Discuss Permanent/Unswitched live colour in the Commercial Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

Which colour do you use for the permanent/unswitched live?

  • Brown

    Votes: 127 72.2%
  • Black

    Votes: 49 27.8%

  • Total voters
    176
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I personally favour Brown for perm and sleeve the black. Makes more sense to me to sleeve the black as it’s a switch wire. I know others I work with prefer black. End of the day if there’s an existing circuit you use the same system to save confusion.
 
Due to there being so many different wiring systems, there is no standard method.
Some systems use a perm and a switched feed, some just use a perm feed and switching is controlled by a Dali type ELV circuit.
 
I’ve always done black as permanent live as that’s what I was shown. Plus, as said previously, Klik roses are black as permanent, brown as switched, so it seems logical to be the same. Can’t bring this up too much though, or there will be a reg about it soon!
 
Red......yellow.....blue..

Brown.....black.....grey.

Brown/red - perm live.

Black/yellow - switched/em live (tagged near connections with brown tape or sleeving)!

Grey/blue - earth.................

:fearscream:

Joking pete999.....

Blue/grey - neutral.



That's how I do it and it seems logical to me.
 
Red......yellow.....blue..

Brown.....black.....grey.

Brown/red - perm live.

Black/yellow - switched/em live (tagged near connections with brown tape or sleeving)!

Grey/blue - earth.................

:fearscream:

Joking pete999.....

Blue/grey - neutral.



That's how I do it and it seems logical to me.

Then you end up with the lights wired in 3 core with yellow switched lives and the lights wired in 2 core having red switched lives. Overall it is easier to follow if all lights have a red switched live and just the few emergency fittings have the yellow auxiliary live.
 
Coz I've seen them untagged with connections that include both colours old and young and you still get 'diy'ers or 'handymen' trying to replace bulkheads you know. So just like a switched live a black core used as an emergency live should be marked with sleeving to identify a live rather than neutral cable.
Didn't think I'd have to explain that though.
 
ive always used black as perm live on em circuits as at the db when I have 200 circuits ready for a big day of terminating the set thats black I instantly know theyre going in the relays and can easily part the bunches so as not to get them mixed up
 
Klik roses and most pre made lighting systems come as switched brown and unswitched/permanent live is blackZ so that’s what I do
So Klik decide, then. Fair enough.
Must have spent twenty odd years messing with lighting circuits when the only click involved was knocking the switch on and off.
 
Zdb - I don't believe that the poll is unbiased because the % of votes for brown and black are presented throughout the polling and not revealed only at the end of the polling period. Or in other words, seeing the results so far may influence how some folk vote, or the possibility of this influence cannot be discounted. Just saying.
 

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