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- briansueExplorerAl will get you killed!
http://inspectapedia.com/electric/Wiring_Colours.php
Guide to Building Electrical Wiring Color Codes
Building Electrical Wiring Color Codes & Conventions for 120V or 240V A/C Circuits
New NMB 14-3 wiring color coces explained (C) Daniel Friedman This new type NM-B 14-3 electrical wire has color coded conductors that are easy to spot and understand:
Black - use for line voltage or "hot" wire
Red - a second line voltage or "hot" wire
White - neutral
Bare - protective ground
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/identifying-house-electric-wiring-colors
The quickest way to identify house electrical wiring is by its color. Depending on where a wire ultimately gets installed, you cannot always rely on the markings printed on the insulation coating, nor will you always be able to read them legibly.
The helpful reality is that you really have only three types of wire to identify: hot, neutral, and ground.
A number of different colors may be used for the hot wire in various types of switch wiring, while neutral and ground wires should always be the same. If you are engaging in any home wiring, proper identification of wires is imperative so that you end up making the right connections.
Before you begin a wiring project, make sure you understand the basics of wiring and the color arrangement of the circuit. With the power turned off, there is no danger of electrocution, but you could still make a wrong connection somewhere and end up with an incomplete circuit.
DISCLAIMER: Before you being work on the wiring of an outlet, light fixture, fan, or any appliance, always turn the individual circuit off at the main panel. This will cut power to that particular circuit and prevent electric shock.
Standard Colors Used for Home Wiring
What follows here is the standard coloring for wires throughout a home. The gauge or size of the wire may change depending on the current flowing through the circuit, but the color is a consistent feature.
Black
The wire that carries the current from the power source to the outlet or receptacle is the hot wire. Whenever you see a black wire, you know it is hot. There are other wires that carry current in more complicated circuits, but black are always hot.
Think about most wires and cables that you don't see as part of your home's wiring. Your television, your laptop cord. All of these are hot, as they actively carry the power that keeps your devices running, and they are almost exclusively black.
White
To complete the circuit, the current must return to the power source. It does this through the neutral wire, which is ALWAYS white.
In some instances a white wire may be marked with a piece of black electrical tape at its ends. A white wire that has been marked with black means it's acting as a hot wire and is no longer neutral.
Green or Bare
When you see either a green wire or a bare copper wire, you can be sure it is a ground wire. A ground wire is used as a protective measure. Ground wires return fault current to earth ground, protecting the individual from electrocution.
Red
Red wires are commonly found in sheathed, multi-conductor cable. These are typically used for switch wiring. Since red wires still conduct current, they are considered hot. - GrenadiersExplorerThe reason we're black neutral, is that my neighbor Al at first did wire the whites to neutral, and he was getting shocked when he touched the side of his couch. So I get it, white is normally neutral. I used a polarity plug and tested quite a few of our indoor receptacles, and all were good. And, I used his plug-in voltage tester, and watched the voltage change from 109 to 125, as I turned on appliances, the a/c, etc. I think we're good. Here.
- Wm_ElliotExplorerdelete
- TequilaExplorerIf you odnt need air, there is one for 1350 pesos at home depot that is 15 amp and will handle microwaves, TV's etc can at least let you have power
- briansueExplorer
Roca Azul has wiring problems in the park.
I was at Roca Azul last winter when the electrical problems presented. A caravan from Quebec arrived with 22 large newer motorhomes. Probably too many of them were running too many things - air conditioners etc. The main entrance panel on the main power pole basically exploded - up in flames - flames shooting out - fire trucks arrived - not uncommon for RV parks in Mexico - this is my second experience with this. So they had to replace almost everything on the main pole - the meter melted - wires up to the power lines burned up etc. I forget exactly the numbers now but I believe there were 3 - 75 amp breakers in the box - 3 legs of power from the main power lines above (transformer) - I would guess 3 phase transformer. Anyway - they just put in new parts and instead of the 3 - 75 amp breakers they put in 3 - 200 amp breakers. The problem is the wires in the ground going from there to the different areas of the RV park are not large enough to carry that kind of amperage. So now the wires underground in the park are the weakest link and not the breaker so nothing is really protecting those wires. If a big caravan of big rigs comes in again and heats things up enough the wires underground will be burning up instead of the breaker box. This should not hurt you but could be very costly for the owners of the park as all new wiring might be necessary.
As far as polarity at Roca - as far as I know it is totally fine - never tested an outlet there that was not correct. We have stayed there quite a few times in several different spaces and I have tested all the spaces we have used and they were all wired properly.
Again - I have no idea what you mean about how you wired your ISB. But you said you wired BLACK to NEUTRAL and BLACK coming from a properly wired outlet is going to be HOT. NEUTRAL means pretty much what it says - no power on that wire - NEUTRAL. HOT should never go to NEUTRAL. I do not know for sure what you have done to test inside your RV or what you mean by that. But if you have wired BLACK to NEUTRAL you are not properly wired and could have serious problems. If you do not know for sure do not guess. Get someone who really knows to check. Do not guess that the plug in at the outlet is right or wrong - test it - check it - to know for sure. That is where any rewiring should be done - the park outlet needs to be wired properly - and never a need to be rewiring your ISB. I can only go by what you have written here and if you wired BLACK to NEUTRAL you have done it incorrectly. Perhaps you have used to wrong terminology or are not really sure. Please do not guess about this. Never ever guess about electricity if you want to live a long and happy life. If anyone is telling you it is OK to wire BLACK to NEUTRAL they do not know what they are talking about and are going to get you killed. - GrenadiersExplorerI contacted via PM, Peter, and he mentioned that Roca Azul has wiring problems in the park. Hence, a few of us have used black as our neutral. I checked my polarity inside the coach, and it is correct. So, in other parks in Mexico, probably a good idea to check polarity on the incoming lines before connecting the 30amp setup. I can change out my ISB Basic 4000 in a few minutes to accommodate the next RV park if needed.
