Wire colors - simple they said

[NealC]

Okay, we grew up learning red is positive black is negative, are you with me?

Then comes the RV, red is positive WHITE is negative. Okay, I can handle this.

Then comes solar for the RV and black is positive and white is negative. Wait, what????

Then comes new solar wire to add two more panels, this time it's red and black. So which is positive and which is negative? And try to wire that into a system where black is positive and white is negative.

Then comes along sanicon, black is positive, black is negative which is connected to a blue and white wire coming out of the pump. Waaaaaaaaat? Who on earth would have TWO BLACK wires where one is positive and one is negative? But it's okay, the black negative is 10 awg so you can identify it. Come on!

Okay, then I get Drainmaster electric gate valves and GREEN is negative and black is positive. Whaaaaaaaaaaattttt!!!!!

And now let's wire up a relay where we have poles labeled 85, 86, 87 and 30 and maybe throw in a 87a while you're at it???

All I can say is thank whoever for making my shoe laces single color or I'd never be able to walk. And yes, my latest struggle is which damn way is loosen vs. tighten when I'm not UNDER the screw being loosened and tightened! At what age did this start?

[jacwjames]

Look on the bright side,


At least you are not color blind

[jacwjames]

And apparently smart enough to figure this crap out.

[TJ]

Neal:

We now live in "the age of confusion." That includes...but is not limited to...electrical wiring.

Since we deal with a lot of 12VDC wiring in our coaches, here's part of the answer. In an "ungrounded" circuit (for example, where both leads are connected directly to a battery), the electrical standard is that RED is positive and BLACK is negative. Now, when we get to a "distributed" or "grounded" 12VDC circuit (negative battery terminal connected to ground), the standard is that BLACK is positive and WHITE is ground/negative. This assumes, of course that we are dealing with the standard negative-ground system.

When we move to single-phase 120VAC circuits, we have three legs to deal with; line, neutral and ground. And, while neutral and ground are commonly found to be at the same voltage potential, they are not "the same" and should not be mixed. The color code for single-phase 120VAC circuits is LINE = BLACK, NEUTRAL = WHITE and GROUND = GREEN/YELLOW STRIPE.

Sometimes, overseas manufacturers get confused and use 120 VAC wire colors on 12 VDC products. That's when the fun begins.

TJ

[Buly]

I always check the polarity with multimeter and make sure which one is positive. Trust but verify [emoji23]

[cavie]

Makes perfect sense to me. Don't forget the cord sets with writing or ribs on one side and smooth covering on the others side. Do you know which side is neutral?

[twinboat]

Some DC motors are not polarity specific and will have only black wires. Reverse the wires and it turns the opposite direction.

[Soppy]

I purchased a LED floodlight (120v) that has blue , brown and yellow wires. Just to add to the confusion.

[Stuart W]

In the movies they always cut the red wire to deactivate the bomb, Just Sayin!

[NealC]

Originally Posted by Stuart W

In the movies they always cut the red wire to deactivate the bomb, Just Sayin!

Shocked is a slow painful death. The other wire is instant. The red one has to hurt.

[BCam]

In my 2002, 35U, yellow seems to be the standard for DC positive, except for the cables at the batteries, misc items such as radios and, as I discovered, at the inverter where, if I remember correctly, green was actually positive. Fortunately the only casualty was a blown fuse in the inverter and the thermostat.

I confess that I do have a degree of red/green color blindness so I even took a photo so my wife could verify the odd color standard.

I'm a licensed ham radio operator who likes to tinker with electronics and around the house so I'm pretty familiar with both DC and AC circuitry. In any case, I now always use a multimeter before re-wiring anything, DC or AC.

If I install something new in my RV I try to always label the wires at both ends to ID the item and polarity as an aid to me and a future owner.

[FatChance]

So if you mistakenly switch the positive and negative wires to the sanicon, will it flush backwards into the toilet?

[waterman480]

and don't forget that some boat wiring is red = positive, yellow = ground. Low voltage electronics were any color hot or signal and black = ground. By the time you get done with all of this, you understand why some diy improvements in stix and brix homes are quite dangerous. It all depends on which system the diy'er learned on first.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by FatChance

So if you mistakenly switch the positive and negative wires to the sanicon, will it flush backwards into the toilet?

Yes it will. Someone recently swapped the masserator wires and it pressurised the space between it and the dump valve.