CLETOP-S 14110501 Type A Cleaner, Blue Tape

Works great

For anyone that works with fiber optic cables a cleaning tape solution such as Cletop is 100% required. To understand the importance of cleaning fiber you need to get a fiber scope (I personally use a Fluke video fiber scope) and look at the ends of fiber that you "think" is clean. It will become abundantly clear how important fiber hygiene is (*especially* with single mode fiber which has a tiny core size compared to multi-mode).I am writing this review however to clear up some confusion about the different types of Cletop units.There is the "old style" (not the one this review is being written about which is the Cletop-S) which has a heavier duty plastic shell and it uses a roll of tape rather than a cartridge, but it is not ambidextrous. I think they still sell the old style in case you prefer it (I know they sell the refills at least). I kind of like it better (not being a lefty), however, I have never changed a roll on one so perhaps that is one of the reasons for the new style.Then there is the "Type A" vs. "Type B" confusion. "Type A" has a plastic insert that creates two guide rails for you to slide fiber connectors down across the fabric tape, where the "Type B" variant has one large rectangle window that gives you access to the entire fabric area. The "Type A" is intended for connectors like SC (non-duplex) as it has a nice little guide to slide them down. The "Type B" is more free form, commonly used for LC duplex connectors. Note though that I own both, and I use both (normally I use the "A" ones for SC and the "B" ones for LC Duplex, but in a pinch I have used both connector types on both Cletop types).Now on to the other confusion:Blue tape vs. white tape. The Blue stuff is the original (and it is all I have ever used), but when the 1.25mm ferrules came out (i.e. LC cable) there was some concern that the Blue tape would be too "grainy" and would catch the connectors, and so the white tape was born. So I have only used the Blue stuff and so I can't comment on the White stuff. I do use the Blue stuff for LC connectors, but it does totally catch a little bit. I will order the White stuff next time around for my LC connectors (but maybe still use Blue for my SC connectors).Note also that for mission critical stuff, you really should break the LC connectors apart and clean each individually as it is really hard to wipe them properly when ganged together, but nearly nobody (including myself) does this. I only do it on engineered amplified DWDM systems.-Eric

Works