Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!usc!samsung!rex!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!sun13!murray From: murray@sun13.scri.fsu.edu (John Murray) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Re: ANOTHER house wiring question (this one's basic) Message-ID: <1919@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> Date: 15 Jan 91 21:49:50 GMT References: <1948@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> <5884@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> <1991Jan15.142034.5801@mlb.semi.harris.com> Organization: SCRI, Florida State University Lines: 30 In article <1991Jan15.142034.5801@mlb.semi.harris.com> jws@cica4.mlb.semi.harris.com (James W. Swonger) writes: >In article <5884@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> bender@oobleck.Eng.Sun.COM (Michael Bender) writes: >> >>anyone know why they choose BLACK for the hot wire and WHITE for >>neutral? I always associated black wires with ground. >> > I think it was done that way because the average schmoe associates >black with death, i.e. "don't touch that one, dummy" US Three-phase color coding: GReen=GRound White=Neutral (white is sorta a neutral color, I guess..) Black=Phase 1 Red=Phase 2 Blue=Phase 3 Working with 50, 100,...,1200 amp AC three-phase services, I have seen these colors used a whole lot. I have also seen black=ground, red=hot... in low-voltage DC electronics. They're pretty much different critters, so the color confusion doesn't bother me much. Kinda hard to confuse black 0000 gauge with black 24 gauge wire :-) Anyway, this is where the green(or bare)=ground, white=neutral, black=hot color scheme for three wire AC cables comes from. -- Disclaimer: Yeah, right, like you really believe I run this place. John R. Murray | "Never code anything murray@vsjrm.scri.fsu.edu | bigger than your head.." Supercomputer Research Inst.| - Me