What the color of an electrical wire means black electrical wires. Knowing the purpose of each wire will keep you safe and your houses electrical system in top working order.
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Color Coding Electrical Wires And Terminal Screws
Light switch wire colors. Aside from using it for neutral connections red wires can be used in three way switch configurations. Copper and green wires. These wires usually come in pairs and pulled in conduits. Opening up an outlet or light switch box you might be confronted with a bewildering array of wires of different colors. What the individual electrical wire colors indicate green green with a yellow stripe and bare copper wires can only be used for grounding purposes. White and gray wires are normally used as neutral conductors.
White and gray electrical wires the colors white and gray indicate a neutral wire. Standard colors used for home wiring. Bare copper green wire this is your ground wire. Yellow wires are used as switch legs to ceiling fans structural lights and outlets paired with light switches while blue wires are usually used as travelers for three or four way switches. Blue wires are generally used in a three way and four way switch applications by travelers. White wire this is the neutral wire.
This color of wire is used to transfer power to switches and outlets in all types of circuits. All nm cables contain the basic black insulation and white insulation wires plus the bare copper or green insulated ground wire. In 220 volt circuits red wires are the secondary live wires. They are used as hot wires and control electrical items like lights switched outlets and fans. A ground wire can. A return wire which carries the load to the fixture and may be black red or any other color except green.
Black wire this is the hot or load wire. In a three wire cable there will also be an additional red insulated wire commonly used as the traveler in an application such as a two way switch. Basic knowledge of how to wire a light switch. The black wire from the new cable connects to the black hot wire in the fixture box and to one of the terminals on the single pole switch. A new cable with a black a white and a ground wire is run from the fixture box to a newly installed switch. Like black wires they can also be.
Yellow and blue wires. That means it connects to an electrical panels neutral bus bar. On the other hand yellow wires are used as switch legs. Black white bare copper and other colors closely intermingle yet each one has a specific purpose. An incoming hot wire which is black. The power is fed up to the light fixture so there is a hot neutral and ground wire already there.
Red wire this wire is used for 3 or 4 way switches and will connect the switches together so they can each control your lights. Two or three wires will be attached to the switch. And sometimes a grounding wire which is green or bare copper. Blue and yellow. The 2011 national electrical code required a neutral in. There may be other wires in the box but you are only dealing with the ones connected directly to the switch.
Gallery of Light Switch Wire Colors
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