World Class Engineered Cable Blog

Attleboro, MA - Comtran, a member company of Marmon Electrical and leading provider of specialty cable and system solutions, has expanded its industry-leading UL 2196-listed VITALink® product portfolio with the addition of unshielded Ethernet cables. The cables round out the existing shielded VITALink® Ethernet product offering.

Attleboro, MA – Comtran, RSCC, and Cable USA, part of Marmon Electrical, are combining expertise and manufacturing capabilities to create a market-based team serving the transit infrastructure market. The unified product portfolio includes industry-recognized brands: HUB-Link^®, VITALink^®, Gardex^®, Integratrax^®, and Firewall^®.

Attleboro, MA –Comtran and RSCC, part of Marmon Electrical, leading providers of circuit integrity products are leveraging the strength of the VITALink® brand by offering a merged portfolio of 300V and higher constructions to service the fire safety market. The combined VITALink® portfolio is now the most comprehensive UL 2196 approved fire safety product line available.

In June 2012 UL learned of compatibility issues when Classified Fire-Resistive Cables were installed in systems where zinc was used as in interior coating in rigid steel conduits. At the high temperatures the zinc coating inside the conduit system vaporizes and interacts with the copper conductor creating a brass alloy. Brass melts at a lower temperature, which compromises the integrity of the electrical system causing premature failure. The UL-2196 test is designed to evaluate the performance of electrical circuit protective systems in severe fire events—specifically, when exposed to fire for 2 hours followed by the mechanical shock of a fire hose stream.

UL-2196 Cable Performance Testing Impacts The Following Projects:

There are differences between cables that are flame retardant and those that are fire rated. Flame retardant cables can resist the spread of fire but fire rated cables maintain circuit integrity and continue to work in the presence of fire. This article below will describe the differences between flame retardant and fire rated cables.