Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!hwcs!adrian From: adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) Newsgroups: sci.electronics Subject: Re: RMS versus pk-pk (was Re: polarity) Message-ID: <2953@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk> Date: 13 May 91 10:23:14 GMT References: <12900002@hpavla.avo.hp.com> <2399@cluster.cs.su.oz.au> <1991May10.202150.6785@rand.org> Sender: news@cs.hw.ac.uk Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland Lines: 67 In article <1991May10.202150.6785@rand.org> edhall@rand.org (Ed Hall) writes: >In article <2399@cluster.cs.su.oz.au> rex@cluster.cs.su.oz (Rex Di Bona) writes: >>The three wires in an AC General Purpose Outlet (those wall sockets) >>are the active (red or brown), neutral (light blue or black), and >>earth (green/yellow). > >Careful! Although the ground wire is generally green in the US, the hot >wire is frequently black, *not* the neutral, which is generally white. >Needless to say, what is standard in Australia (or the US) may not be >elsewhere. I seem to be suffering from deja vu. Wasn't this discussed a little while ago? Here's the table I was given by our safety office: 2 wire 3 wire Live Neutral | Live Neutral Earth -----------------------------------+------------------------------------- U.K. (new) Brown Blue | Brown Blue Green and Yellow | U.K. (old) Red Black | Red Black Green | Denmark Black* Blue | Brown/ Blue Green and Yellow | Black Finland Black/ Blue | Brown Blue Green and Yellow | Greece Any Grey | Any Grey Yellow except | except Grey, | Grey, Yellow, | Yellow, or Blue | or Blue | Japan Black White | Black White Red | Poland Black* Blue | Black Blue Green and Yellow | Switzerland Any Any | Brown Blue Green and Yellow except except | Yellow Yellow | or Blue or Red | | U.S.A. and Black* White | Black White Green or Canada or Grey | or Grey Green and Yellow *Black for live in 2-core cords is now being replaced by Brown. My notes: 1. If you see green, yellow or a combination thereof, it's almost certainly earth. 2. If you see blue, it's almost certainly neutral. 3. If you see brown, it's almost certainly live. 4. What the black wire does, depends on what other colours are present. If there's a white or grey wire present, then black is live, and white is neutral. If there are two wires (black and red) or three wires (black, red and green) then black is neutral. If there are three wires (black, red and white) then black is live, white is neutral and red is earth! 5. The jokers in the pack are Japan (red earth), and Greece and Switzerland. I've also seen a Chinese cooker with two white wires. China isn't included in the above list, because it isn't in the list in my booklet. Presumably the Chinese use electrical devices as a form of population control - the cooker in question, a small portable one, had a metal frame and no earth connection. "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott Adrian Hurt | JANET: adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk