However, that also means you came from a time when there was almost never a neutral in a switchbox, and 240V only ever really had an associated neutral if it was a feeder for a sub panel. We have non-contact voltage testers now I could work on a panel with only one color for all the wires, that's not the point, it's not about that it's about the fact that it taunts my OCD.
If we really want to dumb it down for the trunk slammers and YouTube generation they should just ban the re-identification of the white conductor in a cable just like in a raceway. If you need two ungrounded conductors just require a 3-wire cable.
...Or just add Red/Blue Romex and ditch 3 and 4 wire all together. Anyway there was a time, not so long ago, when commonly available #10 was solid and if you didn't grease it up to pull through more than a bend or 2 it was gonna arc, and it was pretty hard to even find 6 or 8 in anything other than red, white, black and green. Anything #4 and larger, any color you want as long as it's black.
I'd still keep just the black/white combo and rolls of colored tape. Why waste space on the truck carrying stuff I might only need a couple times a year, when I can give that space to something I know I'll be using every day.
As @Dennis Alwon pointed out copper SEU cable solves the issue why not switch to ordering that?
I would say 90 percent of my career was commercial and industrial but I still wouldn't have a problem knowing if a white or gray conductor was connected as a hot conductor. To take it a step further, I don't trust colors if I can't see how the conductor is connected.
Used to only use black for everything larger than 6 AWG. That was all the supply house normally stocked. Taped the ends if you needed to designate anything. I still generally only get black for over 6 AWG, but really depends on the job, if enough conductor will be needed might go for different colors instead of taping them.
That and they will have pulling heads crimped on.
Yep, same in our markets... when I started where I am 15 years ago, you could have any color you wanted so long as that color was black (hmm... sounds familiar...). Our more recent projects (say post-2015 in most areas) the EC was able to spec the size, length, color, and bobbin type, then have that delivered to the site with pre-made heads like Tom mentions
I doubt electricians were the reason the identification rules came about. It was either engineers inventing solutions to a problem no one had, or, more likely, the manufacturers getting rules made to sell more products.
Not as old as you, yet was not marking them when I first started this trade. I find it stupid to mark a white wire that is landed on a breaker, if the untrained can not figure out this is an ungrounded conductor they have no business messing with it in the first place. The other end of the cable? Maybe can be an ok thing some cases.
since a single wrap of tape near the termination is all that is required for identification, I doubt it was for pushing product sales. Seems it was intended for a certain amount of protection for those that are DIY's and other non professionals, even though most them are clueless anyway what that marking is really all about. It is hard enough to get many of them to realize there is a difference between the functions of the white and bare conductors as it is, but then if you do get them to understand to some degree, the fact they might be on same bus in the service panel gets them confused again.
Only can do so with cable assemblies not for individual conductors that are installed in raceways.
I suppose my comment really applies to rules affecting what size wire can be re-identified.
If you can't tell the function of the conductor by where it is terminated, you have no business taking a panel cover off. I see no real reason way you can't do the same with single conductors...just the idea is it never my fault so we need all of these rules to protect people that don't know what they are doing.
