When it comes to fiber optic junction boxes, a variety of options are available. Usually, a common question asked by customers is which box is best for their application. This is a question with connotation. Some questions and answers are needed to see what is most suitable for the situation in front of them. There are many factors that must be addressed to reach the point where we can help make recommendations.
Where is the interconnect will be located, and how many fibers you have to put in the shell if it will need to accommodate the fusion joint. Are there 2 posting frames or will you have to put them there? Does your job have specifications that you need to follow? Specifications are written by engineers, and sometimes they will point out that a particular manufacturer can be used for a certain job. Other specifications are open to different manufacturers, as long as it covers what is required for the job or project.
1. Wall-mounted and rack-mounted
When talking about interconnection, we will discuss the two main types used when building networks. It’s not that there are no other options, we only discuss the two most commonly used. The first one we will discuss is the rack mount frame. Many different configurations and sizes are available. You can go from 1RU (rack unit) to 8RU.
This is the amount of space that the rack installation will occupy in your 2-post rack. So, if you have 72 fibers to install and you are using the sc6 pack adapter board, then you will need a 4RU rack that accepts 12 boards. If you use dual SC adapter boards, you can use a 2RU rack with 6 adapter boards. Again, it also depends on what you want to do when splicing later. If it is splicing, you have to make sure that you have enough space to place your fiber and splicing pallets.
Now with wall mounting, you have the same idea of rack mounting, except now you need to know how much space you have for it to be installed. So the wall-mounted size and how many adapter boards it can hold are very important. You still need to know if you are stitching it. The number of fibers is important, and what type of connector you will use determines how many adapter boards you will need. Some installers look at both cosmetic wall and rack installation. Interconnect provides black and non-white, and they will be off-shelf items. We also have the ability to customize these different colors. When customizing, the quantity requirements need to be met. This applies not only to the housing but also to the adapter plate. If you have a good-scale project and want to customize it all to match it can be done.
2. Fiber count
When it comes to accessories, one of the first questions asked is, as a customer, how much fiber will you put into these accessories. This is the key part of determining what you need. When designing a system, you usually have a central point that holds all the fibers in one place. This must have a larger rack or wall installation because there are more fibers.
What happens next is that there are several lengths of fiber connected to several different locations that need to be connected. At these locations, there is a smaller box that will contain the amount of fiber required for that location. For example, in your central location, you have a total of 12 different runs, going to 12 different locations. In order to achieve this, at the core of the network, you must have an enclosure with a minimum capacity of 144 fibers (12 fibers per run x 12 positions). Therefore, for each segment of your fiber, you need a rack or wall-mounted enclosure, which will hold 12 fibers at the end of the run.
3. Splicing tray
Splicing behind a wall or in a rack-mount enclosure is a major consideration when choosing an enclosure. If you are stitching, then this part will apply to your decision. If not, you can browse the nutrients on the back of the food like most people. Splicing pallets, like rack and wall mounting, there are several different options, you can choose. Need to consider the number of splicing, usually 12 or 24 pallets.
There are also dimensional differences, which will play a role in deciding which one to choose. Splicing pallets is one of the last things to consider because you will need the size of the shell to choose the correct size for splicing pallets. If you want to splice higher fiber counts, you will want to try using pallets that can accept more splicing pallets per pallet. This will help reduce the number of splicing trays required and make fiber management look as professional as a man in a tuxedo preparing for the wedding.
4. LGX style vs. proprietary
Adapter plates must be inserted into all interconnect boxes in order to connect the fibers. In addition to knowing the connector style being connected, you also need to know the style box being used, especially when connecting in an already installed panel. There are “universal” boards that will fit multiple manufacturers’ enclosures.
One style is called the LGX adapter board. Several manufacturers use this concept to allow adapter boards from multiple manufacturers to be interchanged and to use interconnect boxes from several different manufacturers. There are other manufacturers that have proprietary adapter boards, which means you can only use the manufacturer’s adapter boards with their racks and wall mounting boxes.
