In the world of fiber-to-the-home, installers trust the AirStream Cable Blowing Machine. Featuring a compliant, double drive belt configuration, the electrical-driven AirStream installs micro cables quickly and easily, making it an ideal choice for installers.

And now the AirStream is compatible with flat drop blowing, installing flat drop cable up to 1000 ft. Valley Fiber recently used the AirStream’s flatdrop capacity to install new fiber optic cable infrastructure and provide the city of Winkler, Manitoba with the fastest internet in all of Canada.

“To deploy (or blow in) the micro fiber cable through the MicroDuct, Valley Fiber chose the AirStream Fiber Optic Cable Blowing Machine by General Machine Products (KT), LLC (GMP). They liked the fact that the AirStream is portable, it is adjustable to suit a wide range of cable diameters, and designed to maximize protection for delicate micro cables with a compliant double drive concept, to provide precise control of torque and speed.”

If you want to follow Valley Fiber’s example, it’s easy to modify the Airstream to work with flat drop from its traditional round fiber setting with a flat drop kit (89328). The key is to pick out seals that match out the flat drop being installed. The 3-pack of SST Tonable, SST Non-Tonable, and Superior Essex Non-Tonable seals will get the job done. Additional seals are available upon request.

It’s also important to make sure that you install the grooved belt for flat drop blowing which is also provided in the flatdrop kit. The grooved belt gives you a superior grip which is essential for flat drop blowing.

To install the belt, the first step is to remove the 4 screws retaining the belt guard. Then, you have to remove the belt guides and loosen the tension screws. Next, you have to loosen and remove the tension nuts. Once that’s done, you can remove the idler pulleys and the belts currently on the machine. The video below will walk you through the process:

After the belt is removed, place the new belt in position on the drive pulley, loop the belt on the idler pulley on the other end and place the it onto the tensioning shaft. Replace the tension nut and then tension.

When doing a flatdrop run longer than 300 ft, a good air compressor is essential. The Micro Fiber Cable Blowing Air Compressor (89011)  is designed to work specifically with the Airstream and other GMP micro fiber blowers. This reliable and efficient screw compressor, powered by a gasoline engine, provides a maximum working pressure of 220 psi (15 bar) with 35.3 cfm (1000 litres/m) flow.

If you already invested in your AirStream, a couple components will make it easy for you to blow flat drop as well.

Since 1936, General Machine Products has been a leader in supplying the telecom industry. Visit us today at gmptools.com or call us at 215-357-5500 to learn more about our product offerings.