110 volt wiring colors. Non metallic or nm 120 volt and 240 volt electrical cable come in two main parts. The neutral is white. Although we do highly recommend to leave these jobs to the professionals for safety reasons it is helpful to know the differences. The quickest way to identify house electrical wiring is by its color.
These are listed in table below. These systems are common in home and office environments. Depending on where you live the branch circuit wiring in your home will be made with individual conductors run through a hollow metal conduit or with one of three types of cable. In that case local custom dictates the optional wire colors.
By the way if youre wondering why the outlet you just bought has a label indicating its for a 115 volt plug or a 120 volt plug dont worry. The colour of live wires in home wiring are red and black. In other jurisdictions only a few conductor colors are so codified. To ensure our content is always up to date with current information best practices and professional advice articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands on experience.
Always use a line voltage meter or circuit tester to determine if a wire is hot or live never rely on a wires color alone. Now if this is a standard 120 volt outlet that is reading 209 volts then someone has made a mistake in the wiring. If you want to do a bit of diy in the home or see what may be wrong with your wires then you will definitely need to know what the different coloured wires generally mean. Identifying house electric wiring colors written by connor doe on jan 30 2010.
Phase 3 blue. Residential circuits are rated for 110 115 120 or 125 volts. On dec 06 2019. In some jurisdictions all wire colors are specified in legal documents.
What color is the live wire in 110 volt which color is neutral which color. The outer plastic sheathing or jacket and the inner color coded wiresthe sheathing binds the inner wires together and its outer markings indicate the number of wires and size of wire gauge within the sheathing. All these numbers mean basically the same thing. If the wiring system has one phase at a higher voltage than the others using a high leg connection that phases wires should be marked with orange.
Understanding 120240v wiring color code. This helps to protect people from accidental exposure and makes it much easier to run the wiring where it needs to go especially for higher voltage situations. A cable is a factory made. Ground is bare when in a cable set.
March 9 2018. The color of the sheathing indicates recommended usages. In many cases a bundle of these colored wires will be grouped together and sealed within a black or grey cable. The wire color codes used are only going to apply to the actual wires that are carrying the electricity.
Because it is a 220 volt outlet instead of a 120 volt outlet. Electrical wiring colour codes. This is required in nec. Most of europe abides by iec international electrotechnical commission wiring color codes for ac branch circuits.
Phase 1 black. 120208240 volt ac wire colors.