Re: Red, Green, Black, and White Wires

Don Bowey wrote:
On 2/19/08 12:08 PM, in article
RDGuj.104656$L%6.25836@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "jakdedert"
<jakdedert@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Don Bowey wrote:
On 2/19/08 6:03 AM, in article s9olr3hvd5l0o66rlhqqpfbm9nf539a6qc@xxxxxxx,
"PeterD" <peter2@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 19 Feb 2008 08:22:42 -0500, Sam Goldwasser
<sam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If all you have in the conduit is white, green, and bare copper, then
that is your only choice but that green wire has to be unambiguously
labeled as Hot by painting the insulation near the ends black.
And, it had better be the proper gauge.
Never, ever, use green for anything other than ground. Period. Say
some idiot comes along in the future and gets killed because you used
green for hot--you're on the hook for that one. Say the building
inspector sees it? Use the wires the way they are intended to be
used...


While you offer some good cautious advice, we do have a NEC case where a
white wire can be designated as a hot wire by taping the ends black or red.

IMO, if the green wire is *verified* at the breaker to be a hot lead AND the
gauge and insulation types are valid, then I don't see a problem with
color-taping *BOTH* ends black or red and using it as a hot wire.


I guess I'm a little more cautious in my old age. I could 'maybe' get
behind color-taping a wire with red tape. While probably legal, I'm
dead-set against doing it with black. Trouble is, IMM, that black tape
is so common that it could easily be overlooked or discounted at a
casual glance. Red is a little different in that--being red--it might
inspire at least caution, if not a full-stop and verification before
going further.

I've done it with Cam-loc (Cleco) connectors, but in those situations,
the entire connector was covered with the correct color tape; and *all*
of the conductors were black anyway.

In any case, since the OP stated all the wires go through a conduit, I
think I'd just replace the offending wire to code.

jak

Both red and black should raise one's awareness while working around hot, or
even questionable, services.

Thinking more on this though, I don't recall ever seeing green "power" wire.
I wonder if the wire in the conduit is appliance wire (rubber outer cover
with white, black, red, green stranded wires). If so, without checking the
NEC, I don't think this wire correct at all for how it's being used.

He's already stated his error in the colors. The conductors pulled were correct; white/black/green. I imagine all else is kosher as well. I don't know who pulled the wires, or why they weren't hooked up at the time.

My reservation about color-taping was not directed at professionals, but at the odd homeowner 15 or 20 years down the line. The practice is apparently more common than I imagined, and--red or black--would flag itself to a pro.

jak
.

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