Not enough colors

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varmit

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As the code now requires a unique color for each phase and system, There are not enough standard colors for a location that has more than two different voltage 3 phase systems. One plant where I do work has 3 systems: 480, 240 and 208. This plant was built previous to this code requirement, but i am wondering about future locations. Many plants, where I have worked in the past had as many as 4 or 5 different voltage systems.

For 480 I would normally use brown, purple, yellow and gray, as orange is now dedicated to "high leg" marking. For 208 it is black, red, blue and white. In 230 systems, where there is only one other voltage on site, I use (tan- if available) pink and purple. If three systems exist there are not enough standard colors to go around. I understand that, for a price, you can get most anything but i would think that special ordering wire colors could get cost prohibitive and be very impractical.
 
Colors are not your only option. Tag them wherever they're accessible.

210.5 Identification for Branch Circuits.
................
(C) Ungrounded Conductors. ............The means of identification shall be permitted to be by separate color coding, marking tape, tagging, or other approved means. ............
 
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Man, I have never seen tan or pink... is that available @ the supply houses? Every once in a while, it would be nice to have a few extra colors.

~Matt
 
3M tapes come in black ,red, blue, brown, orange, yellow, and violet. (White, grey, and green as well.)

You could always do, black, red, blue then brown, orange, yellow then black/violet, red/violet, blue/violet the brown/violet, orange/violet, yellow/violet and cover four voltage systems with each identified.

One of the POCO's here requires the high leg delta colors to be black, red, and blue with orange tracer. Since we can't seem to find blue/orange, we mark that by one orange wrap then blue wrapped on each side.

Create a system and follow it.
 
jusme123 said:
the code should bite the bullet and have specific color codes for specific voltages 120/208v black, red, blue; 277/480v brown, orange, yellow. INDUSTRY STANDARD!
Click to expand...


Every ROP I've read in the past 15 years always has a couple dozen proposals to this effect.

CMPs rubber-stamp response is: It's a design issue, not a safety issue, so it's beyond the scope of the NEC.
 
Yes, I use colored tape and adhesive labels for marking. I was intending to ask if the wire manufacturers were considering marketing a few combination colors, similar to the conductors in tray cable, in maybe #12 and #10, for this application? In larger sizes field marking is about the only method that is practical. In the smaller sizes, where a circuit has multiple devices, joints and boxes, unique colors for each system would be a labor saver. I suppose that this could be too much of a niche market to be profitable for the wire companies.
 
You might ask for a color with a tracer (similar to the color combos used in phone wiring). Most supply houses don't stock them, but they're available.
 
480sparky said:
Every ROP I've read in the past 15 years always has a couple dozen proposals to this effect.

CMPs rubber-stamp response is: It's a design issue, not a safety issue, so it's beyond the scope of the NEC.
Click to expand...

Wasn't a NEC color standard actually removed from the NEC at some time?
 
jusme123 said:
the code should bite the bullet and have specific color codes for specific voltages 120/208v black, red, blue; 277/480v brown, orange, yellow. INDUSTRY STANDARD!
Click to expand...

It was in the code and removed. CMPs want you to test and not assume that red is 120V.
Why don't you make the proposal for the 2014 NEC?
 
480sparky said:
Every ROP I've read in the past 15 years always has a couple dozen proposals to this effect.

CMPs rubber-stamp response is: It's a design issue, not a safety issue, so it's beyond the scope of the NEC.
Click to expand...

than why do they specify distances of receptacles, that's a design issue?
 
jusme123 said:
why not :mad::grin:
Click to expand...

because it would make wiring a nightmare, having to use a specific color for a specific voltage would bring a job to a halt if you ran out of that color, and the supply house is out also. one of the reasons it was removed was to provide more flexibility of using what is on hand.

And now with supply houses not stocking much of anything, it can be fun just finding what you need.
 
tom baker said:
It was in the code and removed. CMPs want you to test and not assume that red is 120V.
Why don't you make the proposal for the 2014 NEC?
Click to expand...

If CMP requires that no assumptions are to be made, with respect to voltages on wires (check all wires to ground AND neutral), than why have 110.15 - high leg orange.

If you where on a construction project and an electrician was pulling all the circuits- brown, orange, yellow to a 120/208v panel, would you think something is wrong? Same thing with 277/480 (black, red, blue)?
 
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