Vertical Flame Cable Test

The materials used in many cables are designed to self-extinguish in the event of fire - Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) and flame retardant Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) being two examples of materials used in cable sheathing, and Cross-linked Polyethylene (XLPE) being commonly specified for insulation material. In order to confirm that this is indeed the case, Vertical Flame testing is conducted.

This video shows testing at the BRE group test facility - an independent test laboratory with a large-scale ladder rack test rig for testing multiple cables. As demonstrated, the force of the fire is intense and it shows how quickly flame propagation could potentially get out of control and cause serious risk to life, making self-extinguishing such an important characteristic.

This fire performance test is conducted on our BS6724 BASEC-approved LSZH armoured multicore cable. We are pleased to say that all the cables comfortably passed this test according to BS EN 60332-3-24 standard.

For more information on this cable, including technical specifications, see our Low Voltage Armoured Cable page. Vertical Flame testing is also conducted as part of our general QA and testing protocols in The Cable Lab. This is conducted as a single length of cable, and more information on this can be found in the link provided.