Color coded wiring

[Wyowanderer]

I'm still in the process of rewiring the camper, and I'm wondering if there is a recognized color code for primary wire. I'm going to be running wires for the furnace, lighting, refrigerator, USB charge plugs and 12V cigar plugs.
I've also found some nice quality marine battery cable in 4 AWG, but it comes in red and yellow, rather than black-is yellow a marine designation for ground?

Thanks.

 

[Haf-E]

Red (DC+) and yellow (DC-) is a somewhat common marine color code. It helps to keep the DC- wires separate from the AC neutral (white) conductors. Black is AC hot and should not be used for the DC negative. Grounds are green but are only typically provided on AC circuits and loads.

I would use red and orange, blue or purple wires (if necessary) of the DC positives - and white or yellow for the DC negatives.

 

[4RunAmok]

You can order labeled wire here: http://www.wiring-kits.com/products pick the size wire, add your own labels.

There is no standard, perse, unless you're a shop, and do a lot of these things, then you build your own standard...

You might also check out patrol-power.com, I don't know if they'll sell to the general public or not, but they have universal fuse blocks with wires already attached.

 

[psykokid]

it also depends on what kind of cars you have been working on. I've got a lot of experience with german cars, brown is always ground (earth) red is constant +, black is switched +, and so on. Just come up with a system that easy to understand, and label things. Always helps to draw up a diagram beforehand as well, just to make sure you arent missing any connections..

 

[dwh]

The U.S. National Electrical code doesn't care about anything below 50v (due to solar, I think that will change some day). So when down in the "low-voltage" gutter you are on your own. There are some standards made up by and adhered to by various industry groups (such as the RV industry), but compliance is purely voluntary.

So yea, you have to just make up your own.

For automotive low-voltage, I float my personal boat by using red/black for "supply" wiring (to the fusebox) and NEC standard "color hot/white neutral-negative" for "load" wiring (from the fusebox). Basically, stuff tapped directly off a battery is red/black.

I'm not really concerned about getting confused between high-voltage AC and low-voltage DC - if I have to work on it, I'll figure it out as soon as I start jacking around with it anyway.

I'm a fan of the marine "yellow negative" scheme, but I'm also a fan of cheap wire so while I might buy marine grade components and devices, I generally won't spend money on marine grade wire unless there is a clear need for it.

 

[BC_Explorer]

The RV industry standard (assuming the manufacturer follows) is black for hot (power) and white for ground. Something to keep in mind if you ever using equipment such as lights that were meant for an RV.