Belden recently announced that several of its cables, including its 10GXS and 2183 product lines, are Limited Power (LP) certified. “Belden LP-listed cables are designed to maintain safe operation and not exceed temperature ratings,” the company said when announcing the availability of these LP-certified cables.
“As digital building applications continue to converge over the same IP networks, demands for increased bandwidth and Power over Ethernet are placed on the cabling infrastructure,” Belden further explained. “This leads to additional heat generation inside cables, which can cause declines in performance and reliability.
“LP-listed cable simplifies cable selection and usage when power delivery is higher than 60W or PoE Type 4 is being used, and when cable bundle sizes exceed the 2017 NEC limits,” the company continued. “Today, the vast majority of PoE applications involve power delivery below 60W and use PoE Type 3 or lower, and may not require the benefits of LP-listed cable.”
While pointing out that LP-listed cable is not part of any current or future PoE standard, Belden said it “pursued LP certification to help installers, consultants and enterprises prepare for future applications where devices may exceed 60W or use PoE Type 4, and where it is unclear what the cable bundle sizes are. Belden LP-listed cables maintain safe operation to the identified current amperage without exceeding cable temperature ratings.”
Ron Tellas, Belden’s manager of LAN technology and applications, authored a white paper titled “What You Really Need to Know About LP Cable.” In the paper, Tellas says, “A cable with an LP certification has been evaluated to carry the marked current under reasonable worst-case installation scenarios without exceeding the temperature rating of the cable, according to UL. This certification is achieved by placing the cable in insulating and jacketing material that can handle higher temperatures. Marking the cable with its LP certification is optional, as per UL, however if the cable has obtained the certification but it’s not indicated on the cable itself, it’s not considered an LP cable … An LP rating is always coupled with a specific current, which is the current that the cable can handle on each conductor without exceeding temperature ratings.”