16/4 Riser Security Alarm Cable - 19 Strand Copper, CL3R Rated, 1000ft Gray

This is the four-conductor riser cable for the devices on a security system that draw real current: four 16 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, black, red, white, and green, under a gray PVC jacket listed CL3R under NEC Article 725 for Class 3 power-limited circuits (and by the code's substitution rules for Class 2 as well) and FPLR under Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits. 16 AWG has about 40% less loop resistance than 18 AWG and a quarter of 22 AWG's, so it's the gauge for a maglock or a strike at the far end of a long run, a pair of sirens on one output, a 24 V power supply feeding a bank of devices, or a notification appliance circuit. Four conductors means power and a second circuit in one pull: a maglock with its door contact, a siren with its tamper, a strike with the request-to-exit, a power run with a status pair coming back. The conductors are 19-strand rather than 7, which makes a 16 AWG cable bend around a wall cavity and land in a terminal block more easily than a stiffer construction would.

CL3R covers the vertical runs between floors of a multi-story building and every ordinary in-wall and in-ceiling run that isn't a return-air plenum, and FPLR covers the same spaces on a fire alarm system. It's unshielded, which is the right construction for power, locks, sirens, and contacts, and it keeps the cable slim and the price down. The cable is ETL Listed and RoHS compliant, and it comes in a 1000 ft pull box with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• Riser rated two ways. CL3R under NEC Article 725 and FPLR under Article 760, so it's listed for riser shafts, vertical runs between floors, and general in-wall and in-ceiling use on security, control, and power-limited fire alarm circuits, and the CL3R listing covers Class 2 circuits under the code's substitution rules.
• Four 16 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. About 40% less loop resistance than 18 AWG, for maglocks, strikes, sirens, and power-supply runs that would sag on a lighter gauge, on 19-strand conductors that bend around a wall cavity and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Black, red, white, and green. The standard four-conductor coding, so the power pair and the signal pair are identifiable at both ends without a meter.
• Unshielded. The right construction for power, locks, sirens, and contacts, and the easier one to terminate.
• PVC insulation and jacket. Flexible, with a 0.015 in jacket wall that strips cleanly.
• Gray jacket. Reads as general-purpose low-voltage in a wall or a tray, and stays distinct from red fire alarm and blue data cable.
• 300 V, 75 °C. The ratings a Class 2, Class 3, or power-limited fire alarm circuit calls for.
• 5.49 mm outer diameter. Sized to fit standard low-voltage fittings and connectors.
• ETL Listed, RoHS compliant.
• 1000 ft pull box. Sequential footage marks on the jacket; pays out from the box without a spool stand, and the box stacks in a van.

Where It Fits

It suits maglocks and electric strikes on access control doors with the door contact or request-to-exit on the second pair, sirens, strobes, and sounders on an alarm output with a tamper pair, 12 V and 24 V power from a supply to keypads, readers, and auxiliary devices on a long run, notification appliance circuits on a power-limited fire alarm panel, gate operators and door-operator controls, 70 V paging speakers on a long line, and any four-conductor low-voltage run through the walls and risers of a home, apartment building, office, or store where the ceiling space isn't a return-air plenum and the load is heavier than 18 AWG is comfortable with.

Good to Know

Run the voltage-drop calculation on the pair that carries power. A 16 AWG pair is about 8 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V maglock drawing 0.5 A at 300 ft loses about 1.2 V, and a 24 V notification circuit drawing 1 A at 300 ft loses about 2.4 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 step up to 14 AWG or move the power supply closer. On a fire alarm notification circuit the panel's own voltage-drop worksheet governs, and the AHJ will want to see it. Keep the circuits in their classes: Class 2 and Class 3 circuits can share this cable, but a Class 1 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. Nineteen-strand conductors want a ferrule or a proper fold-back before they go under a screw terminal; a stray strand is the short that takes a zone into trouble. CL3R and FPLR cover risers and general use but not return-air plenums; a run through a plenum ceiling needs a CL3P or FPLP cable. The jacket isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor gate operator or siren should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

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