About Fire Alarm Cable

 Description
Even with the advances made in fire alarm systems and their associated detection equipment, most fire alarm cable technology has remained unchanged for decades. That said, the wires that go into an fire alarm system are as important as any wire. Fire alarm cables provide the basic framework upon which all building asset protection is based.

 Applications

 What are fire resistant cable or fire alarm cable?
At present, the cable industry is accustomed to flame retardant (Fire Retardant), halogen-free low smoke (Low Smoke & Halogen Free, LSOH) or low halogen low smoke (Low Smoke Fume, LSF), fire (Fire Resistant) and other fire-resistant (Fire Resistant) and other fire-resistant cables are collectively referred to as fire-resistant cables.

Flame Retardant Cable (Flame Retardant)

●Flame retardant cables are characterized by delaying the spread of flame along the cable so that the fire does not expand. Because of its low cost, there is a large number of cable varieties used in fire prevention cables. Whether it is a single cable or a bundle of laying conditions, the cable is burned when the spread of flame can be controlled within a certain range, so you can avoid major disasters caused by the cable fire retardant, thus improving the level of fire protection of the cable line.

Halogen-free, low-smoke, flame-retardant cables (LSOH)

●Halogen-free low-smoke cables are characterized not only by excellent flame retardant properties but also constitute low-smoke halogen-free cable materials that do not contain halogen, low corrosiveness, and toxicity during combustion, resulting in a very small amount of smoke, thus reducing the damage to the human body, equipment, and instruments, which is conducive to timely rescue in the event of a fire. Although halogen-free low-smoke flame retardant cables have excellent flame retardancy, corrosion resistance, and low smoke concentration, their mechanical and electrical properties are slightly worse than ordinary cables.

Low-halogen, low-smoke flame-retardant cables (LSF)

●Low Halogen Low Smoke Flame Retardant Cable (LSF) has hydrogen chloride release and smoke concentration indicators between flame retardant cables and halogen-free low smoke flame retardant cables. Low Halogen (Low Halogen) cables also contain halogens in the material, but the content is lower. This type of cable is characterized not only by flame retardant properties but also in the combustion of smoke released less, the release of hydrogen chloride is lower. These low-halogen, low-smoke flame-retardant cables are generally processed with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as the base material, together with high-efficiency flame retardants, HCL absorbers, and smoke suppressants. Therefore, this flame-retardant material significantly improves the burning performance of ordinary flame-retardant PVC materials.

Fire Resistant Cables
●Fire-resistant cables can maintain normal operation for a certain period of time under the condition of flame burning and can maintain the integrity of the line (Circuit Intergrity). Fire-resistant cable combustion of acid gas smoke produced by the amount of small, fire-resistant, and flame retardant performance is greatly improved, especially in the case of combustion accompanied by water spray and mechanical shock vibration; the cable can still keep the line intact operation.

 Flame retardant cable standards and ratings
●The main technical criteria for fire safety of cables are the flame retardancy of CO2 cables, the density of smoke, and the toxicity of gases.
●American fire protection standards are more concerned with the first two issues, but Europe and the United States have completely different views on fire safety. The traditional concept of the United States is that the root cause of the fire is the production of carbon monoxide (CO) gas and the subsequent combustion process of CO into CO2 heat release; therefore, controlling the amount of heat released during combustion can reduce the fire hazard.
●The European tradition has been convinced that the release of halocarbonic acid (HCL) during combustion, the corrosiveness of the gas, the concentration of smoke, and the toxicity of the gas are the main factors determining the ability of people to get out of the fire scene safely.

 Which standards should I consider when choosing a Fire Alarm or Security Cable?
●Fire alarm cables play a very important role in fire alarm systems, and the requirements for fire alarm cables vary from countries and regions, we manufacture and sell the following mainstream standard fire alarm cables.You can choose according to your country's fire standard requirements.

●European Standards
●What is BS EN 50200 – Test method for cables about? 
●BS EN 50200 is a European Standard that specifies the test method for cables designed to have intrinsic resistance to fire and intended for use as emergency circuits for alarm, lighting, and communication purposes.
●BS EN 50200 is applicable to cables for emergency circuits of rated voltage not exceeding 600 V/1 000 V, including those of rated voltage below 80 V and optical fibre cables.
●NOTE: When the test method is used in support of EN 13501–3, it only applies to cables of less than 20 mm diameter, and, for metallic conductor cables, to those with conductor sizes up to and including 2,5 mm2. For optical cables, only the less than 20 mm diameter limit applies.
●EN50200 PH30 CABLE / EN50200 PH120 CABLE

 What is BS 6387:2013-Test method for cables about?
●This standard BS 6387:2013 Test method for resistance to fire of cables required to maintain circuit integrity under fire conditions is classified in these ICS categories:
●29.060.20 Cables
●13.220.99 Other standards related to protection against fire
●This British Standard gives a test method for resistance to fire of cables required to maintain circuit integrity under fire conditions. It is applicable to cables of rated voltage not exceeding 600/1 000 V and of overall diameter less than or equal to 20 mm.
●The test given in this British Standard is applicable to cables having two or more insulated conductors, whether or not the cables incorporate other metallic elements such as armour, screen or circuit protective conductor. The test is also applicable to cables having one insulated conductor provided that the cable incorporates at least one other metallic element. The test is not applicable to cables having one insulated conductor but no other metallic element.

