grey wire for neutral

[PoorOwner]

found a roll of grey THHN 12 stranded for clearance price..

can I use it for neutral wire? It's a light gray, I thought it was white at first.

I did a quick search it seems grey is legit for neutral.

 

[mm08822]

For your purposes at a single family home grey is ok to mix with white neutrals.

 

[PhysicsDude]

Gray wire is typically used for "high voltage" (277v/480v) neutral wiring, to differentiate it from 120v/240v/208v neutral wiring.

Should be fine to use as a neutral in a house. Even in commercial buildings, the white/gray convention isn't kept very strictly, especially when most 277v lighting is wired with black/white/green MC cable..

 

[Norcal]

Gray wire is typically used for "high voltage" (277v/480v) neutral wiring, to differentiate it from 120v/240v/208v neutral wiring.

Should be fine to use as a neutral in a house. Even in commercial buildings, the white/gray convention isn't kept very strictly, especially when most 277v lighting is wired with black/white/green MC cable..

Legally anything 600 volts and under is considered low voltage.


The use of gray for a neutral is fine.

 

[crf731]

Put some white tape on it if you are worried about it.

 

[Jim greengo]

Gray wire is typically used for "high voltage" (277v/480v) neutral wiring, to differentiate it from 120v/240v/208v neutral wiring.

Should be fine to use as a neutral in a house. Even in commercial buildings, the white/gray convention isn't kept very strictly, especially when most 277v lighting is wired with black/white/green MC cable..

 

[Richard Cranium]

agreed, put some white tape on it.

 

[teamextreme]

By code, neutrals can be identified by white or gray marking, which means adding white tape to a gray wire is redundant and unnecessary EDIT: and per mm's comment in post 10, which corrects me, it actually is not legal, so you shouldn't tape them. Thank you for reminding me of that.

 

[Kevin54]

Wrap the ends with the appropriate colored tape found in the electrical aisle.

 

[mm08822]

The same re-identification restriction that applies to grounding conductors applies to grounded conductors. Op's conductor size is #12. Re-identification at time of install only permitted with #4 or larger conductors. Cables and cords excluded from restriction.

No tape.

 

[purplezr2]

Never seen stranded used for house wiring

 

[The Cobbler]

Never seen stranded used for house wiring

OP didn't really say it was for a house

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Wrap the ends with the appropriate colored tape found in the electrical aisle.

waste of tape and time...

 

[Norcal]

waste of tape and time...

I second this.

 

[Ji m]

Grey is perfectly fine for Neutrals,

the code says use White or Natural Grey for Neutrals,

the industry decided to make 120/208 White w/Black Red & Blue phases
and 277/480 Grey w/Brown Orange Yellow phases,

but that specific color code is not a part of the NEC's code requirements.

 

[Ji m]

Legally anything 600 volts and under is considered low voltage.

277 sure feels like high voltage when it grabs a hold of you

 

[alfredeneuman]

277 sure feels like high voltage when it grabs a hold of you

The voltage definitions have recently changed.
Instead of 600V, now any voltage under 1000 is considered to be low voltage.
Between 1000 and 35000 are medium voltage.
Anything over 35000 is considered to be high voltage.
The average voltage of the electric chair is only 2000V.

 

[TRWham]

Never seen stranded used for house wiring

OP didn't really say it was for a house

Even if it is a house, there is no prohibition against using stranded wire in a residence as long as it is otherwise an approved wiring method.

 

[Jim greengo]

Never seen stranded used for house wiring

Solid is cheaper to run in pipe,stranded is a lot easier to pull though.

 

[Jim greengo]

277 sure feels like high voltage when it grabs a hold of you

Exactly!