Re-tasked "White | Gray" conductor

[kwired]

Without seeing the picture or the context. You can get white or gray wire with any color stripe you want on it, that way you can identify which ungrounded conductor the neutral is to be used for. Black stripes/black conductor, red stripes/red conductor, etc.

If your usual supplier doesn't stock it though, you may be purchasing a larger lot of it than you may want.

 

[kwired]

I prefer putting the tape around both [or all] conductors of each circuit. Neat, simple, mitigates confusion, and technically is not re-identifying the white conductor. Mostly use plain ol' black tape, but do use phase tape on occasion.

That may work well on the panelboard end in most cases, but on the supplied equipment end the two conductors may end up with more separation in some instances.

Quite frankly, I don't like the rules for identification of white/gray conductors, but I guess they are mostly there for non qualified people that think the potential for a shock from said conductor all lies within the insulation color or other markings, when in reality if it is connected to something ungrounded it don't matter what color it is, it is still ungrounded:roll:

If I see a white wire on a breaker with no other marking I never question whether or not it is grounded or ungrounded:slaphead:

If I open a junction box, lighting outlet box, etc, supplied with cable wiring methods, and see all white wires in one connection, all black wires, plus one white wire in another connection, it is pretty much instinct (meaning I don't really think about it) that tells me this is the ungrounded supply conductor for a switch loop whether it has been re-identified or not.:slaphead:

Anyone that can't figure those two situations out without more than a short few seconds of thought in almost all instances simply is not a "qualified person" and has no business messing with it.:angel:

 

[morepower]

Instructor

Instructor

I hate to be such a Johnny come lately to this post, but it has been bugging me for some time. There is nothing in article 200 that prevents one from re-identifying a white or gray conductor to use it as a phase conductor. The article is about the use of, and color of, grounded conductors, not phase conductors. Nowhere is there a prohibition to "re-task" as it has been stated, a white or gray conductor. Once a white or gray conductor has been re-marked to a color other than white, gray, or green, it may be used as a phase because it is no longer a white or gray conductor.

 

[480sparky]

Technically, 'gray' was supposed to be an UNgrounded conductor until the 2002. Only 'natural gray' was allowed by the NEC as a grounded conductor.

'Natural gray' hasn't been manufactured since the 50s or 60s. It wasn't until the 2002 NEC that the term was written out, and the use of 'gray' as a grounded was accepted.

There are some legally-installed wiring that use gray as a hot still out there.