18/4 Shielded Fire Alarm Cable - FPLR Riser Rated, Red, Data, 1000ft

This is the four-conductor version of the shielded riser-rated fire alarm cable: four 18 AWG solid bare copper conductors, insulated black, red, brown, and blue, wrapped in an aluminum-Mylar foil shield with a drain wire, under a red PVC jacket listed FPLR under NEC Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits. It's a data-grade cable, with insulation built to the tighter electrical tolerances that addressable panels specify for their signaling line circuits, so it's approved for SLC loops as well as notification and initiating circuits. Four conductors means two circuits in one pull: the power pair and the alarm pair for four-wire smoke detectors, a signaling line circuit and an initiating circuit to the same device box, or a relay module's control and monitor pairs, on the 18 AWG gauge most panel manufacturers specify for SLC and initiating circuits. The foil shield and drain wire keep induced noise out of circuits that have to share a riser or a tray with power, lighting, or motor wiring.

FPLR 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. The red jacket is the fire alarm identification that inspectors and future technicians expect to see. The cable is ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, and made in the USA, and it comes on a 1000 ft wooden spool with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• FPLR riser rated. Listed under NEC Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits in riser shafts, vertical runs between floors, and general in-wall and in-ceiling use.
• Four 18 AWG solid bare copper conductors. Two circuits in one cable, on the standard gauge for signaling line and initiating circuits, for four-wire detectors, combined SLC and initiating runs, and control modules.
• Aluminum-Mylar foil shield with drain wire. 100% coverage against induced noise from power, lighting, and motor circuits sharing the route, with a 24 AWG drain wire for a clean bond at the panel.
• Data grade. Insulation held to the electrical tolerances addressable panels call for on a signaling line circuit.
• PVC insulation, black, red, brown, and blue. Four distinct colors so each pair keeps its polarity and identity from the panel to the device, with a 0.010 in wall.
• Red PVC jacket. The standard fire alarm identification, so the cable is recognizable in a tray, a riser, or a junction box years after it's installed.
• 300 V, 75 °C. The ratings a power-limited fire alarm circuit calls for.
• 4.57 mm outer diameter. A 0.015 in jacket wall over the shield, sized to fit standard fire alarm fittings and connectors.
• ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, made in the USA. Also carries the Canadian FT4 flame rating.
• 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 four-wire smoke and heat detector circuits that need a separate power pair alongside the alarm pair, device runs that carry both a signaling line circuit and an initiating or power circuit to the same location, relay and control modules with a control pair and a monitor pair, duct detector and damper control wiring, riser runs between the fire alarm control panel and floor terminal cabinets where two circuits share a route, circuits that share a riser or a cable tray with power, lighting, or elevator wiring, and any power-limited fire alarm run where two 18 AWG pairs in one pull save a second cable.

Good to Know

Don't put both legs of a Class A loop in the same cable. NFPA 72 requires the outgoing and return conductors of a Class A circuit to be routed separately so that one fault can't take out both, and a four-conductor cable running out and back defeats that; use it for two different circuits, or for the power and alarm pairs of a four-wire device. Run the voltage-drop calculation before you put 18 AWG on a notification circuit or a detector power pair: an 18 AWG pair is about 13 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a circuit drawing 1 A at the far end of a 300 ft run loses about 3.9 V, which is right at the limit most 24 V panels allow; for a loaded notification circuit, step up to the 16/4 or 14/4. On an SLC or initiating circuit the current is tiny and the gauge is fine for the panel's full rated loop length. Ground the shield's drain wire 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. The data-grade insulation is built for SLC loops, but the foil shield still adds capacitance, which some addressable panels count against loop length, so check the panel's SLC wiring guide for its shielded-cable limit. FPLR covers risers and general use but not return-air plenums; a run through a plenum ceiling needs FPLP. The cable is listed for fire alarm circuits under Article 760, and the AHJ has the final say on using it for anything else. Keep fire alarm cable separate from power conductors in raceways and boxes, as the code requires for power-limited circuits. Four solid conductors under one jacket make a stiffer cable than an 18/2, so give it a generous bend radius and size the backboxes for it. The PVC jacket isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor device should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

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