14/2 AWG Copper Security Alarm Cable - Direct Burial, Water & UV Resistant, CL3/FPL Rated, 1000ft Black

This is the power cable for the part of a security or fire alarm system that lives outside: a gate operator at the end of the drive, a siren on a pole, a horn-strobe on a loading dock, a maglock on a yard gate, a 24 V supply run to a guard shack, a camera's power at a parking lot light. Two 14 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, black and red, with PVC/nylon insulation, under a water-blocking tape and a sunlight-resistant black PVC jacket listed 600 V PLTC for power-limited tray cable under NEC Article 725, CL3 for Class 3 power-limited circuits (and by the code's substitution rules for Class 2 as well), and FPL for power-limited fire alarm circuits under Article 760, and rated for direct burial. The water block stops moisture wicking along the conductors from a nicked jacket or a wet splice, and 14 AWG, with about a third of 18 AWG's loop resistance, carries a siren, a lock, or a 24 V operator a long way without the voltage sag. It's unshielded, which is the right construction for power, locks, and sirens where there's no data signal to protect, and it keeps the cable simpler to terminate and the price down. The conductors are 19-strand, which makes a 14 AWG cable bend around a pedestal and land in a terminal block more easily than a stiffer construction would.

Direct burial means it can go in the ground without conduit, and sunlight resistant means it can run up a pole or along a fence in the open. The same cable is listed for ordinary indoor general-purpose use, so one pull can start at the panel, cross the yard, and end at the device. It's made in the USA, and it comes in a 1000 ft pull box.

Features

• Direct burial and sunlight resistant. Listed to go in the ground without conduit and to run exposed outdoors, with a water-blocking tape under the jacket to stop moisture migrating along the conductors.
• 600 V PLTC, CL3, and FPL. Power-limited tray cable under NEC Article 725, which also covers Class 3 and Class 2 circuits by substitution, and FPL under Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits, so it's listed for security, control, and fire alarm circuits indoors and out.
• Two 14 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. About a third of 18 AWG's loop resistance, for sirens, locks, gate operators, and power runs that have to cross a property, on 19-strand conductors that bend around a pedestal and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Unshielded. The right construction for power, locks, sirens, and notification circuits, and the easier one to terminate; the shielded 14/2 direct burial is the choice when the pair carries data or audio.
• Black and red. The standard pair coding for polarity on a DC power or alarm circuit.
• PVC/nylon insulation. A nylon skin over the PVC that resists oil, abrasion, and moisture and strips cleanly, the same insulation system as THHN building wire.
• Sunlight-resistant black PVC jacket. UV stabilized for exposed outdoor runs, and tough enough for the backfill.
• −39 °C to 90 °C dry, 75 °C wet. Rated for a buried, wet, or sun-baked run as well as a conditioned one.
• 7.87 mm outer diameter. A sturdy cable; plan the conduit stub, the pedestal, and the box for it.
• Made in the USA.
• 1000 ft pull box. Pays out from the box without a spool stand, and the box stacks in a van.

Where It Fits

It suits gate operators and yard-gate maglocks at the end of a drive, outdoor sirens, strobes, and horn-strobes on a pole or a loading dock, 12 V and 24 V power from a supply to a guard shack, an outbuilding, or a bank of outdoor devices, power to a camera or a reader on a parking lot light, 24 V power to an outdoor actuator or a well-house control, fire alarm notification appliances on an outdoor circuit, 70 V paging speakers on a long outdoor line, and any two-conductor power-limited power run that has to cross a yard, a parking lot, or a trench and come up into the weather at the far end.

Good to Know

Bury it to the depth the NEC and the AHJ call for (Article 300.5 sets the minimums, and a power-limited cable in a trench with no power conductors can usually go shallower than a branch circuit), bed it in sand or screened fill rather than rocky backfill, and bring it up through a conduit sleeve where it leaves the ground so the jacket isn't exposed to the mower and the weed trimmer at grade. Seal every outdoor termination; the water block protects the cable, not the box. Run the voltage-drop calculation: a 14 AWG pair is about 5 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V siren drawing 1 A at 500 ft loses about 2.5 V, and a 24 V gate operator drawing 2 A at 300 ft loses about 3 V; size a maglock run on its holding current and the supply's low-battery voltage, not just nominal, and for a heavier load or a longer run, move the supply closer or size up. On a fire alarm notification circuit the panel's own voltage-drop worksheet governs, and the AHJ will want to see it. A long outdoor run is a lightning antenna whatever the gauge, so put surge protection on the circuit at the panel end. Keep the circuits in their classes: Class 2 and Class 3 circuits can use this cable, and a PLTC listing lets it run in a cable tray, but a Class 1 or a branch circuit can't, a fire alarm circuit can't share a cable with a security circuit, and the NEC requires power-limited wiring to stay separated from power conductors in raceways and boxes. CL3 and FPL are general-purpose listings, so indoors it covers ordinary in-wall and in-ceiling runs but not riser shafts or return-air plenums; where the run goes vertical between floors or through a plenum, change to a riser or plenum cable at a box. If the pair will carry a reader's data, an RS-485 bus, or audio past power wiring, use the shielded 14/2 direct burial instead. Nineteen-strand conductors want a ferrule or a proper fold-back before they go under a screw terminal.

Specifications