[pmmdavid]

Hi all,

I"m worked as an electrical field in marine , So i would like to request standard electrical wiring color code. especially single phase , 3 phase , control 24 vdc cable , control ac cable , neutral cable and foreign cable color codes.....
so please to all .....

Thanks in advance ,,,,

[ElecPneuGuy]

If you're going to build panels for someone else, ask them what they want as they should have a standard.

[pmmdavid]

ElecPneuGuy, on Nov 22 2009, 02:41 AM, said:

If you're going to build panels for someone else, ask them what they want as they should have a standard.

Right ,they have their own electrical color code. but i also would like to know electrical color code from experienced engineer. i am quite new so ,,,please help me

with thanks and appreciate for your reply,

[ElecPneuGuy]

Here is what is pretty standard for control panels here in the US. Typically, we don't care much about cables. When using a cable, I don't care much about the colors of the inner conductors or the overall jacket of the cable.

But, for panels and machine wiring....

Black for voltage greater than 120V (480VAC, 240VAC)
Black with yellow stripe for 480VAC feed from line side of main disconnect (used to feed your lighting disconnect)
Red for ungrounded 120V
White for Grounded 120V
Blue for ungrounded 24VDC
Blue with White stripe for Grounded 24VDC (I use this color wire typically)
OR...White with Blue Stripe Grounded 24VDC (sometimes the stripes are hard to see)
Green or Green w/yellow stripe for ground
Yellow for 120V ungrounded circuits not de-energized by main disconnect (PLC power or Panel lights off of Daykin type lighting disconnect)
Yellow w/white stripe grounded circuits not de-energized by main disconnect (also, I've seen white with yellow)
(also, yellow can by a unknown voltage source coming from a different supply) (e-stop strings from ancilliary equipment)
Blue with Yellow Stripe if 24VDC not de-energized by main disconnect

I don't think I missed anything here....should be close.

[Crossbow]

Sounds like what we've used, but the black and red for 120 we've done different. Black is after a transformer, red is direct supplied 120. Or the other way around, I don't recall. It's been 5 years since I built a panel.

Basically red and white for 120VAC, blue/white and white/blue for 24VDC.

The code may vary based on your country, so that should take priority. We're talking about standard UL color codes for the US. A quick search on Google revealed quite a few hits.

[TWControls]

Crossbow, on Nov 22 2009, 10:44 PM, said:

Sounds like what we've used, but the black and red for 120 we've done different. Black is after a transformer, red is direct supplied 120. Or the other way around, I don't recall. It's been 5 years since I built a panel.

I've always heard black for 120VAC loads and red for 120VAC controls

[Duffanator]

I think everyone does it a little different....

We do:
Black - Any AC voltage over 120 volts
Red - Any AC voltage 120 volts or below
White - Neutral
Blue - 0 Volts DC
Yellow - + Volts DC (Either 12 or 24)

I think the accepted "universal" thing for +DC is blue and 0 volts DC is Blue with White but we don't do it because it's too easy to confuse the two. I remember reading about yellow being +DC from an outside voltage source and Orange was some kind of interlock or something? Not sure, but we don't really use them.

[ElecPneuGuy]

The big three all use Black for voltages over 120V. I'd have to dig into my old spec for Toyata, but I think they are the same for the higher voltage stuff. I've never seen anything but Red or yellow for 120V, Black for 220 or 480.

If I saw a panel here in the USA that had something other than Black for 480V stuff, I'm make sure it was changed before I bought it off.

[paulengr]

In the U.S., white or is always neutral. Green, green or 3 green stripes or bare is always ground, and these two are still code. In certain types of cabling, blue always marks the first conductor, which is code.

The old 1970's standard for single phase wiring in the U.S. was black=120 VAC, red as a secondary (such as the line in a 3-way switch). This just adapts building codes.

The convention (from the 1970's) for 220 VAC, 3-phase was that the three phases are black, red, blue. For 480 VAC, it was yellow, brown, orange. However, since 220 VAC is rarely used in the U.S. (though common in Europe), many plants have dropped the yellow/brown/orange phase code because when the wiring ages or gets the slightest bit dirty, all 3 colors look the same. Instead, they usually adopt the 220 VAC specification for phasing regardless of voltage.

Outside of these in control panelling, I've adapted the typical 24 VDC wiring specification (blue=ground, brown=power), set up yellow strictly for safety signals, red for 120 VAC signals, and orange for 24 VDC signals. I don't really have a spec for 4-20mA current loops but since those are usually twisted pairs, it is usually obvious.