18/8 AWG Riser Security Alarm Cable - CMR/CL3R Rated, Shielded, 1000ft Gray

This is the eight-conductor shielded riser cable for the busiest devices on a security or access control system, and for the panel home runs that feed them, on a route that's electrically noisy: eight 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, each a different color, under an overall aluminum foil shield and 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), CMR under Article 800 for communications, and FPLR under Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits. Eight conductors means four circuits in one pull: a door with a strike, a request-to-exit, a door contact, and a reader; a keypad with power, data, and tamper and a pair to spare; a control panel with four zones home-run from one location. The shield is for the data and audio half of that: a reader pair or a keypad bus that has to share a riser or a wall with lighting and power wiring picks up less noise under foil than it would bare. 18 AWG is heavy enough to carry the power leg a long way, and the 7-strand conductors bend around a wall cavity and land in a terminal block more easily than solid wire.

CL3R 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, RoHS compliant, and made in the USA, and it comes in a 1000 ft pull box with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• Riser rated three ways. CL3R 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 security, control, communications, and fire alarm circuits alike, and the CL3R listing covers Class 2 circuits under the code's substitution rules.
• Eight 18 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. Four pairs' worth of circuits in one pull, with about half the loop resistance of 22 AWG, 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 the reader, keypad, and audio conductors in the bundle.
• Eight distinct colors. Black, red, white, green, brown, blue, orange, and yellow, so every circuit is identifiable at both ends without a meter.
• PVC insulation and jacket. Flexible, 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, Class 3, or power-limited fire alarm circuit calls for.
• 6.86 mm outer diameter. Sized to fit standard low-voltage fittings and connectors.
• ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, made in the USA.
• 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 access control doors that need a strike, a request-to-exit, a door contact, and a reader in one pull past lighting or motor circuits, security panel home runs carrying several zones from a keypad or a zone expander alongside power wiring, intercom and entry-phone stations with power, audio, and door-release conductors, paging and background music amplifier wiring on a noisy route, HVAC and building automation controllers with multiple sensor and control inputs, elevator and door-operator control circuits, power-limited fire alarm circuits that call for a shielded stranded multi-conductor cable, and any multi-circuit low-voltage run through the walls and risers of an apartment building, office, or store where the ceiling space isn't a return-air plenum, one cable can replace three or four, and the route is electrically noisy.

Good to Know

Use it for the circuits it's listed for and keep them 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. When the cable carries both power and signal, say a strike on one pair and a reader's data on another, put the reader on the pairs farthest from the strike and keep the strike's run short; the shield helps against noise from outside the cable but does nothing about crosstalk inside it. 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 controller manufacturer's guide before you pull, since Wiegand and RS-485 runs have maximum lengths at 18 AWG and some specify a twisted pair rather than the untwisted conductors in a multi-conductor cable. Run the voltage-drop calculation on any conductor that carries power: an 18 AWG pair is about 13 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V strike drawing 0.5 A at the far end of a 200 ft run loses about 1.3 V, and a 24 V siren drawing 1 A at 300 ft loses about 3.9 V. 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. CL3R, CMR, and FPLR cover risers and general use but not return-air plenums; a run through a plenum ceiling needs a CL3P cable. If the route is quiet, the unshielded 18/8 riser does the same job for less and terminates faster. Give a cable this size a reasonable bend radius and plan the backbox before you pull. The 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