For longer term applications a buffer locking mechanism is preferable. The Dorran uses compression to lock the bare fiber and jamming plugs to lock the fiber buffers.
The Ultrasplice uses a tiny glass tube to align the fibers and a small plastic chuck to lock onto the buffers.
The Siccor splice is similar to the ultrasplice but uses a rotational locking action to grab the buffers.
Other splices use a sleeve that slides toward the center of the splice to lock the buffers in place.
All splices use tiny alignment tubes or alignment slots to align the two bare fiber ends.
All splices use elastomeric gel, also called index correcting gel to reduce refractive index losses or NA
losses when the two bare fiber faces come together. This gel has a similar density to the core glass density thus less refractive losses occur as light passes across the joint.
This gel must be replaced if you strip a splice down to clean out dust or broken fibers.
What else should I consider?
The buffer size effects the locking mechanism.
Buy the right color coded ends for your job.
Locking down the splice should not require special tools.
