US Wiring Colour Code

[dandrews]

+1

Well this just shows you that even the folks that survey boats don't always agree. This shows yellow as being for wipers. Yellow is now the ground or return side of DC circuits now so as not to confuse with AC hot. :Banghead

[delmarrey]

If you really want to get confused check out this one>>> Standard Boat Wiring Colors | Boat Wiring Advice - Easy Ac/Dc Marine Electrical

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by dandrews

That is correct for AC circuits. For DC circuits, the current code is red and yellow. Yellow being negative or the return.

Don

The current version of ABYC E-11 (July 2009) states:

Green, or green w/yellow stripe(s) = DC grounding conductors

Black, or yellow = DC negative conductors

Red = DC positive conductors


Yellow is "preferred" for new boat construction but not defacto. Black is still acceptable for use as DC neg under the current version of E-11 7/2009. Most new builders are using yellow..

[GordMay]

DC WIRING COLOUR CODE CHART (per ABYC E-11/16 Table XV)
➥ DC WIRING COLOR CODE CHART
➥ ABYC Wiring Standards

[dandrews]

Thanks Gord, it does show that both black and yellow are acceptable.

Bet Anjou really is glad she asked the question...LOL

[anjou]

What kept you Gord? Where have you been?

Yeah im glad I asked cos based on what I saw in my panel with the red being pos and the black being neg in the DC side, I might have gone on to suppose the black in the DC side was also neg/neutral.

[CarinaPDX]

I think it is bizarre that we are on the 3rd page of this thread and no one has mentioned the label that is commonly found to identify the hot AC lead in both the US and EU: "Line" or "L".

[four winds]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Off topic:-
Anyone know the historical reason why aircraft wiring is white, I have assumed that it is because it is easier to wire stamp (and read) black markings on a white background but really this is a personal assumption.

It's because there are not enough colors to go around and the reason you stated. I worked on wire bundles that contained more than a hundred wires sometimes. Often a digital system bus ran from one black box to another, with 32 or 64 wires of digital data.

Schematics are printed black and white. Imagine hundreds of colors represented with color printing or words either one. Black and white numbers are the only reasonable solution. Each wire was stamped with a number and letter suffix. The suffix changed each time the wire passed through a bulkhead.

Carried schematic books that were eight inches thick and each pair of pages folded out on both sides, stretching to four times the books cover size. But the conventions used allowed one to actually use the schematics and trace the wires with little trouble.

How the manufacturers organized the stamping of the wire bundles with the numbers must have been a complicated operation, I just fixed the broken wires.

What you guys and gals call rescue tape, I know as F4 tape.

[anjou]

Originally Posted by anjou

What kept you Gord? Where have you been?

Yeah im glad I asked cos based on what I saw in my panel with the red being pos and the black being neg in the DC side, I might have gone on to suppose the black in the AC side was also neg/neutral.

Pesky fingers wanna type different letters to the ones the brain says.