12/2 Solid Copper Fire Alarm Cable - FPLP Plenum Rated, Red, Data, 1000ft

In an office, school, hospital, or store, the space above the drop ceiling is usually a return-air plenum, and any fire alarm cable that runs through it without conduit has to be plenum rated. This is the heavy-gauge fire alarm cable for those buildings: two 12 AWG solid bare copper conductors, insulated black and red in low-smoke PVC, under a red low-smoke PVC jacket listed FPLP under NEC Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits in plenums, drop ceilings, and raised floors. 12 AWG is the largest conductor commonly used on a power-limited fire alarm circuit, with about a quarter the loop resistance of 16 AWG, so it's the cable for the longest and most heavily loaded notification appliance circuits and for voice evacuation speaker circuits, where a big strobe count or a long amplifier run would push a smaller gauge past the panel's voltage-drop limit. It's a data-grade cable, with insulation built to the tighter electrical tolerances that addressable panels specify for their signaling line circuits, and it's unshielded, which is the standard construction for a notification or speaker circuit on a quiet route.

FPLP is the top of the fire alarm cable hierarchy: it can go anywhere FPLR or FPL can, plus the air-handling spaces they can't. The red jacket is the fire alarm identification that inspectors and future technicians expect to see. The cable is UL and ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, and made in the USA, and it comes on a 1000 ft wooden spool with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• FPLP plenum rated. Listed under NEC Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits in return-air plenums, drop ceilings, and raised floors without conduit, and for every riser and general-purpose run below that.
• 12 AWG solid bare copper conductors. About a quarter the loop resistance of 16 AWG, for the longest notification circuits, the highest strobe counts, and voice evacuation speaker runs.
• Data grade. Insulation held to the electrical tolerances addressable panels call for on a signaling line circuit.
• Low-smoke PVC insulation, black and red. Color-coded conductors for polarity on notification and speaker circuits, with a 0.012 in wall.
• Red low-smoke PVC jacket. Low smoke for the plenum listing, in the standard fire alarm color, with a heavier 0.018 in wall.
• Unshielded. The standard construction for notification appliance and speaker circuits, and the easier one to terminate.
• 300 V, 75 °C. The ratings a power-limited fire alarm circuit calls for.
• 6.07 mm outer diameter. Sized to fit standard fire alarm fittings and connectors.
• UL Listed, ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, made in the USA. Also carries the Canadian FT6 plenum flame rating.
• 1000 ft wooden spool. Sequential footage marks on the jacket; put it on a spool stand and it pays out cleanly.

Where It Fits

It suits long notification appliance circuits with a high count of horns and strobes, voice evacuation speaker circuits from the amplifier to the last speaker on a floor, runs through the plenum ceiling of an office, hotel, hospital, school, or retail floor, backbone runs between the fire alarm control panel and floor terminal cabinets in a building wired entirely with plenum cable, signaling line circuits where the panel manufacturer specifies data-grade unshielded cable, and any power-limited fire alarm run that needs the lowest voltage drop available in a two-conductor cable.

Good to Know

The gauge is the point. A 12 AWG pair is about 3.2 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a notification circuit drawing 3 A at the far end of a 500 ft run loses about 4.8 V, which 16 AWG couldn't do at all; on a 300 ft run at 1.5 A the drop is under 1.5 V. Run the calculation against the panel maker's limit before you settle on a gauge, and remember that a speaker circuit is figured on impedance and wattage rather than current, using the amplifier manufacturer's tables. Plenum-rated cable is for the air-handling space, not for inside the ductwork itself, which the NEC doesn't allow for any fire alarm cable. If the ceiling isn't a plenum, the riser-rated 12/2 does the same job for less. The cable is listed for fire alarm circuits under Article 760, and the AHJ has the final say on using it for anything else. Keep fire alarm cable separate from power conductors in raceways and boxes, as the code requires for power-limited circuits. Plenum compounds are stiffer than ordinary PVC and 12 AWG solid is stiff to begin with, so give it a generous bend radius, use device terminals rated for it, and don't expect it to tuck into a small backbox the way 18 AWG does. If the route shares a ceiling space with VFDs, large motors, or broadcast equipment, the shielded 12/2 adds a foil shield and drain wire. The jacket isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor device should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

Usually ships in 1 - 2 business days.