22/6 AWG Riser Security Alarm Cable - CMR/CL3R Rated, Unshielded, 1000ft Gray

This is the six-conductor riser cable for the busier sensors and keypads of a security system: six 22 AWG stranded bare copper conductors, each a different color, under a gray PVC jacket with a rip cord, listed CL3R under NEC Article 725 for Class 3 power-limited circuits (and by the code's substitution rules for Class 2 as well) and CMR under Article 800 for communications. Six conductors means three circuits in one pull: a motion detector with power, an alarm loop, and a tamper loop; a keypad on a four-wire bus with a tamper pair to spare; a glass-break sensor with power, alarm, and tamper; a door with a contact, a request-to-exit, and a spare pair for later. 22 AWG is the gauge most sensor and keypad wiring is specified at, 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. It's unshielded, which is the right construction for contacts, sensor loops, and the low-speed buses most panels use, and it keeps the cable slim and the price down. 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 two ways. CL3R 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 security, control, and communications circuits, and the CL3R listing covers Class 2 circuits under the code's substitution rules.
• Six 22 AWG stranded bare copper conductors. Three circuits in one pull, at the gauge most sensor, keypad, and contact wiring is specified at, on 7-strand conductors that bend around a wall cavity and seat in a terminal block without fighting.
• Six distinct colors. Black, red, white, green, brown, and blue, so every circuit is identifiable at both ends without a meter.
• Unshielded. The right construction for contacts, sensor loops, and low-speed panel buses, and the easier one to terminate with six conductors to land.
• PVC insulation and jacket, with a rip cord. Flexible, with a 0.015 in jacket wall; pull the cord and the jacket opens without a blade near the conductors.
• 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 or Class 3 circuit calls for.
• 4.5 mm outer diameter. Slim enough to bundle by the dozen and fish through a wall or a tight ceiling.
• 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 motion detectors and glass-break sensors that need power, an alarm loop, and a tamper loop, security keypads and touchscreens on a four-wire panel bus with a tamper pair, door contacts and request-to-exit devices on an access control door, intercom and entry-phone stations with power, audio, and a door-release pair, thermostat and damper controls with several inputs, riser runs between a security panel and a floor's zone expander, and any multi-circuit low-voltage run through the walls and risers of a home, apartment building, office, or store where the ceiling space isn't a return-air plenum and one cable can replace three.

Good to Know

Keep the current light. A 22 AWG pair is about 32 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a 12 V motion detector drawing 50 mA at 500 ft loses about 0.8 V, 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 and the keypads. 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 22 AWG and for any bus that specifies a twisted or shielded pair. Keep the circuits in their classes: Class 2 and Class 3 circuits can share this cable, but a Class 1 circuit can't, 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. Use the rip cord: score the jacket an inch, find the cord, and pull it back to where you want the break, then trim; it's faster than ringing the jacket and it can't nick an insulated conductor. CL3R and CMR cover risers and general use but not return-air plenums; a run through a plenum ceiling needs the CL3P version. The jacket isn't UV stabilized or rated for wet locations or burial, so an outdoor sensor or keypad should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

Usually ships in 1 - 2 business days.