AC Power Circuit Wiring Color Code Standards
| Function | Label | Common Color | Alternative Color |
| Protective ground | PG | bare, green, or green-yellow | green |
| Neutral | N | white | grey |
| Line, single phase | L | black or red (2nd hot) | |
| Line, 3-phase | L1 | black | brown |
What are the correct electrical wiring colors?
Electrical wiring color coding standard for three phase electrical applications are standardized to aid the identification of individual wire phases. Wiring color codes for AC and DC power distribution circuits have changed on numerous occasions and vary depending on region. For three phase electricity supply, circuits will use five wires ...
What are the electrical codes for wire colors?
- Black - use for line voltage or "hot" wire
- Red - a second line voltage or "hot" wire
- White - neutral
- Bare - protective ground
Which color is for what in electric wiring?
Wiring Color Codes
- IEC (most of Europe) AC power circuit wiring color codes. UK, AC: The United Kingdom now follows the IEC AC wiring color codes. ...
- UK AC power circuit wiring color codes. ...
- US AC power circuit wiring color codes. ...
- Canada AC power circuit wiring color codes. ...
- IEC DC power circuit wiring color codes. ...
- US recommended DC power circuit wiring color codes. ...
What color is the line wire in an electrical system?
US DC power: The US National Electrical Code (for both AC and DC) mandates that the grounded neutral conductor of a power system be white or grey. The protective ground must be bare, green or green-yellow striped. Hot (active) wires may be any other colors except these.
What are the correct electrical wiring colors?
U.S. Electrical Wiring Color CodesPhase 1 - Black.Phase 2 - Red.Phase 3 - Blue.Neutral - White.Ground - Green, Green with Yellow Stripe, or Bare Wire.
What are the wire marking color requirements?
For wires that will be 120, 208 or 240 volts, the following wiring color standards are used.Phase 1 wiring should be black.Phase 2 wiring should be red.Phase 3 wiring should be blue.Neutral wiring should be white.Ground wiring can be green or green with a yellow stripe.
What are the color code standards?
Color Code Chart Per NEMA & ICEA Method 1/K-1Cond. No.Base Color1st Tracer Color17WhiteRed18OrangeRed19BlueRed20RedGreen56 more rows
What is electrical color code?
The standard for electrical wiring color code in India is as follows. According to the old standard, Red is used for live (or line) power conductor, Black for neutral and Green for protective earth or ground. The new color code is introduced recently (although the old convention is pretty much still widely used).
What do colors of wires mean?
Black wires are hot wires that run to the electrical outlet from the switch. Red wires are hot wires common in a 240-volt outlet or when a wall switch controls the outlet. Blue and yellow wires are hot wires for ceiling fans and three- or four-way switches. White or gray electrical wires are neutral wires.
What are the 3 colored wires called?
They are often color-coded, yellow for composite video, red for the right audio channel, and white or black for the left channel of stereo audio. This trio (or pair) of jacks can often be found on the back of audio and video equipment.
What colour is live and neutral?
Plug wiring coloursWireColourLiveBrownNeutralBlueEarthYellow and Green
What is standard electrical wire?
Wire Gauge The most common sizes you'll find in residential work are 14-gauge and 12-gauge. Larger appliances such as electric stoves, electric water heaters, electric dryers and central air units will often use 10-, 8- or even 6-gauge wire.
Which color is live wire?
BrownThe 3 types of electrical wires - Brown, Blue and Green with Yellow - serve different purposes. The Brown wire is the Live wire which carries the electricity from the source to the electrical appliances. The Blue wire is the Neutral wire which carries the electricity back to the source.
Types of Wire Color Codes
There are quite a few different wire color code standards in place, so it is important to understand which one to follow in which situation. The st...
Labeling Electrical Wires & Conduits
The wire color codes used are only going to apply to the actual wires that are carrying the electricity. In many cases, a bundle of these colored w...
Effective Training Options
Those who work directly with electrical wiring on a daily basis will need to be initially trained on what each of the wiring color codes means. Onc...
Applying Color Standards to Existing Wiring
If there are wires in a facility that were put in place prior to the standards that are now used, it is important to take steps to address this saf...
