thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69
Enroll

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

IT Support & Hardware · Intermediate

Mechanical Splice

Joining two fibers by aligning them in a fixture with index-matching gel, without fusing.

Definition

Mechanical splices are quicker and need less expensive equipment than fusion splicing, but have higher loss (around 0.3 dB) and reflectance. They are used for restoration and some field terminations.

Example

Use a mechanical splice for a temporary emergency repair of a cut fiber.

Exam tip

Mechanical = faster, higher loss; fusion = permanent, lowest loss.

Related terms