Is the LSZH Cable Fire Retardant?
1. Introduction
When purchasing LSZH cables for residential or industrial use, some buyers default to low smoke halogen free cables that are flame retardant. But it is NOT.
Quick Answer: LSZH is not necessarily a fire retardant Cable.
I will explain the answer to this question in detail below.
First of all, we need to know what is LSZH Cable, what is Fire Retardant Cable?
2. What is an LSZH Cable?
LSZH cable stands for LOW SMOKE ZERO HALOGEN Cable, which means halogen free cable. I have introduced LSZH cable in detail in this article.
3. What is a Fire Retardant Cable?
Fire Retardant Cable refers to the cable that can extinguish the flame itself after the cable has been burned for a period of time (Note 1), and the cable that can slow down the spread of the flame.
Note 1: Usually the time varies from 60s to 480s depending on the size of the wire diameter.
4. Why LSZH Cables Are Not Always Fire Retardant
Common raw materials for LSZH cables include: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), cross-linked polyolefin (XLPO), silicone rubber(SiR), and so on.
Among them, the unprocessed PP PE material is flammable itself. So cables made of such materials can be said to be LSZH cables, but not necessarily flame retardant cables.
If you didn’t make it clear specifically, some manufacturer will not add flame retardant material or use unmodified PP PE material as raw material in order to cut down the cost. This is very dangerous.
5. How to Choose a Fire Retardant LSZH Cable?
If you are inquiring for LSZH flame retardant cables, it is better to state all the requirements clearly and ask the manufacturer to prepare the parameter table for reference.
Or Have the manufacturer show you a cable flame test video. (Following is LSZH Flame retardant cable (PUR type cable) video. White smoke. Flame extinguish.)
Common models of deferred halogen-free flame retardant cable:
German standard: H05Z1Z1-K H07Z1-K LiHH
Chinese model: WDZ type cables, where W” means chlorine-free; ‘D’ means low smoke; ‘Z’ means flame retardant.
Looking for a reliable LSZH fire retardant cable manufacturer? Contact us now! KMCABLE will be a good supplier if you want.
