500-Feet 18/4 Stranded Alarm Wire

Alarm wire and cabling is definitely something you should keep around if you have a hardwired security system or do any regular electrical work. The purpose of wire is to pass electrical current and data from one location to another. It's sort of like a bridge connecting one spot to another. People can pass on the bridge just like electrical current passes through a wire. When making the connections, you want to make sure that they are secure, but not overly tight. Making them too tight could make things difficult if you ever need to make wiring adjustments or changes later on. Remember to always cut power at the breaker if you are doing any electrical wiring at a socket or outlet.

The 18-4 naming of this wire identifies that it is 18-gauge (AWG) and 4-conductor. The gauge refers to the thickness of the wire. We have found that 18-gauge is the optimal thickness for most alarm wiring. At 18 AWG, you can achieve fairly long wire runs, and the wire is still very flexible and easy to work with. We also sell 22-gauge wire if you want a thinner wire, as a higher gauge indicates a thinner wire. The 4-conductor portion of the name identifies that there are four (4) smaller inner wires inside the cable. These inner wires are colored black, red, yellow, and green/white to help you identify their purpose and function. However, you can really use any colored wire for any connection, as long as the other end goes to the proper terminal. Mixing up the wires can result in serious damage to your equipment, so be careful!

Since these 18-4 cables have four (4) inner wires, they are best-suited for use with 4-wire connection devices. You can still use 4-conductor cabling with 2-wire connections, but you will be forced to leave tow (2) of the inner wires loose and disconnected. Many users find that this looks tacky, so they choose to keep both 2-conductor and 4-conductor wiring around. Another option is to just get 2-conductor cabling and double it up for 4-wire connections. Just make sure to properly label your wiring as you will have two (2) red wires and two (2) black wires. You do not want to accidentally mix them up and cause harm to your alarm equipment or other electrical applicances.