Can Anaerobic Adhesive Be Used with All Epoxy and Polish Fiber Connectors?

Up until now, the most common curing agent used in fiber optic connector termination is a heat-cured epoxy. The epoxy is injected into the connector, fiber is pushed through the ferrule and then the connector is placed into a heat oven, where heat causes the curing process.

Heat-cured epoxies are relative inert, and can be used with plastic, metal and ceramic fiber connectors.

But anaerobic adhesives as a curing agent in fiber connector termination have become pretty popular today, especially in field installation and terminations, because of the rapid curing time.

Anaerobic adhesives are made of two parts, an adhesive and a primer. When mixed together, the adhesive hardens within a minute.

Here comes the warning: Anaerobic agents are relatively aggressive and cause certain materials to degrade, especially plastic material.

So anaerobic adhesives should not be used in fiber optic connectors, where the adhesive will come into contact with the plastic components of the connectors, such as ferrules or ferrule holders.

Anaerobic adhesives should only be used with optic connectors that have a ceramic (zirconia) ferrule and a metal ferrule holder.

Other parts of the connector body that do not contact with the anaerobic adhesive can be plastic, such as the shroud on SC connectors.

So we recommend you to review the fiber optic connector manufacturer’s procedures for specific termination instructions, to determine the correct adhesive and epoxy to use with a particular connector type.

We offer anaerobic adhesives and anaerobic optical connectors. Please check them out.