MU hoses and ditch lights

[Green_Elite_Cab]

As I recall, fibre optic strands pick-up and emit more light if you first form a lense on the end of the fibre. The easiest way to do this is to bring the end of the strand close to (but not touching) a hot soldering iron - the longer you hold it in place, the larger the lense becomes, although it will often deform or the strand behind the lense will "wilt".

I've done this before, but the light emitted seemed to be of the same diameter as the strand, rather than expanding like a lens. At least i had the foresight to use tubes to house my LEDs. I should be able to install the fiber optics without to much bending.

How would you fuse fiber optics, or is it better to get a strand that meets your needs?