Fiber Cables are Unique Not all pulling lubricants can produce such low coefficients of friction in fiber installation. A number of unique lubricant requirements have been discovered that are especially important for fiber pulling. To understand why these lubricant properties are important, we must first look at the unique character of fiber cable itself. Fiber cable is lightweight, much lighter than copper conductor cable. Thus, the fiber cable isn't squeezing or pressing on the lubricant as hard as copper cable would.
Fiber cable is also unique in the typical length of pull.
There may be as much as ten times more linear contact in a fiber pull. The unique properties needed in a fiber optic pulling lubricant result from these cable characteristics. The greater the viscosity, the more force is required to break or shear the liquid internally. These are viscosity effects. Imagine the kind of force that might be needed to overcome the internal strength of a lubricant over thousands of feet of fiber cable during a pull.