Buying a fiber splicer

TubsAlwaysWins · June 15

Wondering if it's worth picking up a used Fujikura FSM-18S.

My work won't get one (not yet at least...) and I'm wondering if I could make money on the side splicing fiber.

What are your guys' thoughts? Could I be profitable? I'm would probably use it at work and not sure how I'd work out compensation. Need to ask first.

What kind of rates could I charge? It's been a while since I've spliced but I'm sure I could pick it up again. In my head id do X rate per splice + hourly rate at 30 minute increments. X is maybe $40 USD?

What consumables are there?

What else would I need? Off the top of my head I can think of:

- Cleaver

- Strippers

- acetone and dispenser

- splice stints (not sure if thats the right word)

- LC or whatever ends I end up needing

Thoughts? Should I just not get one?

Edit: is the FSM-50S a better model? I'm looking at these used on eBay. What model would you get? Going for best bang for budget. Auto alignment would be nice

Blue4130 · June 15

1 hour ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

Wondering if it's worth picking up a used Fujikura FSM-18S.

My work won't get one (not yet at least...) and I'm wondering if I could make money on the side splicing fiber.

What are your guys' thoughts? Could I be profitable? I'm would probably use it at work and not sure how I'd work out compensation. Need to ask first.

What kind of rates could I charge? It's been a while since I've spliced but I'm sure I could pick it up again. In my head id do X rate per splice + hourly rate at 30 minute increments. X is maybe $40 USD?

What consumables are there?

What else would I need? Off the top of my head I can think of:

- Cleaver

- Strippers

- acetone and dispenser

- splice stints (not sure if thats the right word)

- LC or whatever ends I end up needing

Thoughts? Should I just not get one?

Edit: is the FSM-50S a better model? I'm looking at these used on eBay. What model would you get? Going for best bang for budget. Auto alignment would be nice

I really doubt that you would be able to do enough splices to make it worthwhile. Who do you plan on offering service to?

TubsAlwaysWins · June 15

1 hour ago, Blue4130 said:

I really doubt that you would be able to do enough splices to make it worthwhile. Who do you plan on offering service to?

Well if we're honest mostly offering to my company. I need to talk to management about it and see if they could cut a deal. I work at a MSP and might be moving to a low voltage cabling department.

Also I think it would be cool to own but thats not really a good reason to have one

Blue4130 · June 15

52 minutes ago, TubsAlwaysWins said:

Well if we're honest mostly offering to my company. I need to talk to management about it and see if they could cut a deal. I work at a MSP and might be moving to a low voltage cabling department.

Also I think it would be cool to own but thats not really a good reason to have one

Haha I agree that it would be cool to have, Ive had one in my shopping cart more than once, but I REALLY can't justify it. Nobody I know needs fibre. Ethernet is one thing, but fibre...

james404 · June 15

FSM-18S is a solid workhorse. If it’s in good shape, you can definitely make money on the side. $30–$40 per splice sounds fair depending on the job. Just be upfront with your employer if you’re using it at work.

TubsAlwaysWins · June 15

12 minutes ago, james404 said:

FSM-18S is a solid workhorse. If it’s in good shape, you can definitely make money on the side. $30–$40 per splice sounds fair depending on the job. Just be upfront with your employer if you’re using it at work.

Good to know. I think I read the FSM-18s is manual alignment?

It's slightly more for the 50s and the one I'm looking at comes with a cleaver