Do You Flash Test Your Fiber Closures?

When visiting customers and contractors, we often run across this discussion: "how much water should there be in a fiber closure?" Well, the simple answer is no water is what you want. Water will freeze in the winter, and this will damage the fiber causing potential outages and more money repairing the damage. Often, we hear a little bit of water will not hurt anything. But unfortunately, a little bit of water also helped sink the Titanic.

A simple solution to this problem is doing a flash test on the closure before you leave the site. There is an air check valve on closures, such as the PLP Coyote One Dome Closures and the line of Coyote Dome Closures. It is as simple as adding 5psi on smaller closures and 10 psi on larger closures. With three simple tools, we can do this. All you need is an air pump (such as a bike pump), a bottle of soapy water, and a tire gauge that will read at least 5 psi and above.

Once you have completed the PLP closure installation and sealed it up, you add air to the closure thru the air valve, use the soapy water and spray down the collar and entry ports, and use the tire gauge to check to see if the right amount of air is in the closure.

When this is done, if you see any bubbles coming out the closure, this is not watertight and may take on water, especially if placed in a hand hole. If you have no bubbles, drain the air from the closure and put it where it belongs. Never leave air in a closure when completed for the safety of others!

This simple procedure can end up saving you time as well as money from unwanted outages. Contact CBM for more information regarding this and PLP Coyote Closures.