Is it bad to look at fiber switch ports?

[Red Squirrel]

I accidentally got my eye in the field of projection of an empty fiber switch port and did see a red laser. I'm guessing this is just an indicator light and that the actual spectrum is beyond what I can see and can damage the eye retina. Could I have eye damage because of this?

I don't feel any kind of pain or loss of eye sight, but is this long term affecting? I'm actually very surprised that there are zero warnings on the equipment about this. Normally anything with a laser has warnings, could it be that it's a safe laser to look at? This is short distance SAN fiber and not telco equipment.

 

[ScottMac]

It varies with the type of connection, single mode lasers are all invisible, and all are powerful enough to do damage quickly (and you can't see them, and there's no pain, and there's no blink reflex ...).

If you saw the red light, it's 650nm, and you'd have to look at it for "a while" to do any serious damage. There is no "guard light" or warning light; the red light you saw was the optical signal.

You should now understand why it's vital to plug all unused ports, and getting into the habit of avoiding open optical ports, to be especially careful around disconnected fiber (i.e., don't look into a fiber end unless you verify that the other end is disconnected), taking the time to understand the hazards, and to watch for careless behavior and correct it ASAP. Co-workers waving a fiber end around deserve a swift kick, at the least ; I'd fire 'em if I could - once the damage is done, it cannot be undone.

Anyway, 650nm can be intense, but "usually" it's about the same level as a laser pointer (not pleasant, damaging with extended exposure).

Be careful. Good Luck

 

[spidey07]

YES!

I have a scar on my retina from doing this. It's a blurry spot in my vision that I will never get rid of. Don't do it. Doc looked deep into my retina on an eye exam and said "you don't happen to work with lasers or fiber optics do you?" when he saw it.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: spidey07
YES!

I have a scar on my retina from doing this. It's a blurry spot in my vision that I will never get rid of. Don't do it. Doc looked deep into my retina on an eye exam and said "you don't happen to work with lasers or fiber optics do you?" when he saw it.

Same here from Laser beam.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Good to know, so the light I saw was probably not that bad. Don't think I got it directly either, it looked more like a very thin laser with the power of a LED. But yeah now that I know all those ports are exposed I'll be careful around here.

It's bad here tbh, zero organization and zero care really. Safety, is one of our many concerns.

 

[ScottMac]

A strip of painter's tape (low adhesive, no particulate) works fine.
Anything to block the port (and, by the way, keep the airborne dust and particulates out of your port).

Lots of shops make a big show of cleaning the finer ends, but totally forget the port or panel connection that's been sitting open for weeks/months/years and have a hard time figuring out why their fiber links are flaky.

 

[cmetz]

WARNING: Do not look at laser with remaining eye.

For multi-mode short-haul optics, if you accidentally looked at the red LED for a brief moment, it's not a big deal. You should, however, aggressively practice optical safety to avoid future exposure. Remember that a lot of the very damaging lasers are not visible light, so you won't even see the thing that creates retina damage or blindness. That's what makes it so dangerous, by the time you might realize that there's a problem, it's way too late.

Always cap optics, it's half a safety issue and half a dust issue. Remember, dust is the enemy in any fiber plant. Also, if you can, get fiber patch panels with the light filtering covers. Has anyone ever seen light filtering covers you could swing over a fiber switch? I haven't, but something like that would certainly be helpful. The rubber caps that come with your optics modules are the best bet, if not, electrical tape works okay in my experience.