After extensive research and development, Prysmian Group, the world’s largest cable manufacturer, has launched its new Draka UC400 23 Category 6 U/UTP LSHF D65 B2ca data cable, fully compliant with the Construction Products Regulation (CPR).
The new UK-manufactured Draka cable has a genuine Euroclass B2ca s1a d1 a1 fire performance rating for full CPR compliance without compromising data transmission levels; it delivers full Category 6 / Class E compliant electrical performance. This has been a key challenge for manufacturers, including Prysmian, often resulting in compromise or failure in one of three areas: data transmission performance, installation usability (high-density diameter & low weight), and fire safety rating. However, with CPR for cable products that are permanently installed in buildings in force, compromise is simply not an option. CPR requires third-party testing of cables with a Notified Body for heat-energy content, plus spread of fire, smoke, acidity, heat emission and droplet formation (burning drops of plastic that spread fire), to ensure they meet fire performance requirements laid out in the harmonised European standard for cables in construction works subject to reaction to fire requirements under the CPR (EN 50575)
Prysmian has therefore invested considerable resources in developing the new cable, with success achieved through a range of material engineering developments, optimisation of the cable construction design (including a fine balancing of the volume of air spaces within the cable) and fine-tuning of the manufacturing processes. At the same time, the new cable remains compact and highly flexible for easy installation, with Draka claiming no difference in handling performance compared with its existing high-density Dca-rated cables.
The Draka UC400 23 Category 6 U/UTP LSHF D65 B2ca data cable has been introduced following the recently launched D64 Cca rated version, which is CPR compliant even when deployed from a 305m Reelex® box. While working on the new Category 6 U/UTP cable design, Prysmian discovered that cable which runs off the production line straight onto a reel retains its ‘as manufactured’ structure and integrity, but the treatment of the cable to load it into a box without a reel (by processes such as Reelex™) can have a significant negative impact on the resulting CPR Euroclass classification. As a result, the new D65 product is available only in reel format to ensure the B2ca Euroclass rating is maintained. A new whitepaper ‘A Safe Step Forward – The Challenges of Determining the Reaction to Fire Characteristics for Data Communication Cables’ has been released by Prysmian, which covers this subject in more detail as well as the results of market surveillance testing of Cca and B2ca category 6 UTP cables which fail to meet the Euroclass rating stated on the supplied Declaration of Performance.
Original announcement: Prysmian
Image: Courtesy of Prysmian
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