diy solar

diy solar

How good of an electrician are you?

Tecnodave

Solar Addict
Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Messages
1,119
Electrical I.Q. Test.....

1: Name the three colors of wires DECLARED in the NEC....this is valid in the US only
This answer will be in the NEC format......i.e. this color wire is for this purpose !
its not what you think, 90% of newby electricians get it wrong on the electrician’s exam


This is a different question.......What is the voltages and phasing in these main boxes?


2: There are 4 wires in the box, the colors are black, red, white, green.......ok i threw you an easy one

3: There are 5 wires in the box, the colors are black, red, blue, white, green........getting tougher

4: There are 5 wires in the box, the colors are black, red, orange, white, green.........tougher still

5: There are 5 wires in the box, the colors are tan, brown, orange, white, green......gonna weed out a bunch.

IF you really work in the field you should know this.....
 
I am an Electronic Engineer so I find the Electrical color coding a bit confusing but as far as I know it goes something like this.

Black and Red plus Orange are hot wires with Black being primary Red being Secondary and Orange being a bypass hot wire for when a switch is off, like powering down a device but keeping the fan still running.
White and Tan are Neutral Wires
Green is ground
Blue and Brown are usually some kind of pass through hot wire interlinking switches in multiple locations.

That is pretty much how I remember it but I am not an Electrical Engineer.
 
I am an Electronic Engineer so I find the Electrical color coding a bit confusing but as far as I know it goes something like this.

Black and Red plus Orange are hot wires with Black being primary Red being Secondary and Orange being a bypass hot wire for when a switch is off, like powering down a device but keeping the fan still running.
White and Tan are Neutral Wires
Green is ground
Blue and Brown are usually some kind of pass through hot wire interlinking switches in multiple locations.

That is pretty much how I remember it but I am not an Electrical Engineer.
Not even close.......all 5 wires are part of a power feed.........from the power company. The load wires are not considered here.....the key is the phasing of the wires....
 
Hint, Hint, once you figure out the three colors that are declared in the NEC the other questions will fall in line
 
1. Ungrounded conductor, grounded conductor, and grounding conductor?
2.120/240 split phase L1, L2, N, Grounding…
3.120/208 3phase L1,L2,L3,N,Ground
4. 120/277/208or240 depending on circumstance, stinger hot orange feed… otherwise same as 2.
5. 277/480 3Phase L1,L2,L3, N, Ground…
 
There are a LOT of feeder delta,wye etc combinations… the industrial feeder supply combos are tricky sometimes…
 
Answer 1 is way off base, but when you figure that one out the others will line up
 
Yeah, I’m not sure what you are referring to with question one. I deal with a ton of feeder colors supplied by the power company. Orange is a tricky one, as it get used with multiple voltages and phases, residential vs. commercial/industrial.
most likely you don’t like my response with question 4. Since it includes red and black, the orange is a 3Phase hot wye feeder usually, but I have seen it on 208, as well.
 
Yeah, I’m not sure what you are referring to with question one. I deal with a ton of feeder colors supplied by the power company. Orange is a tricky one, as it get used with multiple voltages and phases, residential vs. commercial/industrial.
most likely you don’t like my response with question 4. Since it includes red and black, the orange is a 3Phase hot wye feeder usually, but I have seen it on 208, as well.
once you can answer question 1 you will see why question 4 is wrong and a lot of electricians will get it wrong

yes orange is the tricky one but there are three colors that mean this color wire can not be used for anything else
 
This is the correct answer to question #1 amazingly most electricians and building inspectors cannot answer this one.


OK.....in the NEC

white is always neutral
green is always ground
orange is always “non standard voltage” i.e. “the stinger leg”

standard voltages are 120, 208, 240, & 480
 
Yup, so, it can be several things, but in a blk/red/org combo, it is usually, 120/240 wye combo split phase, and 3Phase… usually, BK L1, RD L2, OR is high leg, 3rd phase… which would be 277 to N IT GETS COMPLICATED AND THE PANEL WILL HAVE 2 phases that get 120V to N, but the OR will be 277 … always be wary when there is an orange in the bundle…
 
I have even seen where Or has no connection to N… and sometimes it is 480… like I said, complicated.
 
Back
Top