Power feed cable color.

[Shaun W]

On the topic of orange conductors required for all wires energized when the disconnect is opened. I always assumed that this did not include the main power feed cable to the panel. (I have never seen a power feed cable with orange conductors used). Could someone help me understand if this cable is required to be orange under NFPA 79?

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I moved this post to a new thread.

If you are talking about service cables then orange conductors can be used on a high leg delta.

110.15 High-Leg Marking. On a 4-wire, delta-connected system where the midpoint of one phase winding is grounded, only the conductor or busbar having the higher phase voltage to ground shall be durably and permanently marked by an outer finish that is orange in color or by other effective means. Such identification shall be placed at each point on the system where a connection is made if the grounded conductor is also present.

230.56 Service Conductor with the Higher Voltage to Ground. On a 4-wire, delta-connected service where the midpoint of one phase winding is grounded, the service conductor having the higher phase voltage to ground shall be durably and permanently marked by an outer finish that
is orange in color, or by other effective means, at each termination or junction point.

 

[just the cowboy]

I've seen yellow

I've seen yellow

I believe they mean interconnection wires for control. I've seen yellow and orange used.

 

[petersonra]

I believe they mean interconnection wires for control. I've seen yellow and orange used.

UL508a allows either color. NFPA79 requires that they be orange.

 

[cowboyjwc]

I believe they mean interconnection wires for control. I've seen yellow and orange used.

Glad to have you here, now when they say "that dang cowboy", there's a 50-50 chance they're talking about someone else.:lol:

 

[Shaun W]

Thanks for the response. This is in reference to the power feed for industrial control panels (400VAC, 3 phase w/neutral and ground). The 400VAC is for global use and we use 480:400 volt transformers locally. We typically use the orange conductors if there are energized wires between the power feed and disconnect (ex . terminals to disconnect). However the power feed cable to the panel was always a standard black cable with the appropriate ground conductor color. In an effort to prevent rework I am trying to find an exception to this if possible. These panels are UL labeled by the panel shop and if I understand things correctly this would drop the NFPA requirement inside the panel, and it appears that there is an exception in UL on these colors for multi-conductor cables (UL508A 66.9.1). I wonder if this would provide a valid exception to this rule?

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Do the rules in NFPA 79 and or UL 508a apply to the "field wiring"? I thought those rules only applied to the internal wiring of the equipment.

 

[Shaun W]

The group that I am working with are under the assumption that this does apply to field wiring; however it doesn't seem like it should. I did a quick search and I'm not having any luck finding any tray cable manufactures that have cables with all of the required colors (Orange, White W/Orange stripe and Green W/Yellow stripe to cover the 3 phases, neutral and ground). If this is actually required then we would need to use tape or sleeves to cover the conductors in the panel.

 

[Smart $]

The group that I am working with are under the assumption that this does apply to field wiring; however it doesn't seem like it should. I did a quick search and I'm not having any luck finding any tray cable manufactures that have cables with all of the required colors (Orange, White W/Orange stripe and Green W/Yellow stripe to cover the 3 phases, neutral and ground). If this is actually required then we would need to use tape or sleeves to cover the conductors in the panel.

Neither UL508 or NFPA 79 apply to field wiring... except when the field wiring is furnished as part of the equipment (e.g. as an option, wiring between a machine furnished in two or more parts, etc.)

 

[Shaun W]

Thanks everyone. That all makes sense and I greatly appreciate your help.