18/2 AWG Direct Burial Security Cable - Shielded, Water Block & UV Resistant, CL3/FPL, 1000ft Black

This is the cable for the part of a security or fire alarm system that lives outside: a gate keypad or intercom at the end of the drive, a siren on a pole, a horn-strobe on a loading dock, a contact on a gate, a sensor on a fence line, a reader at a parking lot entrance. Two 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, black and red, with PVC/nylon insulation, under an overall aluminum foil shield with a drain wire, 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, the foil keeps a long outdoor run quiet past the power wiring it shares a trench with, and 18 AWG, with about half of 22 AWG's loop resistance, carries a reader, a keypad, or a small siren across a property with its signal intact. The 7-strand conductors bend around a pedestal and land in a terminal block more easily than solid wire.

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 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. About half of 22 AWG's loop resistance, for readers, keypads, sensors, and light power runs that have to cross a property, on 7-strand conductors that bend around a pedestal and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Overall aluminum foil shield with drain wire. 100% coverage against induced noise from the power and lighting wiring a long outdoor run shares a trench or a pole with, for data, audio, and sensor pairs.
• Black and red. The standard pair coding for polarity on a DC signal 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 for its gauge; 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 keypads, vehicle intercoms, and card readers at the end of a drive, outdoor sirens, strobes, and horn-strobes on a pole or a loading dock, gate and fence-line contacts and perimeter sensors, outbuilding and detached-garage security zones back to the main panel, RS-485 and panel bus runs to an outdoor controller where the manufacturer accepts a shielded untwisted pair, 12 V power to a camera or a reader on a parking lot light, fire alarm initiating and notification circuits to an outdoor device, and any two-conductor power-limited 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. Ground the shield's drain at the panel 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, and outdoors it can also become a path for a nearby lightning strike. Seal every outdoor termination; the water block protects the cable, not the box. Run the voltage-drop calculation on any pair that carries power: an 18 AWG pair is about 13 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V reader drawing 200 mA at 500 ft loses about 1.3 V, and a 12 V siren drawing 1 A at 300 ft loses about 3.9 V; for a siren, a lock, or a gate operator on a long run, step up to the 14/2 direct burial and keep this cable for the signal. Check the reader or panel manufacturer's wiring guide, since RS-485 and some keypad buses specify a twisted pair and a foil shield adds capacitance on a long run. 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. Stranded conductors want a ferrule or a proper fold-back before they go under a screw terminal.

Specifications

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