Discuss 3 phase colours in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

J

jmc1683

When you are using 3 phase colours for live neutral and earth, should you use black or grey as neutral, I usually use black as it was the old neutral colour. I work self employed for various different companies and some say you should NEVER use black as neutral, others say only use black. I always sleeve them anyway of course and I know then it doesn't really matter but what is the general opinion? I'm getting fed up of this, happened again Saturday, I was connecting coupe of swa's into board and I was connecting the blacks (sleeved blue) onto neutral bar and collegue walks in, go's, oh, didn't see that! should never use black as neutral. this is not a huge issue, no need to belittle me, just looking for opinion for discussion.
 
When you are using 3 phase colours for live neutral and earth, should you use black or grey as neutral, I usually use black as it was the old neutral colour. I work self employed for various different companies and some say you should NEVER use black as neutral, others say only use black. I always sleeve them anyway of course and I know then it doesn't really matter but what is the general opinion? I'm getting fed up of this, happened again Saturday, I was connecting coupe of swa's into board and I was connecting the blacks (sleeved blue) onto neutral bar and collegue walks in, go's, oh, didn't see that! should never use black as neutral. this is not a huge issue, no need to belittle me, just looking for opinion for discussion.
grey=neutral
 
Regulatory speaking it doesn't matter what colour you use for any live conductor as long as it is indicated as to its function by colour or number at every point of termination. That said, it is best practice to use grey as the neutral.

Anyone who says you 'have' to is talking nonsense, anyone who says you 'should' do is speaking sense.
 
I suffered an embarrassing DNO call-out over this: I thought I had voltage drop under load on a new supply, but it turned out to be that I'd wired (correctly) the DB side of an armoured as grey=neutral, black=earth but the lad I had on had wired the other end of the armoured black=neutral, then oversleeved both and I couldn't see the mistake!
 
well. i'd kick him for using too much of my expensive sleeving, covering all the exposed cores.
 
well. i'd kick him for using too much of my expensive sleeving, covering all the exposed cores.

Trust me, he was well and truly kicked about in the arse dept.
 
Black is neutral -blue.
Grey is earth - green and yellow.

That's my way and seen this discussion on here so many times it's boring............there is NO CORRECT WAY as long as it is the same at both ends.

Dear me...............someone prove me wrong please so I can change my ways and conform !!
 
And who taught you that?

College tutor or guys on site?

Or regs?

I'm pretty sure i remember it being accepted "official advice" on good practice during the harmonisation period.
But you are right, as long as it's sleeved it's to regs. Just make sure the guy you work with uses the same system lol.
 
I'm pretty sure i remember it being accepted "official advice" on good practice during the harmonisation period.
But you are right, as long as it's sleeved it's to regs. Just make sure the guy you work with uses the same system lol.

To be honest Andy I would normally make both ends off myself and the odd time I've had a subby working for me I make sure they know my 'preference'............then visual and testing confirms they've done it 'my way' lol :)
 
To be honest Andy I would normally make both ends off myself and the odd time I've had a subby working for me I make sure they know my 'preference'............then visual and testing confirms they've done it 'my way' lol :)

Yeah that's usually the case here too. Was just thinking back to a few incidents during the colour change period lol.
 
Black is neutral -blue.
Grey is earth - green and yellow.

That's my way and seen this discussion on here so many times it's boring............there is NO CORRECT WAY as long as it is the same at both ends.

Dear me...............someone prove me wrong please so I can change my ways and conform !!

Being terminally colour blind, I don't care.
Mark them up as L1 L2 L3 & N.
The shiny one left over must be the cpc.
 
however , the problem is this......
the job im on now , ive connected new submains to main panel using black as earth.
another contractor has added cables using black as neutral.
it just doesnt look right , a bit hodge bodge.
surely after 7 years there needs to be an accepted understanding even if nothing official is written.
another pain in the --- is the fact that most 3 core cable is sold as Br/Bk/Gr which doesnt work out as clearly as Br/Bl/GY for single phase.
 
Being terminally colour blind, I don't care.
Mark them up as L1 L2 L3 & N.
The shiny one left over must be the cpc.

And then over time the numbers deteriorate or drop off and my blue and green and yellow tape unravels and we're left with a black that is actually a neutral and not a line and a grey that is actually an earth but everyone is colour blind and foreign anyway so who cares lol !!!!!!

Thank god I was trained (know you were too mate and a lot higher than me)...........trust no-one elses work.
Don't believe what you see.
Don't believe what anyone tells you.
Don't trust your test meters..............after doing all the relevant dead tests....................short everything to earth with your screwdriver or insulated spanner (turning your head away first) just to make sure their is no 'charge' there before touching it :)
 
anyways , wrapping this subject up before bedtime , changing UK wiring colours has been the worst change in the electrical industry for many a year in my opinion

just wish the euro would now crash & burn lol.
 
And then over time the numbers deteriorate or drop off and my blue and green and yellow tape unravels and we're left with a black that is actually a neutral and not a line and a grey that is actually an earth but everyone is colour blind and foreign anyway so who cares lol !!!!!!

Thank god I was trained (know you were too mate and a lot higher than me)...........trust no-one elses work.
Don't believe what you see.
Don't believe what anyone tells you.
Don't trust your test meters..............after doing all the relevant dead tests....................short everything to earth with your screwdriver or insulated spanner (turning your head away first) just to make sure their is no 'charge' there before touching it :)

Al, as I said earlier today...'Don't believe anything you read' !!! :smilielol5:
 
however , the problem is this......
the job im on now , ive connected new submains to main panel using black as earth.
another contractor has added cables using black as neutral.
it just doesnt look right , a bit hodge bodge.
surely after 7 years there needs to be an accepted understanding even if nothing official is written.
another pain in the --- is the fact that most 3 core cable is sold as Br/Bk/Gr which doesnt work out as clearly as Br/Bl/GY for single phase.

Totally agree mate....................there should be no 'grey' areas so to speak.lol
But as you say when I'm terminating an swa and I have a black and a grey left over then it's a no brainer to me the black is gonna be the neutral and sleeved blue.
 

Reply to 3 phase colours in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock