22/2 AWG Riser Security Alarm Cable - CMR/CL2R Rated, Unshielded, 1000ft White

This is the basic two-conductor alarm wire, the one that runs to every door and window contact on a security system: two 22 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, black and red, under a white PVC jacket listed CL2R under NEC Article 725 for Class 2 power-limited circuits and CMR under Article 800 for communications. It's the cable for a contact loop, a tamper switch, a glass-break sensor, a low-current motion detector, a doorbell, or a thermostat pair, at the gauge most sensor wiring is specified at, and the 7-strand conductors bend around a window frame 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. It's unshielded, which is the right construction for contacts and sensor loops where there's no data signal to protect, and it keeps the cable slim and the price down. The cable is ETL Listed, and it comes in a 1000 ft pull box with sequential footage marks on the jacket.

Features

• Riser rated two ways. CL2R under NEC Article 725 and CMR under Article 800, 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 and communications circuits.
• Two 22 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. The standard gauge for contacts, sensor loops, and tamper circuits, on 7-strand conductors that bend around a frame and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Black and red. The standard pair coding for polarity on a DC signal or alarm circuit.
• Unshielded. The right construction for contacts and sensor loops, and the easier one to terminate.
• PVC insulation and jacket. Flexible and easy to strip.
• White jacket. Disappears against a painted wall or a window frame, and stays distinct from red fire alarm and blue data cable.
• 300 V RMS, 16.1 Ω per 1000 ft. The voltage rating for a Class 2 cable and the conductor resistance you'll need for the voltage-drop math.
• ETL Listed.
• 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 door and window contacts on a security panel, tamper loops on keypads, sirens, and enclosures, glass-break sensors and low-current motion detectors, request-to-exit buttons and door position switches on an access control door, doorbell and chime wiring, thermostat and zone-valve pairs, line-level audio and intercom pairs on a quiet route, 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.

Good to Know

It's a Class 2 cable. CL2R covers the circuits most alarm panels, keypads, 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, and it isn't a fire alarm cable; a run that needs CL3R or FPLR should use a cable that says so on the jacket. Keep the current light: a 22 AWG pair is about 32 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a contact loop or a 12 V motion detector drawing 50 mA at 500 ft loses less than a volt, which is fine, but a 12 V strike drawing 0.5 A at 200 ft loses about 3.2 V, which isn't; feed strikes, sirens, and anything else that draws real current on an 18 AWG pair and keep this cable for the sensors. The 2.8 A figure on the data sheet is the conductor's thermal limit in free air, not a design current; on a Class 2 circuit the voltage drop runs out long before the copper gets warm. 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. The NEC requires power-limited wiring to stay separated from power conductors in raceways and boxes. CL2R and CMR cover risers and general use but not return-air plenums; a run through a plenum ceiling needs a CL2P or CL3P cable. If the route is electrically noisy, the shielded 22/2 riser protects a reader or keypad data pair. Keep the pull under about 18 lb of tension and the jacket out of the sun and the weather; it isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor contact or sensor should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

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