480sparky

All too often, when I order THHN from the supply house, the color I get can sometimes be confused with another color.

For instance, I order red, and I get anywhere from ‘scarlet’ to ‘cherry’ to ‘salmon’ to ‘rose’. Since there’s no standard in existence, if I were to order, say pink, I usually end up with what looks like red.

The problem then becomes, at what point does what the manufacturer labels as ‘red’ no longer be considered red, but instead looks more like orange or brown?

Let’s say this is the ‘red’ you are used to:


Now, if you order sever rolls of red, and get the following from different manufacturers or separate runs, you get the following on the truck:

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Bob Badger

Heck, they can't even get plates and devices to match and I think it was you that pointed out there is a standard in place for those.

480sparky

True, but if it was a production error, you really can't police every flunkie they have on the line from falling asleep.

I just finished a small commercial job where there was a lively discussion about the color of a roll of wire on the job. The end of the spool had snapped off, so the label was missing. Half the guys claimed it was red, the other half swore it was orange.

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Speedy Petey

For as often as I would use pink I really don't care. Red is red.

To be totally honest I like it when colors are a bit different. If I am pulling in several of one color they can be identified much quicker than looking for a label. One circuit might be royal blue and the other light blue. One might be pink and the other dark red.

I just really hate it when one wire is black and another is dark black.

480sparky

Yea, that's the flip side to this.

I've run across batches of THHN where the factory marking is so slobbered up you'd think it had a tracer on it instead of being the gobbleygook that's supposed to be printed (and capable of being read!) on it.

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Kevin J

Yeah, I recently ran into this in a dental office that I wired. The plans specified red and pink to a couple of circuits for some reason and some of them were in the same conduit. I had to order the wire from two supply houses, and when it came, some of the reds looked pink, and some of the pinks looked red. Drove me crazy!!!

TOOL_5150

Red seems to be the one that has the most difference in color, blue, orange, yellow and brown seem to be pretty much the same tone every time I order a new roll.

Sometimes a roll of green [sim-pull] seems to almost be neon.


~Matt

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brian john

Gawd I have never noticed.

Now cheap making tape, orange looks brown on a black conductor.

goose134

It's funny this came up. Last job we had ordered 2500 foot spools of green. They came out soooo different. One was like the cartoon hulk green and the other was damn near black. In some of the poorly lit rooms, we had to do few double takes to make sure we were splicing the right ones together...

Some of the variety does make you wonder though. I'd say yes, but voluntarily.

Speedy Petey

THAT is when it is a problem. I have used that green and it SUCKS!

Rockyd

I chose the second because I've never seen anything that was mandated by the gov, to be worth a $hit.

As Hockeyologist points out the Thomas Jefferson quote-

"When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny"- Thomas Jefferson

If our leaders (ahem) today could have the wisdom of two centuries ago, we wouldn't be in this financial mess. Who ever heard of spending your way out of debt....somebody take our country's shovel away, I just met a guy digging a hole from his country....and he speaks Chinese

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MDShunk

Sometimes having the different shades is useful. If you've got multiple circuits in the same pipe, tray, or cabinet, there may be several "red phase" or "blue phase" conductors, but for different circuits. The darker might be ckts 3 & 5, and the lighter for ckts 9 & 11, for instance. It does get a little messed up in dimly lit rooms, which is often the case until the electrical work is done. I've had the displeasure of using the dark olive green conductors, and it does make you strain to be sure you're not getting black and green mixed up. Another reason why good eyesight and the ability to distinguish colors well is important to an electrician.

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Peter D

Originally I had replied "who cares" to the poll, but I recant.

There should be at least some standard for green, which does have some of the widest variation.

Peter D

I'm 99% sure that is done intentionally and I'm also 99% sure Southwire uses that as a selling point.

MDShunk

That's kinda handy though, too. Since green/yellow stripe isn't always available quickly, regular green and olive green can be good to use for IG circuits in pipe when you're pulling copper for both ground paths.

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Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
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Mr. Sparkle

I was on a job last year where the blue was about 1 shade away from black, the electrical room was poorly lit, and one of the guys before me either cut off or did not tag the wires properly.

It was a PITA to sort out.

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brian john

On complicated or difficult projects I always tell my guys, if it was easy they would have hired the (stick any name here you want) Competition, handyman, snake electric.

walkerj

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MDShunk

I usually say that if it was easy, women and little kids would do it. Have to be careful now. I have a woman spark.

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One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

Peter D

You always like to throw in a teaser, don't you? You have a woman electrician working for you? If so, is she somewhat attractive and single?