A brief history of wiring color codes
It took until 1928 for wire color coding to make its debut. The National Electrical Code® (NEC) was the first to reference it, and today continues to set the standards for the electrical industry. Following a uniform color code makes it easier to assess electrical wiring, and ensure safety among licensed professionals and homeowners alike.
The NEC wire color coding standards
Though there are international wire color codes, the U.S. follows the National Electrical Code ® (NEC). The code is identified as NFPA 70 ® because the NEC is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association. Though not a federal law (states can choose to adopt it), it is approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
3-Phase Wire Color Codes
Whether adding a home appliance or industrial machinery, you’ll need to know these electrical wiring color codes. In the U.S., these color-coded wires carry power from a circuit breaker to a device.
How Brady can help
Just like no two electrical projects are the same, you’ll find Brady support comes in different shapes and sizes. We offer industrial label printers, cable labels, wire markers, heat shrink sleeves, electrical safety signs and software — effective and easy ways to communicate vital information, and stay safe.
What color wires are used in a conduit?
Blue and Yellow Electrical Wires. While wires in these colors carry power, they are not used in typical outlet wiring. Instead, blue and yellow wires are used as the live wires pulled through a conduit.
What is red wire?
Red Electrical Wires. In 220-volt circuits, red wires are the secondary live wires. Like black wires, they can also be used in some types of switch legs. In addition, red wires are used to connect hardwired smoke detectors to the home’s power system.
What is black wire?
Black Electrical Wires. This color of wire is used to transfer power to switches and outlets in all types of circuits. Also, black wires are often used as switch legs in circuits, which is the connection linking a switch to the electrical load. Consider all black wires to be live at all times.
How do green wires work?
They connect to the grounding terminal in an outlet box and run to the ground bus bar in an electrical panel. In this way, green wires act as a failsafe, giving electricity a place to escape into the ground if a live wire within the circuit touches metal or something else conductive.
Do all wires carry current?
Just remember, all electric al wires could carry a current at some point, so treat every color wire with equal caution. If you have any hesitations at all, leave electrical work to a qualified professional.
Can white wires be connected to gray wires?
White and gray electrical wires can only be connected to one another. While they’re called “neutral” wires, they may still carry a current, especially if the current load in the circuit is unbalanced, so handle these wires cautiously.
What color wire is used for hot wires?
According to the rules, hot wires can be represented by many colors. As a rule, black is the most common hot wire color in a house circuit. Black wires should not be used for other purposes rather than providing a live electrical current. If there is only one hot wire in the circuit, it is almost guaranteed to be black.
What color wire should I use for a 3 branch circuit?
A neutral wire in the three-branch power circuit can be white or grey , with the former being more common than the latter. These two colors are required for neutral wires by the National Color Code. Neutral wires should not be covered by electrical tape. Please note that no other colors are allowed for neutral wires in the United States. Regardless of the rules in a particular country, there is always a risk that a wire is hot if it is not white or grey, so this should be taken into consideration when performing any electrical work.
What is the green wire used for?
Green cables are never used for other goals rather than ground. Green wires can only be connected to other green wires for safety purposes. A hot wire can also be green with a yellow stripe, though this is far less common. You should contact a professional if you see a ground wire connected to anything other than another ground wire, as this is a safety hazard.
Why is electrical wiring color code important?
The electrical wiring color code standards not only help in appliance addition, but also offer support when there is a need to replace the old wires with new ones.
What color wires are used in electrical wiring?
These standards have subtle differences with each other but mainly use green color and white color for earth wire and neutral wire coding respectively.
Why is it important to keep the color of wires?
Therefore, keeping the consistency of the wire colors before and after adding the appliances is vital. Given such potential hazards, electrical wiring color code standards is a necessity to be made.
How many wires are in a home electrical system?
For example, in a home electrical system, there are usually three wires/lines in a power cord or in the whole power link entering into buildings. One wire brings electricity to the appliance and one wire completes the circuit by taking electricity away from the appliance, these two wires are called “live” and “neutral/zero” respectively. ...
What to do if wires are deteriorating?
If the wires are deteriorated, then one must replace the old ones as soon as possible. Maintain a sound electrical wiring circuit. Do not give much burden to the existing circuit. Normally, there are not enough power points in a room installed in the past to satisfy the growing electrical needs today.