- Talleyho69ModeratorWe went with the unit for 30 amps because of the weight factor. We did not hard wire ours in, but have it as a separate unit that we don't necessarily use in the US.
The unit we have weighs about 25 pounds. The 50 amp unit weighs over 50 pounds-a lot to pull out of a bay and move around safely. - briansueExplorer
I am not entirely clear on what you are saying here. In US household wiring BLACK or RED is always your HOT wire - WHITE is always your NEUTRAL - GREEN or BARE wire is always GROUND. ALWAYS.
Wiring (and everything else electrical or electronic) is color coded so you can know what you are dealing with by looking.
In things like a car you have your RED and BLACK - with RED being (+) and BLACK being (-).
In normal wiring of almost any building or AC electricity WHITE is always NEUTRAL.
In residential wiring you generally see only 4 colors (commercial wiring can have many colors).
BLACK and RED will be hot - this is the incoming power.
WHITE is always NEUTRAL meaning it does not have power until you turn on an appliance - there is not supposed to be any juice on a WHITE wire. This is what is called NEUTRAL or COMMON.
GREEN goes to GROUND - which is for safety with the idea that if something goes wrong the juice will go to GROUND instead of through your body. The shortest distance to GROUND is the route of least resistance - a GROUND wire should have no resistance so power will take that route instead of through you because your body does have resistance.
Each hot circuit is divided up by circuit breakers which protect each circuit should something go wrong. All wires to and from a breaker in a residential situation should be BLACK or RED.
WHITE being NEUTRAL or COMMON means all white wires are connected to each other on a bus bar - so they are all COMMON to each other and not separated from each other by a breaker as a hot circuit would be.
Power comes in through the HOT wires - BLACK or RED - goes through an appliance or light bulb or TV or whatever and goes out through the NEUTRAL or COMMON which takes it to GROUND. This is basically how AC electricity works - different than DC.
So if you connect a BLACK or RED wire to a WHITE wire somewhere/anywhere in a system you now feed juice to the entire system through the COMMON bus or the NEUTRAL leg. This can make the entire system hot with no protection from circuit breakers. This is called REVERSE POLARITY and we see it often in Mexico because many non-electricians do the wiring and don't know not to connect WHITE and BLACK wires.
I do not know how ISB has the inside of their unit color coded as I have not looked inside mine for quite awhile. But I would guess they use the same wiring we do here in the US - and much of the rest of the world. So when you say you connected BLACK wires to NEUTRAL I have concerns that something could be wrong. I cannot see exactly what you did or why. I cannot see inside your ISB unit. But hopefully my attempt at explaining above will clarify what I am trying to explain and you will be able to look at your unit and know if you have done everything correctly.
Everyone traveling by RV in Mexico should have at the very least a basic polarity tester which will tell you if outlets are wired properly with no hot on the COMMON or NEUTRAL. Most electric plugs and outlets in the US today have 3 lugs - blades - whatever you want to call them - a hot - a common - a ground. HOT is always the thinnest blade - COMMON should be a larger blade with a corresponding larger slot in the outlet - GROUND is always round and forms a sort of triangle with the other two. If you only have two blades on a plug then one of them should be larger than the other so you can only plug it in one way. Not every device needs to be plug to correct polarity but most do - hence the difference in the blades to keep you from plugging something in and having the wrong polarity going to the device - say a power drill. This is why we have colored wires and why they are all very specific as to what they are supposed to do within any circuit.
Consider - you have power going to a WHITE wire anywhere in a circuit. Since WHITE is COMMON on the bus bar you now have power going in reverse to every outlet or wired device throughout your house or RV. This is what is called REVERSE POLARITY.
I hope that clears at least some of it up. Even if you do not understand why please understand that the colors are there for a very specific reason and proper wiring is crucial. Also always carry a polarity tester with you and check every and any outlet you might plug into in order to ensure it is wired correctly and you do not put hot circuits on your common in your rig. Polarity testers can be had for less than $10 at just about any hardware store or even maybe Walmart.
Maybe someone else can explain this better than I can. This is why they say to always get an electrician if you do not know. Many people think they know but we continue to see reverse polarity all over the place - even in the US. This can give your RV what is known as a "Hot Skin" meaning your entire rig has power running through it. Touch the wrong thing and the wrong time and you will get zapped. - moishehExplorerIt is not unusual in Mexico to find wiring with only one color: BLACK. But that device would be built to a stanadard. Probably NOM. This company is no fly by night operation. It is first class and has been in business for 60 years. I do not know why they do not market products in Canada and the USA.
Moisheh - GrenadiersExplorerChecked polarity on the inside of the coach, it's spot on.
I am not entirely clear on what you are saying here. In US household wiring BLACK or RED is always your HOT wire - WHITE is always your NEUTRAL - GREEN or BARE wire is always GROUND. ALWAYS.
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