[c-nsp] Fibre link flapping

[Justin M. Streiner]

On Thu, 16 Feb 2012, Christopher J. Wargaski wrote:

>   Look for any tight bends in your fiber. Rule of thumb is do not make the
> bend any tighter than a soda can.
>
>   Also, you may want to find yourself a can of compressed air and a nice
> soft cloth for cleaning eyeglasses. Remove the fiber from the GBIC/SFP,
> blow any dust off of the tip and lightly wipe it with the cloth.
>
>   Of course, there are more professional cleaning kits and procedures (
> http://tinyurl.com/7ryqasp)

I would strongly suggest _against_ using compressed air to clean fiber 
connectors/end faces, for several reasons.

1. It is possible to cause pitting on the end faces by trying to blast 
away dirt with a duster can.  This can make the connectivity problem 
worse.
2. Dusters sometimes shoot out things other than air (still-liquefied
propellant, etc), which you don't want on your end-faces or in your
connectors.

Best bet is to stick with a wet-to-dry cleaning kit that is specifically 
for cleaning fiber ends/connectors.  Using a can of compressed air is 
maybe one notch better than blowing on them, or wiping the end faces on 
your shirt (unfortunately, I've seen people do this...).

jms