 What is BS 7629-1:2015-Test method for cables about?
●British Standard BS 7629 specifies requirements and test methods for the construction and performance of cables, which:
●Have thermosetting insulation and a rated voltage of 300/500 V;
●Provide resistance to fire (circuit integrity), including with mechanical shock and water, as measured by performance in a standard test or tests;
●Emit limited amounts of smoke and corrosive gases when burned as measured by a standard test and
●They are primarily intended for use in emergency lighting, fire detection, and fire alarm system circuits.
●The circuit integrity performance under fire conditions is assessed on the basis of tests that measure resistance to fire with mechanical impact and water spray (Categories: Standard 30, Standard 60, and Enhanced 120).
●It is applicable to 2-core, 3- core and 4-core circular cables with an uninsulated full-size circuit protective conductor (CPC), and 7core 12core and 19core circular multicore auxiliary cables with an uninsulated drain wire of not less than 0.5 mm2. All cables contain a metallic layer, which provides electrostatic screening.
●The cables are suitable for operation at a maximum sustained conductor temperature of 70 °C and for a maximum shortcircuit conductor temperature of 250 °C (for a maximum period of 5 s).
●NOTE 1 BS 5266-1 and BS 5839-1 give recommendations and guidance on the factors to consider in planning, designing, installing, commissioning, and maintaining emergency lighting, fire detection, and fire alarm systems for buildings, respectively.
●NOTE 2 Annex A of the Standard recommends selecting, installing, and operating cables.

USA Standards
●UL1424: safety cables for Power-Limited Fire-Alarm Circuits
●FPLP (Plenum Fire Alarm Power-Limited Cable) — Plenum cable is designed to be used in air ducts or the space between the structural ceiling and a drop-down ceiling. These cables (sometimes referred to as CMP or Communications Plenum Cable) have insulated jackets made of fire-resistant materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or fluorinated ethylene polymer (FEP) and are designed to restrict flame propagation to no more than five feet and limit the amount of smoke emitted during a fire.
●FPLR (Riser Fire Alarm Power-Limited Cable) — Riser cable is designed for non-plenum environments, mainly in risers or vertical shafts. Riser cables meet the standards for levels of fire resistance installation necessary in a vertical riser or other non-plenum environments. These cables (sometimes referred to as CMR or Communications Riser Cable) are flame-retardant, intended to prevent the spread of fire from one floor to another.
●FPL: Cables not intended for forced air ducts or building shafts, which may be used in cable trays, and cables for power-limited fire alarm circuits (limited use).

International standards (IEC)
●IEC 60332-1-2: JB-YY, JB-Y(St)Y, JB-H(St)H fire alarm cable
●The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has formulated three standards to evaluate the flame retardant performance of cables: IEC60332-1, IEC60332-2, and IEC60332-3. IEC60332-1 and IEC60332-2 are used for assessing the flame retardant performance of single cables when they are laid out in an inclined and vertical manner (GB12666.3 and GB12666.4 standards), and IEC60332-3 (GB12666.5-90 standards) is used to evaluate the flame retardancy of bundled cables when they are burned vertically.
●IEC60332-1/BS4066-1 Flame Retardant Rating (Flame Test On Single Vertical Insulated Wires/Cables)
●This is the flame retardant standard for single cables. The test provides that a 60cm long specimen is fixed vertically in the front wall of the opening of the metal box, the flame length of 175mm propane burner from the upper part of the specimen from the fixed end of the position of 450mm flame cone and the cable at an angle of 45 degrees in contact with the specimen, if the specimen burns damage to the lower part of the distance from the fixed end of the test, is not more than 50mm, the test passes.
● IEC60332-3/BS4066-3 Flame Retardant Rating (Flame Test On BunchedWires/Cables)
●This is a flame retardant standard for bundled cables. The test specifies that a bundle of 3.5m long cable specimens with wire fixed in a trapezoidal test frame, the number of specimens according to the different classifications of non-metallic materials required to determine. The specimens are hung vertically on the back wall of the combustion furnace, and air is introduced into the combustion furnace through the air inlet on the bottom plate. Propane plane burner to 750 ° C flame in contact with the specimen, specimen in the case of forced air blowing (airflow emissions 5m3 / min, wind speed of 0.9m / s), it must be vertically burned within 20 minutes of combustion does not go up, the cable in the flame spread within 2.5 meters of their own flame extinguished. IEC60332 has a class A, class B, class C, and class D of the classification to assess the merits of flame retardant properties.