bsaint
Well-known member
I guess it doesn't exist but do any old timers remember what they were or should've been colored coded as? Or am I just putting 1,2,3 on the conductors?
Need a color code for 575v
- Thread starter bsaint
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TRWham
Well-known member
I have seen yellow, brown and orange for 480 V, and red, black and blue for 208 V. Other than the obvious ground and neutral colors, there is no code requirement with a few exceptions (wild leg on delta systems sometimes orange but others call for purple). I built equipment that went to Canada, but never worked on any installations there and have never seen a 575-600 V installation in the US, though I believe some exist.
I've installed my share of 347/600v circuits in buildings. We didn't colour it any different.
Some 600-750V rated cables (i.e. Teck or ACWU) are using coloured conductors now... red, black, blue is all I've come across so far.
Some 600-750V rated cables (i.e. Teck or ACWU) are using coloured conductors now... red, black, blue is all I've come across so far.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
what is this for?
color is only useful in identifying the conductors when they may need to be swapped for correct rotation.
numbers could work too.
In the USA we definitely CANNOT used red black blue for 575v (its not actually 600 like in Canada) because thats 230v 3 phase colors and could trip up the next incompetent electrician lol.
Maybe red black yellow. That sounds good. Also I clearly will mark the disconnect.
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Maybe red black yellow. That sounds good. Also I clearly will mark the disconnect.
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wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
CANNOT?
I dont recall a code prohibiting certain colors for certain voltages.
Only color code requirements are for neutral/grounded conductor, ground/equipment grounding conductor, and the wild leg or hi-leg...
I did find this reference.
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/reference/chpt-2/wiring-color-codes-infographic/
I think one of the difficulties is 600v isn't wide-spread in the USA, so you're borrowing some other region's colour code.
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/reference/chpt-2/wiring-color-codes-infographic/
I think one of the difficulties is 600v isn't wide-spread in the USA, so you're borrowing some other region's colour code.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
i'd go with red, green and grey for the colorblind guys out there
I can use whatever color I want for any voltage I want.
The only code required colors are green for ground, white or gray for neutral, and the high leg on a center tapped Delta service must be orange.
The rest is free game. There are some industry accepted color codes but none of that is enforceable.
If just for a circuit I would use whatever color is handy. It's nice to follow a color code for services and any panel. A compressor couldn't care less.
The motor doesn't care. You can use 3 black wires with no labels on them. If it spins the wrong way just swap two wires.
If you want to label anything then put a label on the box with the voltage and the panel it's fed from.
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Green cannot be used for a ungrounded conductor and those that do should be tied to a whipping post & change whippers every 2-3 minutes lest they get tired.
Gray is a neutral conductor, and cannot be used as a ungrounded conductor.
Terry D
Well-known member
I have had that happen to me before, know exactly what you mean
Nah. Gray was a phase conductor on my previous 600V jobsite - and blue was neutral. Now I'm on a 380V 50Hz site... most wires are black.
Best to figure out what you're working with before trusting those colours too far.
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wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Nah. Gray was a phase conductor on my previous 600V jobsite - and blue was neutral. Now I'm on a 380V 50Hz site... most wires are black.
Best to figure out what you're working with before trusting those colours too far.
Youre in canada.
Things are different up there.
TractorJeff
Well-known member
Label them 1, 2, 3 in case you need to troubleshoot. If you don't have number labels, then any 3 colors of tape that you may have except as noted above Green, Grey and White!
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Yes and no... we have to be savvy with all the wire colour standards because we have assets of EU and USA origin too.
Keeps you on your toes.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
I don't care enough to actually do the research, but am willing to ask. Has gray ever been an accepted phase color in the US? I have opened up a lot of panels and found gray wire on a breaker.
One of the old timers I used to work with who is now retired swore gray could be used as a phase color. It would have been in around 2007/2008 that we got in an argument over it. I read to him straight out the code that the neutral had to be white or natural gray. He just looked at me, then pointed at the spool of wire he had loaded up on the cart and said "that ain't natural" and got in his truck and went home. I swapped out the spool and finished the pull by myself. We never spoke of it again.
I'm sure it was acceptable at one point but I'm guessing it was long, long ago. I do work in a school with an entire wing that has green wire for all the switch legs. Doesn't mean it was ever right.
I've encountered entire MCCs and switchboards full of grey, asbestos-containing wire. Not for phase identification. All wires numbered instead. This is on older ships out on this coast. Not CEC or NEC jurisdiction.