What is the third wire?
The third wire is the earth wire designed for important safety considerations. Imagining that a power link has been cut into two parts for an insertion of an additional appliance to support more electrical devices between the two parts.
Why is it important to check the electrical wiring?
Except from the electrical wiring color codes, it is also important to check and maintain the whole electrical wiring circuit for safety concerns. Check if there are abnormal smells or black burn marks around electrical devices. For example, check if there are black burn marks around wall power sockets or light switches.
What color wires are used in UK AC circuits?
US, AC: The US National Electrical Code only mandates white (or grey) for the neutral power conductor and bare copper, green, or green with yellow stripe for the protective ground. In principle any other colors except these may be used for the power conductors.
What color is the neutral power conductor?
US, AC: The US National Electrical Code only mandates white (or grey) for the neutral power conductor and bare copper, green, or green with yellow stripe for the protective ground. In principle any other colors except these may be used for the power conductors.
What color wire should I use for a hot wire?
However, common practice (per local electrical inspectors) is for the first hot (live or active) wire to be black and the second hot to be red. The recommendations in Table below are by Wiles. He makes no recommendation for ungrounded power system colors.
What color conductors are used for 208 VAC?
Black, red, and blue are used for 208 VAC three-phase; brown, orange and yellow are used for 480 VAC. Conductors larger than #6 AWG are only available in black and are color taped at the ends.
What color is the ground for DC power?
US DC power: The US National Electrical Code (for both AC and DC) mandates that the grounded neutral conductor of a power system be white or grey. The protective ground must be bare, green or green-yellow striped. Hot (active) wires may be any other colors except these.
What color is the protective ground?
The protective ground is green or green with yellow stripe. The neutral is white, the hot (live or active) single phase wires are black , and red in the case of a second active. Three-phase lines are red, black, and blue.
What is the IEC DC wiring color code?
The following IEC DC wiring color codes are used for Two-Wire Grounded, Two-Wire ungrounded and Three Wire grounded DC power systems.
Which countries use the IEC color code for DC?
Other Countries like China, Russia, KSA and UAE now follow the IEC Cable color codes for DC. But don’t trust the cable insulation colors in these areas as electricians use old as well as new color codes for both AC and DC.
What color wires are used for a PG?
The mandatory colors for power wiring in National Electric Codes (NEC) are Green, Bare or Green/Yellow (Yellow Strip or band on Green) for Protective Ground “PG” and White (alternatively Grey) for Neutral Wire. Any other colors expected the above mentioned can be used for Live (Line or Hot) wires.
Does Russia use gray or purple?
Russia was following the same wiring color codes as China before but they adapted the IEC with little bit changes i.e. in a three phase system, they may use purple or gray color instead of gray in IEC. As things are little bit changed in Russia, so one must follow the tester before going in the mess.
What is the color code for AC wires?
This standard was originally published as IEC 60446, but was merged into IEC 60445 in 2010.
What does it mean when a cable marker is blue?
For example, if a cable marker is blue, that might indicate that it’s part of a specific subgroup of the local network. Printed text on the label, though, could identify which specific workstation uses that cable, which port on the server it should be connected to, as well as when the cable was installed.
What is the ANSI 606-A standard?
The ANSI/TIA/EIA 606-A standard includes recommendations for marking telecommunications wires. This standard provides a consistent approach that can be applied to many different kinds of connections over time.
Do you need to print wiring labels?
With information wiring, printed labels can be a necessity. Wire markers should be visible during installation and normal maintenance of the wiring systems. When those labels use printed text, they should use high-contrast and durable print.
Do older electrical systems have different color codes?
It depends on your location, installation type, voltage, and other factors. Note that older installations may use different color codes. In workplaces, it’s a good idea to document the color code that is being followed. This way, work will be safer, and future maintenance will be easier.
Is the color of wire the same?
There are many wire identification standards, and many of them rely on color codes. Not all electrical wiring color codes are the same, though, and some even contradict each other.
What color is white insulation?
With age the white insulation may have become tan or even brownish in color.
Is wire color coded?
We point out with photo-examples that while wire color code theory is nice and all that, in the real world of working on existing buildings, wires are not always reliably color-coded and colors may in fact be impossible to discern.