IEC 60793-1-53:2014

IEC 60793-1-53 ®
Edition 2.0 2014-02
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical fibres –
Part 1-53: Measurement methods and test procedures – Water immersion tests

Fibres optiques –
Partie 1-53: Méthodes de mesure et procédures d’essai – Essais d'immersion
dans l'eau
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IEC 60793-1-53 ®
Edition 2.0 2014-02
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Optical fibres –
Part 1-53: Measurement methods and test procedures – Water immersion tests

Fibres optiques –
Partie 1-53: Méthodes de mesure et procédures d’essai – Essais d'immersion

dans l'eau
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX G
ICS 33.180.10 ISBN 978-2-8322-1377-3

– 2 – 60793-1-53  IEC:2014
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Apparatus . 5
3.1 Water tank . 5
3.2 Other apparatus . 5
4 Sampling and specimens . 6
5 Procedure . 6
5.1 General . 6
5.2 Measurements . 6
5.2.1 Optical measurements . 6
5.2.2 Mechanical measurements . 6
5.3 Preconditioning . 6
5.4 Conditioning . 6
5.5 Recovery . 6
6 Pass/fail criteria . 7
7 Results . 7
7.1 Information to be provided with each test . 7
7.2 Information to be available upon request . 7
8 Specification information . 7

60793-1-53  IEC:2014 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
OPTICAL FIBRES –
Part 1-53: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Water immersion tests
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
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with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
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3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 60793-1-53 has been prepared by subcommittee 86A: Fibres and cables,
of IEC technical committee 86: Fibre optics.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 2001, and constitutes a
technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
– harmonizing the content with sectional specifications of relevant fibre types;
– extending the applicability of the standard to Class C single-mode fibres.

– 4 – 60793-1-53  IEC:2014
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
CDV Report on voting
86A/1529CDV 86A/1575/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts in the IEC 60793 series, published under the general title Optical fibres, can
be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
60793-1-53  IEC:2014 – 5 –
OPTICAL FIBRES –
Part 1-53: Measurement methods and test procedures –
Water immersion tests
1 Scope
This part of IEC 60793 provides a practical method for evaluating fibre performance in a
defined environment.
The purpose of this standard is to define a test that determines the suitability of sub-category
A1a to A1d multimode fibres and class B and C single-mode fibres to withstand the
environmental condition of immersion in distilled or demineralized water which may occur in
actual use, storage and/or transport. The test is primarily intended to permit the observation
of effects of immersion in water over a given period. This procedure is conducted in
accordance with IEC 60068-2-18, Test R.
NOTE The applicability of this test to other fibre categories is under study.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document.
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition
of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
IEC 60068-2-18, Environmental testing – Part 2-18: Tests – Test R and guidance: Water
IEC 60793-1-32, Optical fibres – Part 1-32: Measurement and test procedures – Coating
strippability
IEC 60793-1-40:2001, Optical fibres – Part 1-40: Attenuation measurement methods
IEC 60793-2-10, Optical fibres – Part 2-10: Product specifications – Sectional specification for
category A1 multimode fibres
IEC 60793-2-50, Optical fibres – Part 2-50: Product specifications – Sectional specification for
class B single mode fibres
IEC 60793-2-60, Optical fibres – Part 2-60: Product specifications – Sectional specification for
class C single-mode intraconnection fibres
3 Apparatus
3.1 Water tank
The apparatus consists of a water tank filled with water. Use distilled, demineralized or de-
ionized water which has a pH of between 5,0 and 8,0.
3.2 Other apparatus
Additional apparatus may be necessary to perform the examinations and measurements (or
as specified in the detail specification).

– 6 – 60793-1-53  IEC:2014
4 Sampling and specimens
To ensure the required repeatability on optical measurements, the length of the specimen
shall be at least 1 000 m for fibre sub-categories A1a to A1d, and at least 2 000 m for fibre
class B and C. The amount of the specimen outside of the tank shall be minimized and, if it
exceeds 10 % of the overall specimen length, this should be reported.
The preparation of the specimen shall have no detrimental effect on the fibre whilst under test
conditions. Unless otherwise specified, the fibre sample should be loosely coiled and that the
fibre ends are kept out of the water. The specimen may be coiled horizontally or vertically,
with a minimum bend diameter of 150 mm to avoid any macrobend effects.
A length of the control specimen shall be removed prior to the test to enable the completion of
required mechanical measurements for comparison to measurements made after the test.
5 Procedure
5.1 General
The specimen is placed in a tank which is filled with water held at 23 °C ±
...