The third edition of IEC 60446 "Basic and safety principles for man-machine interface, marking and identification - Identification of conductors by colours or numerals" is at the FDIS (Final Draft International Standard) stage, with voting terminating on December 15. There is "parallel voting" for acceptance by CENELEC as EN 60446. The document number (for anyone interested) is 16/377/FDIS.
The FD states that "green-and-yellow" SHALL be used for identifying protective conductors; but there is a note stating that "in the USA, Canada, and Japan, ..green....is used as equivalent to ...green-and-yellow". It also states "where a circuit includes a neutral or mid-point conductor,...the colour used ...shall be blue. In order to avoid confusion with other colours, it is recommended to use an unsaturated colour blue, called here LIGHT BLUE". But again there is a note "In the USA, Canada and Japan, ...white or natural grey for the mid-wire or neutral conductor is used as replacement for...light blue". It also states "AC-phase conductors. The colours black and brown are PREFERRED for AC-phase conductors of systems." My capitals !! DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A WELL WRITTEN STANDARD. I wonder how the USA are going to vote ?? In the UK, for 3 phase wiring, we use red, yellow, and blue for the 3 phases, black for neutral, and green/yellow for earth. For single phase wiring, we use brown for line and light blue for neutral, and green/yellow for earth. (It used to be red for line and black for neutral). Maybe some the other "Europeans" out there can tell us what they do. I have found a "European style" 3 phase cord in a catalogue - the colours are blue, brown, black, black, green-yellow !! John Crabb, Product Safety Engineer, NCR Financial Solutions Group Ltd, Dundee, Scotland. > -----Original Message----- > From: Martin Johnson [SMTP:calpe1...@yahoo.com] > Sent: 20 November 1998 10:03 > To: emc-p...@ieee.org > Subject: Wiring Requirements > > Can anybody tell me which (European)specification explicitly defines > the colour of insulation for wiring (internal and external). > Presumeably its going to be EN60XXX (can somebody fill in the X's for > me!!) > > Obviously green/yellow for earth, but what is defined for > phase/neutral. I have seen brown/black for used for phase and light > blue for neutral, but have also seen red/yellow etc for phase wiring. > Is this allowable? This may seem blatantly obvious to you guys, but > i'm just not that sure. > > Thanks, > MJ > --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to majord...@ieee.org with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to ed.pr...@cubic.com, j...@gwmail.monarch.com, ri...@sdd.hp.com, or roger.volgst...@compaq.com (the list administrators).
