High leg marking

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Peter Furrow

Peter Furrow

We’re not born humble, we’re born to be humbled
Location
Cape canaveral Fl
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Electrical contractor
110.15 says ‘High phase voltage to ground Shall be permanently marked by an outer finish that is orange in color or by other effective means”.

Why does it say or by other effective means?
What is “other effective means”?


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If you had a conductor that was orange. Basically they don't care how you ID the orange so long as its permanent, robust, effective. The AHJ would make that call. Maybe even a heat shrink type ID. Some are ok with tape even though its not considered permanent.
 
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While it could be argued that tape is not permanent, it is one of the most common ways to identify conductors. Permanent markers are also acceptable, but that has limitations depending upon the original insulation color.
 
Beaches EE said:
While it could be argued that tape is not permanent, it is one of the most common ways to identify conductors. Permanent markers are also acceptable, but that has limitations depending upon the original insulation color.
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But is also an "other effective means".
 
roger said:
Agreed and they can be numbers, letters, symbols, etc........... In an existing facility it should remain the color already being used.

Roger
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Personally I like orange, even in the utility setting. So much so that I will not use the BOY colors.
Utilities also tag red, white, blue for phases.
I won’t do that either. We use red, yellow, blue, with orange reserved for high leg marking.

I have been places where purple was used.
Not sure why but whatever...
 
Some local jurisdictions require or required purple for the high leg. San Francisco might be one.
 
Never seen purple used for the high leg, but have seen it used as one of the 480 volt colors, very common industry standard before the mid 80’s when it was replaced with orange because orange is easier to identify in low light conditions, but if a high leg is present, it must be orange if colored.
 
Don:

Chicago is that one place in northern IL that requires RED for the high leg.... Got tagged on a final inspection for that ...... AFTER the service was energized! red paint and a foam brush fixed it.....

Personally I think not identifying the high leg different from a "regular" B phase is a hazard..... We wont talk about the apprentice and the fluorescent lights on a high phase........(said apprentice was me, and the "old master" caught the issue before anything got damaged, tho seeing 200+ to ground scared me a bit...)
 
g-and-h_electric said:
Don:

Chicago is that one place in northern IL that requires RED for the high leg.... Got tagged on a final inspection for that ...... AFTER the service was energized! red paint and a foam brush fixed it.....

Personally I think not identifying the high leg different from a "regular" B phase is a hazard..... We wont talk about the apprentice and the fluorescent lights on a high phase........(said apprentice was me, and the "old master" caught the issue before anything got damaged, tho seeing 200+ to ground scared me a bit...)
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I did not know that was a Chicago requirement. The use of red was a long standing thing. When I started most of the JWs referred to the high leg the "red leg". Not sure why or when it became orange.

You never really understand high leg systems until you let the magic smoke out of something at least once. :) :)

If you have two voltage systems, one with a red high leg, the rules in the NEC would not permit the B phase leg from the other system to be red. Also the NEC also requires the panels of a high leg system to be marked “Caution _____ Phase Has _____ Volts to Ground”
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
The use of red was a long standing thing.
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Based on the actual life of many electrical installations, and the ability to match existing colors, you will not be able to put blind faith into NEC required color coding for some 80-100 years from now (assuming more NEC changes are not made), especially orange.

Over the years NFPA standards have changed what colors mean several times, like orange now mean a separate voltage source for a piece of equipment, when in past years that color was yellow.
 
It’s been orange for as long as I can remember (at least 30+ years) but you have to be careful around here, sometimes it’s on “B” phase where it’s supposed to be, but a lot of times it’s on “C” because the installer didn’t roll it over past the meter.
 
g-and-h_electric said:
Don:

Chicago is that one place in northern IL that requires RED for the high leg.... Got tagged on a final inspection for that ...... AFTER the service was energized! red paint and a foam brush fixed it.....

Personally I think not identifying the high leg different from a "regular" B phase is a hazard..... We wont talk about the apprentice and the fluorescent lights on a high phase........(said apprentice was me, and the "old master" caught the issue before anything got damaged, tho seeing 200+ to ground scared me a bit...)
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There is always that tale tell sign, “Why is every third breaker space unused?” LOL!
 
hillbilly1 said:
It’s been orange for as long as I can remember (at least 30+ years) but you have to be careful around here, sometimes it’s on “B” phase where it’s supposed to be, but a lot of times it’s on “C” because the installer didn’t roll it over past the meter.
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I know it's common to say it that way, but to me there is (or can be) a difference between "B" phase and the center terminal.

I prefer to refer to it as which terminal I'm landing the high-leg on, and always calling it the "B" phase, regardless of which.

Here, we're supposed to land the high leg on the right terminals in the meter and in the center on those in the equipment.

And, yes, they used to use red, and I remember panels coming from the factory with the center bus marked with red paint.
 
hillbilly1 said:
It has to be on “C” phase in the meter for the meter to work correctly. Never seen red used for the high leg except by accident. Must be a northern thing.
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It was also common in Central FL when I started.

Roger
 
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