18/2 Riser Rated Security Cable - CMR/CL2R, Shielded, Stranded Copper, 1000ft

This is the two-conductor shielded riser cable for the longer or noisier signal runs of a security or low-voltage system: two 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, black and red, under an overall aluminum foil shield and a gray PVC jacket listed CL2R under NEC Article 725 for Class 2 power-limited circuits, CMR under Article 800 for communications, and FPLR under Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits. The shield is the point: a reader data pair, a keypad bus, an audio line, or a sensor loop that has to share a riser or a wall with lighting and power wiring picks up less noise under foil than it would bare. And 18 AWG, with about half the loop resistance of 22 AWG, is the gauge for a pair that has to go a long way or carry a little current on the way, so the same cable that shields a reader's data can also feed the reader. The 7-strand conductors bend around a wall cavity and land in a terminal block more easily than solid wire.

CL2R and CMR cover 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. The cable is ETL Listed and RoHS compliant, and it comes on a 1000 ft wooden spool with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• Riser rated three ways. CL2R under NEC Article 725, CMR under Article 800, 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 Class 2 security and control circuits, communications circuits, and power-limited fire alarm circuits alike.
• Two 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. About half the loop resistance of 22 AWG, for long signal runs and pairs that also carry power, on 7-strand conductors that bend around a wall cavity and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Overall aluminum foil shield. 100% coverage against induced noise from lighting, motor, and power circuits sharing the riser or the wall, for data, audio, and sensor pairs.
• Black and red. The standard pair coding for polarity on a DC signal or alarm circuit.
• PVC insulation and jacket. Flexible and easy to strip, with a 0.015 in jacket wall over the shield.
• 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 or power-limited fire alarm circuit calls for.
• 4.19 mm outer diameter. Slim enough to bundle by the dozen and fish through a wall or a tight ceiling.
• ETL Listed, RoHS compliant.
• 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 card reader and keypad data pairs on access control doors, RS-485 and panel bus runs where the manufacturer accepts a shielded untwisted pair and the run is long, intercom and entry-phone audio lines, line-level audio between a paging amplifier and a source, door and window contacts and sensor loops routed past fluorescent lighting or motor circuits, thermostat and damper control pairs in a noisy mechanical room, power-limited fire alarm circuits that call for a shielded stranded pair, and any two-conductor Class 2 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 route is electrically noisy or long.

Good to Know

It's a Class 2 cable. CL2R covers the circuits most alarm panels, keypads, readers, sensors, and thermostats run on, which are power-limited to 30 V and 100 VA, but it isn't listed for Class 3 circuits (the higher-voltage power-limited class) or for Class 1; a run that needs CL3R should use a cable that says so on the jacket. Ground the shield's drain at the panel or controller end only and tape it back at the device end; a shield grounded at both ends becomes a loop that picks up the noise it was meant to reject. Check the reader or panel manufacturer's wiring guide before you pull, since RS-485 and some keypad buses specify a twisted pair, and a foil shield adds capacitance that can shorten the rated run on a high-speed bus. Run the voltage-drop calculation on any pair that also carries power: an 18 AWG pair is about 13 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V reader drawing 200 mA at 300 ft loses about 0.8 V, and a 12 V strike drawing 0.5 A at 200 ft loses about 1.3 V; a strike or a siren doesn't need the shield, so the unshielded 18/2 riser does that job for less and this cable can stay on the signal. 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. Stranded 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. CL2R, CMR, and FPLR cover risers and general use but not return-air plenums; a run through a plenum ceiling needs the shielded 18/2 plenum. The jacket isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor reader or contact should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

Usually ships in 1 - 2 business days.