18/4 AWG Plenum Security Alarm Cable - CMP/CL3P Rated, Unshielded, 1000ft White

Minimum order: two boxes. This cable ships in a minimum quantity of two 1000 ft pull boxes.

In an office, school, hospital, or store, the space above the drop ceiling is usually a return-air plenum, and any low-voltage cable that runs through it without conduit has to be plenum rated. This is the four-conductor plenum cable for the devices on a security system that need power and signal in one pull through that ceiling: four 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, black, red, white, and green, under a white low-smoke PVC jacket that carries the plenum listings. It's rated CL3P under NEC Article 725 for Class 3 power-limited circuits (and by the code's substitution rules for Class 2 as well), CMP under Article 800 for communications, and FPLP under Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits. A keypad with power and a data bus, a motion detector with power and a tamper loop, a siren with drive and tamper, an intercom station with power and audio, a door with a strike and a request-to-exit: each is a four-conductor run, and 18 AWG is heavy enough to carry the power leg a long way without the voltage drop that 22 AWG would give. The 7-strand conductors bend around a ceiling and land in a terminal block more easily than solid wire.

It's unshielded, which is the right construction for power, contacts, and the low-speed keypad buses most panels use, and it keeps the cable slim and the price down. CL3P and CMP cover return-air plenums, drop ceilings, and raised floors, and every riser and general-purpose run below that. The cable is ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, and made in the USA, and it comes in a 1000 ft pull box with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• Plenum rated three ways. CL3P under NEC Article 725, CMP under Article 800, and FPLP under Article 760, so it's listed for return-air plenums, drop ceilings, and raised floors on security, control, communications, and fire alarm circuits alike, and for every riser and general-purpose run below that; the CL3P listing covers Class 2 circuits under the code's substitution rules.
• Four 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. Power and signal in one pull, with about half the loop resistance of 22 AWG, on 7-strand conductors that bend around a ceiling and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Black, red, white, and green. The standard four-conductor coding, so power and data pairs are identifiable at both ends without a meter.
• Unshielded. The right construction for power, contacts, and low-speed keypad buses, and the easier one to terminate.
• Low-smoke PVC insulation and jacket. A 0.010 in insulation wall on each conductor and a 0.015 in jacket, both the low-smoke compounds a plenum listing requires.
• White jacket. Reads as general-purpose low-voltage in a ceiling 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.
• 4.72 mm outer diameter. Slim enough to bundle and fish through a tight ceiling.
• ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, made in the USA.
• 1000 ft pull box, sold in pairs. Sequential footage marks on the jacket; pays out from the box without a spool stand, and the box stacks in a van. Minimum order is two boxes.

Where It Fits

It suits security keypads and touchscreens on a four-wire panel bus, motion detectors and glass-break sensors with power and a tamper loop, sirens and strobes with drive and tamper conductors, intercom and entry-phone stations with power and audio, access control doors that need a strike and a request-to-exit in one pull, power-limited fire alarm circuits that call for a stranded four-conductor cable, and any four-conductor low-voltage run through a plenum ceiling in an office, school, hospital, hotel, or store.

Good to Know

Run the voltage-drop calculation on the pair that carries power. An 18 AWG pair is about 13 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V keypad drawing 150 mA at 300 ft loses about 0.6 V, and a 12 V siren drawing 1 A at 200 ft loses about 2.6 V; for a heavy siren or a strike on a long run, keep the run short or move the power supply closer. Most panel keypad buses are low-speed and run fine on untwisted conductors, but check the panel manufacturer's wiring guide for the maximum bus length at 18 AWG and for any panel that specifies a twisted or shielded pair. Keep the circuits in their classes: Class 2 and Class 3 circuits can use 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. 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. Plenum-rated cable is for the air-handling space, not for inside the ductwork itself. If the ceiling isn't a plenum, the 18/4 riser does the same job for less; if the ceiling space is electrically noisy, a shielded plenum cable protects a reader or keypad data pair. Plenum compounds are stiffer than ordinary PVC, so give it a generous bend radius. The jacket isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor siren or contact should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

Usually ships in 1 - 2 business days.