clean the connectors before they are mated.

Unprotected connector ends are most often damaged by impact, such as hitting the floor. Most connector manufacturers provide some sort of protection boot. The best protectors cover the entire connector end, but they are generally simple closed-end plastic tubes that fit snugly over the ferrule only. So cover a fiber optic connector when it is not in use is the other important thing should be  keep in mind .

These boot will protect the connector’s polished ferrule end from impact damage that might crack or chip the polished surface. Many of the tight fitting plastic tubes contain jelly-like contamination (most likely mold release) that adheres to the sides of the ferrule. A blast of cleaning air or a quick dunk in a alcohol will not remove this residue. This jelly-like residue can combine with common dirt to form a sticky mess that causes the connector ferrule to stick in the mating adapter. Often, the stuck ferrule will break off as one attempts to remove it.
The most inporment thing is that always thoroughly clean the connector with fiber optic cleaner before mating, even if it was cleaned previously before the protection boot was installed.