Sure but why change what everyone else is doing because you wanna get creative? There is plenty we do in every industry in good faith is called "industry best practices" and even though they aren't hard and fast laws or code, its good to play the game the best we can. Why would I color code almost 600v the same as something that's color coded as a standard practice at 230v? You're prob one of those guys that leaves the zip tie tails on, zig zags his wiring, and uses the minimum acceptable sizes for everything.
sparky 1971
Well-known member
If I am in a building that does NOT have 277/480 I use all of the colors available. It makes it a helluva lot easier to know what is what when that wad of wire comes out the other end.
I laugh at the guys that think they have to maintain a color code all the way to the motor. I like to see it when it feeds a panel but if it's just the phase wires feeding a motor it just doesn't help at all.
I would rather all three wires feeding a motor be the same color. Makes it easier to keep track of when a few motors share a conduit or in a gutter. One motor gets black, another motor red, maybe yellow for a 3rd, ect.
If someone assumes what voltage a wire is just because of the color then they are not a very bright person. I like to use common sense for stuff like this but apparently common sense isn't very common...
sparky 1971
Well-known member
nadogail
Well-known member
I taught Basic Electrical Wiring for a while and impressed on my Students that Black to Brass will save your ***, Green is Ground the world around and White is a Sacred color and is used only for Neutrals.
Marine Work is a separate reality because ships are not built with a Grounded system like you have in a well wired building.
Marine Work is a separate reality because ships are not built with a Grounded system like you have in a well wired building.
Green being used for ground the world around is not necessarily true, different colors have been used in other countries. One can never rely on the color of any conductor being what you think it is, as you never really be sure until it's checked.
Welcome to my world.
Just another application of the same principles. Most ships are isolated-ground. Some are not.I only take wire colours as hints or guidelines. Lol
toplessHO
Well-known member
pretty sure that if both 277/480 and 120/208 are both used in same building
the higher voltage shall be brown orange yellow gray
A true professional will color code all 277/480 as that,even if its the only voltage present.
Also a true professional will not use those colors on a 120/208 system.
Orange is to be used for high leg of a delta 120/240.B phase
Highleg on older systems used to be C phase but that was standardized in the 70s
as the middle leg(B phase)
the higher voltage shall be brown orange yellow gray
A true professional will color code all 277/480 as that,even if its the only voltage present.
Also a true professional will not use those colors on a 120/208 system.
Orange is to be used for high leg of a delta 120/240.B phase
Highleg on older systems used to be C phase but that was standardized in the 70s
as the middle leg(B phase)
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
IIRC (for me it's been a LONG time, and those were in place LONG before I was a gleam in daddy's eye) 575/600 were pink, purple, and brown... I remember asking an electrician about those when I worked on the bridge, and he said to keep the (deleted) away from those, they would arc to you and kill you, they were part of the old train catenary power supply system...
If it were me I'd probably use Orange, Brown, and a 3rd color (purple? Why not?) with a gray neutral, just to show it was a high, oddball voltage because Orange, Brown, and Yellow (with a GRAY neutral) designate 277 or 480.
If it were me I'd probably use Orange, Brown, and a 3rd color (purple? Why not?) with a gray neutral, just to show it was a high, oddball voltage because Orange, Brown, and Yellow (with a GRAY neutral) designate 277 or 480.
If its this difficult to arrive at a colour-code consensus for 575-600v, then it doesn't matter - because it stands to reason nobody knows what to look for either. 
Our system in Canada is to mark every JB, panel, and otherwise unmarked equipment with the system voltage. Our 600V rated cables most often come with red, black and blue phase conductors.
Our system in Canada is to mark every JB, panel, and otherwise unmarked equipment with the system voltage. Our 600V rated cables most often come with red, black and blue phase conductors.
The train cables were probably 600V DC, brown, purple, and yellow, are required color code for 480V in SF and some other cities because orange is the high leg color of 240V 3 phase.
TractorJeff
Well-known member
Is this discussion on marking the ends of black wires or specific colored wires? 1, 2, 3 labels on the ends would suffice!
Lassen Forge
Well-known member
BANG! That's right, it was 600 VDC... thanks!!!
grounded-b
Well-known member
White or Grey COULD be landed on a breaker, if the system is 240V corner (B phase) grounded, 3 phase. Sometimes they use 3 pole breakers in this situation, instead of a solid "neutral bar", with 2 pole breakers.
There is a lot of this in the Milwaukee area, hence my user ID !! I have seen a lot of white wires on 3 pole breakers, in these case. Prefectly legal, but unusual.
The NEC allows an overcurrent device (breaker only) on a grounded conductor, IF all three legs open simultaneously (like a 3 pole breaker would, not fuses )
Steve
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Yup
Definitely a rare animal in most parts of the country
We only have a couple out here