ICEA Cable Color Coding

Status
Not open for further replies.
Steve Merrick

Steve Merrick

Member
Location
Anchorage, AK
My company has recently adopted the ICEA/NEMA cable color coding standard (ICEA S-73-532). For 600V rated 3-ph 4-wire power cable, the ICEA standard color codes the conductors as 1-BK, 2-RD, 3-BL, and 4-OR. OK - I know that Brown-Orange-Yellow is not a Code requirement and I could learn to live with Black-Red-Blue for 480V as long as the color coding scheme is well posted and understood, but why is the neutral conductor not White or Gray per NEC 200.6? Why is there no green for the equipment ground? Am I missing something?

Thanks!
 
I agree with the above replies and appreciate your feedback. The ICEA color coding tables appear to be suited to communication and control cable rather than power as you suggest. My problem is that our central engineering office has standardized on and specified ICEA Method 1, Table E-2 color coding scheme for all 600V POWER cable through 10AWG, and for 600V power cable 8 AWG and larger, our new standard is ICEA Method 4 (1-BK, 2-BK, 3-BK, 4-BK). Are you saying that specifying the ICEA color coding method for all power conductors through 480V (not limited to multiconductor cable) is inappropriate? That is my impression and I am hoping to have one or two of you gurus confirm this for me before I attempt to battle our central engineering group to allow Brown-Orange-Yellow-White for 480/277V and Black-Red-Blue-White for 120/208V. This is for a major new power plant construction project.

Thanks!
 
If the installation is covered by the NEC take a look at 210.5. You will have to provide some method to identify the ungrounded branch circuit conductors by phase and voltage system.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
If the installation is covered by the NEC take a look at 210.5. You will have to provide some method to identify the ungrounded branch circuit conductors by phase and voltage system.
Click to expand...

Yup - that's what I thought. So we will end up with an orange conductor with white tape on the ends to identify a neutral. Suboptimal, IMHO...

Thanks for your help.
 
Volta said:
No, not for sizes smaller than #4 per 200.6. White or gray with orange tape, maybe...
Click to expand...

That's the problem... The ICEA standard that we're adopting for a 4-wire cable calls for Black-Red-Blue-Orange. It doesn't provide white or gray as a choice. 200.6(E) Exception No. 1 allows this as long as the ends are identified with white tape "or equally effective markings," but I'm not sure why we would want to do this to ourselves as a standard on a 480Y/277V circuit.
 
This is what an RFI, or 'request for information' is for.

That is, you reject the spec as inappropriate, and in conflict with the NEC. You tell them you cannot comply and ask them what they want you to do. I suspect they will admit to an error in the specs, say that they didn't mean to apply that standard to the power wiring.
 
Steve Merrick said:
That's the problem... The ICEA standard that we're adopting for a 4-wire cable calls for Black-Red-Blue-Orange. It doesn't provide white or gray as a choice. 200.6(E) Exception No. 1 allows this as long as the ends are identified with white tape "or equally effective markings," but I'm not sure why we would want to do this to ourselves as a standard on a 480Y/277V circuit.
Click to expand...
But my point was not the identification of the grounded conductor. It was the identification of the ungrounded conductors. You can't use black, red, blue for both the 208/120Y system and the 480/277Y system.
 
Steve Merrick said:
... This is for a major new power plant construction project.
Click to expand...
As Don said in his first post, "If the installation is covered by the NEC..." If the installation is utility company owned, it is likely not covered by the NEC... though some portions of the spec' may say per NEC.

I have worked several power plants with ICEA number and color coding of power cables. None where single conductors are per ICEA.
 
Last edited:
You are correct: the power plant specifications do indeed require NEC compliance. This issues applies to four new nuclear power generating stations in the early stages of construction.

Thanks for all your input.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top