Automotive Electrical Wire Color Code Chart

This helps to protect people from accidental exposure and makes it much easier to run the wiring where it needs to go especially for higher voltage situations.

Automotive electrical wire color code chart. The national electrical code nec says that white or gray must be used for neutral conductors and that bare copper or green wires must be used as ground wires. The specifics of the wire coloring are dependent on the make model and even year of the specific vehicle under consideration. In the july 1997 issue of motor i introduced wiring diagram color coding in the article titled mastering complex diagrams. The power source for color coding is the color code legend fig.

Wire color codes for europe iec the international electrotechnical commission or iec has established a wire color code for most european countries for. Each wire used for electrical wiring is marked with information like wire gauge ampacity maximum voltage and maximum temperature. But looking deeper the color of the wires inside of the sheathing reveals that different colored wires serve different purposes. It is to wiring diagrams and circuits as what ohms law is to electricity and e mc2 is to energy.

Beyond that are general industry accepted rules about wire color that indicate their purpose. Thermocouple wire color coding house wiring colors liar fuse12 wiring colours electrical plug wire 4 band resistor color code calculator rj45 pinout showmecables house wiring colors liar fuse12 klictravel nlelectrical wire color codes wiring colors chartelectrical education electricians training wiringwiring color codes usa uk europe canada when to ly3 phase wire color code chart faint. The best way to determine how to know the appropriate wiring colors is to learn the basics of reading a cars electrical diagram. International wire color codes are often specified by law depending on your location though most rely on common practice below we cover europe and canada.

1 which identifies the main circuit part of the main circuit gauge of wire and color. Engine and accessory wiring color code colour item use yellow wred strip yr starting circuit starting switch to solenoid brownyellow stripe by or yellow y see note bilge blowers fuse or switch to blowers dark gray gy navigation lights fuse or switch to lights tachometer tachometer sender to gauge brown br generator armature generator armature to regulator alternator charge. However common practice per local electrical inspectors is for the first hot live or active wire to be black and the. But a general color code is used to identify different types of conductors which are used in electrical wiring.

The protective ground must be bare green or green yellow striped. Despite popular belief there are no standard wiring colors for each wire in a car. We know that the power can be in either single phase or three phase. International wiring color codes.

The us national electrical code for both ac and dc mandates that the grounded neutral conductor of a power system be white or grey. The color is shown as a two letter code which can be identified by referring to the wire color code chart fig. Hot active wires may be any other colors except these. In many cases a bundle of these colored wires will be grouped together and sealed within a black or grey cable.