Diff b/t Cat5 and Cat5e? Also PVC cable vs. Plenum cable.

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: ScottMac
Plenum cable doesn't use teflon anymore, it was banned right along with the cfc freons.

It's just another flavor of tougher plastic, with a higher FLASH POINT (ignition from high ambient temps).

It's still toxic, but has a higher flash point that standard PVC.

There is a "safe"jacketing that's rated higher than Plenum, and doesn't produce toxic smoke. It's much more expensive than plenum, which is ~double the price of PVC. I think it's LSZH, ZHLS ... (Zero Halogen, Low Smoke) ...something like that (brain fart).

"In the wall" cabling is solid core, and doesn't have to be plenum rated. You only need plenum rated when you are installing the cable in a "plenum" (air duct / air space - like the overhead ceiling that's being used as an air return for an HVAC system).

When Teflon was being phased out, some of the conductors were teflon / PTFE, some were another plastic. Then someone figured out that doing that would change the velocity factor of one pair compared to another .... so there was a not-quite-panic Lab session to test the "skew' to make sure it still was within the compliance spec (It was).

Check out the Anixter technical database for more info (www.anixter.com "Tech Library")

Good Luck

Scott

Thank you, Scott.

BTW, did you see my sig? You are now Immortalized.

 

[cmetz]

ScottMac's explanation pretty much is what I thought the plenum landscape was (but maybe better expressed).

I saw Teflon disappeared but never knew why. Insert obligatory South Park quote/rant ending in "Tree-Hugging Hippies." Teflon jacket material was good stuff, IMO.