identify wires

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The electron man

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I am pulling wire for 3 phase motor but the wires are only marked at the connection point, at the pull box they are all black but I want to mark them ,there too what's the best way to identify each phase so I can tape it ??
 
First off, why? Otherwise, the way is train a mouse to run through the conduit keeping track of which wire is which... Sorry. You would need any wire tracer and then just follow the instructions.
 
Strathead said:
First off, why? Otherwise, the way is train a mouse to run through the conduit keeping track of which wire is which... Sorry. You would need any wire tracer and then just follow the instructions.
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just to give future electricians an easier time if they would need to know what wire is what
 
Taping is a common method of identification.

For more info See 210.5, 200.6, 250.119
 
If the wires are correctly marked at the power source and the pump, does it matter at the pull box? If the pump is rotating backwards, wouldn't you just have to swap 2 leads at the pump to un-reverse it?

Your original post said you're pulling wire-- I assume all at once-- can you mark the wires at the approximate distance to the pull box, before you pull??
 
PaulMmn said:
If the wires are correctly marked at the power source and the pump, does it matter at the pull box? If the pump is rotating backwards, wouldn't you just have to swap 2 leads at the pump to un-reverse it?

Your original post said you're pulling wire-- I assume all at once-- can you mark the wires at the approximate distance to the pull box, before you pull??
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To give future electricians an easier time if they would need to know what wire is what , I can try for the next run but the first run is pulled

What we did in the past is take power from and outlet in the fire pump room and splice it to one end of the wire and tape the other end and used a non contact voltage tester at the pull box I was wondering if there is a better method
 
The electron man said:
To give future electricians an easier time if they would need to know what wire is what , I can try for the next run but the first run is pulled

What we did in the past is take power from and outlet in the fire pump room and splice it to one end of the wire and tape the other end and used a non contact voltage tester at the pull box I was wondering if there is a better method
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Easy enough. At the line end, simply energize or de-energize one conductor at a time, and check the results at the load end with your solenoid tester.
 
The electron man said:
To give future electricians an easier time if they would need to know what wire is what , I can try for the next run but the first run is pulled

What we did in the past is take power from and outlet in the fire pump room and splice it to one end of the wire and tape the other end and used a non contact voltage tester at the pull box I was wondering if there is a better method
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But still, unless you have a customer who doesn't understand the electrical trade and insists on the wires being marked, it serves no function to mark them in the junction box. I can't think of a single situation where I would feel the need to know which is which in that box. Unless, as answered earlier, there was a service loop in the box.
 
De-energize and jump each leg to ground and have a buddy on the other end with a continuity tester. Unhook it from the load of course.
 
How big are the wires? Can you just pull some back into the pull box, walk down to the motor, and see which conductor has no slack? Or send the apprentice to one end and have them watch while you tug on wires?
 
Ok, so you are in the process of pulling wire. You have access to both ends of the run and a pull point in the middle.

The conductors are properly marked at the ends, but not the pull point.

You want to identify conductors at the pull point so you can mark them.

I would tie all the conductors at one end to the EGC. Then I'd use a low voltage power supply (think lightning transformer) to inject current into _one_ conductor at a time at the other end. Then I would use a clamp on current meter to find the selected conductor.

Jon
 
winnie said:
Ok, so you are in the process of pulling wire. You have access to both ends of the run and a pull point in the middle.

The conductors are properly marked at the ends, but not the pull point.

You want to identify conductors at the pull point so you can mark them.

I would tie all the conductors at one end to the EGC. Then I'd use a low voltage power supply (think lightning transformer) to inject current into _one_ conductor at a time at the other end. Then I would use a clamp on current meter to find the selected conductor.

Jon
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why not just use a $50 toner from Home Depot or Lowes?
 
Strathead said:
why not just use a $50 toner from Home Depot or Lowes?
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That is probably a better starting point, but my guess is that the close coupling of the phase conductors in the conduit will mean the toner doesn't reliably differentiate between them.

Nevertheless you make a good point about starting with the tools one likely has on the truck.

Using the toner I would still ground all conductors at one side and select between them at the other side.

Jon
 
Well nobody asked if the conduit was a metal one so here goes- jump each de-energized conductor to the conduit if it's metal in turn. Go to the other end and find the one with continuity to ground with your multimeter. Tape that one with the proper color and do the same for the other wires in the conduit. If the conduit is pvc you can still do this , but it is slightly more complicated.
 
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