To ensure safety in all potential circumstances, a cabling system for your critical infrastructure must withstand the typical harsh conditions of any environment, especially during a fire. Utilizing high-integrity fire-resistant cabling with extreme performance characteristics enables necessary safety measures to continue functioning during an emergency.
Here are three characteristics to look for in fire-resistant cables to ensure the best performance in your specific application:
Quality and Performance
First, to know that your cables will not fail during an emergency is to ensure that the manufacturer uses high-quality materials to produce cables. Features such as low-smoke, zero-halogen (LSZH) cables reduce smoke, toxicity, acid gas emissions, and flame propagation. They are vital in enclosed spaces requiring maximum visibility and low harmful fume exposure in an emergency.
Certifications
Codes and regulations are in place to ensure that cables are up to standard and can withstand numerous testing that demonstrates that they won't break while performing their functions. Maintaining emergency response and safety after a fire or other catastrophic disaster depends on the integrity of communication cables in the building. A certification like UL 2196 assesses a cable's capacity to retain signal connection during fire circumstances and in the presence of a pressurized hose stream. If cables don't work as predicted during testing, faults can be corrected beforehand, saving countless lives and safeguarding critical infrastructure. Certified cables guarantee a safer system.
Success Records and Accomplishments
Lastly, a cable brand may be right for you if case studies and testimonials are available to prove that their products have been successful in the past. Accidents will always happen, but if a particular cable brand has worked well in most emergencies, it may be the best one to acquire.
VITALink, one of FMIDC's product line of fire resistive cables, meets all three vital components and is designed with a type of insulation that hardens at high temperatures, protecting the wires and their transmissions during a fire. It features a low smoke, zero halogen (LSZH) jacket, reducing smoke and flame toxicity. VITALink circuit integrity cables are the best choice when life safety is at stake.
Source:
UL 2196 Sets the Standard for VITALink (stackpathcdn.com)