Plenum Rated Unshielded Fire Alarm Cable, 16/2 Solid FPLP (Data) - 1000ft

In an office, school, hospital, or store, the space above the drop ceiling is usually a return-air plenum, and any fire alarm cable that runs through it without conduit has to be plenum rated. This is the everyday fire alarm cable for those buildings: two 16 AWG solid bare copper conductors, insulated black and red in low-smoke PVC, under a red low-smoke PVC jacket listed FPLP under NEC Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits in plenums, drop ceilings, and raised floors. 16 AWG is the heavier of the two common fire alarm gauges, with about half the loop resistance of 18 AWG, so it's the one for a notification appliance circuit with a real strobe count on it, where the voltage drop from the panel to the last device has to stay inside the panel maker's limit. It's a data-grade cable, with insulation built to the tighter electrical tolerances that addressable panels specify for their signaling line circuits, so the same cable that feeds the horns and strobes can also carry the SLC loop to its full rated length, and it's unshielded, which is the standard construction for those circuits on a quiet route.

FPLP is the top of the fire alarm cable hierarchy: it can go anywhere FPLR or FPL can, plus the air-handling spaces they can't. 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

• FPLP plenum rated. Listed under NEC Article 760 for power-limited fire alarm circuits in return-air plenums, drop ceilings, and raised floors without conduit, and for every riser and general-purpose run below that.
• 16 AWG solid bare copper conductors. About half the loop resistance of 18 AWG, for notification circuits and device counts that would push an 18 AWG run past its voltage-drop limit.
• Data grade. Insulation held to the electrical tolerances addressable panels call for on a signaling line circuit, so it's approved for SLC loops as well as notification and initiating circuits.
• Low-smoke PVC insulation, black and red. Color-coded conductors for polarity on notification and initiating circuits.
• Red low-smoke PVC jacket. Low smoke for the plenum listing, in the standard fire alarm color, with a heavier 0.018 in wall.
• Unshielded. The standard construction for notification appliance and initiating device circuits, and the easier one to terminate.
• 300 V, 75 °C. The ratings a power-limited fire alarm circuit calls for.
• 4.92 mm outer diameter. Sized to fit standard fire alarm fittings and connectors.
• ETL Listed, RoHS compliant, made in the USA.
• 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 notification appliance circuits feeding horns, strobes, and speakers, initiating device circuits to smoke detectors, heat detectors, pull stations, and waterflow switches, signaling line circuits on addressable panels that specify data-grade cable, panel-to-annunciator and panel-to-relay wiring, runs through the plenum ceiling of an office, hotel, hospital, school, or retail floor, and any power-limited fire alarm run in a building where the ceiling space is an air-handling plenum.

Good to Know

Run the voltage-drop calculation before you pick a gauge. A 16 AWG pair is about 8 ohms per 1000 ft round trip, so a notification circuit drawing 1.5 A at the far end of a 300 ft run loses about 3.6 V, which is close to the limit most 24 V panels allow; 18 AWG on the same run would lose nearly 6 V, and for a longer run or a heavier load, step up to 14 or 12 AWG. For a signaling line circuit, check the panel manufacturer's wiring guide: most addressable panels accept a data-grade unshielded pair like this one, but some loops call for a twisted or shielded pair. Plenum-rated cable is for the air-handling space, not for inside the ductwork itself, which the NEC doesn't allow for any fire alarm cable. If the ceiling isn't a plenum, the data-grade riser 16/2 does the same job for less. The cable is listed for fire alarm circuits under Article 760, and the AHJ has the final say on using it for anything else, so if it's going on a security, intercom, or control circuit, check first. Keep fire alarm cable separate from power conductors in raceways and boxes, as the code requires for power-limited circuits. 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 device should be fed through conduit or from a cable rated for it.

Specifications

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