Universal Color Codes for Wiring?

[jdduffield]

I’m wondering what the universal color codes are for wiring. Here is what I’ve been using, but wondering if that is confusing for anyone opening up my pedals later.

Red: Positive
Black: Negative or Ground
Green: Ground
Yellow: Input
Blue: Output
White: Jumpers

 

[FormulaFourteen]

Black for ground, red for power, anything else is the wild west.

Even then, I wouldn't trust any colour coding. Not worth the risk!

 

[jwin615]

Everything orange!
They're pedals, not rockets.
If someone's opening up the pedal to work on it and they can't figure out what the four wires inside are doing, they shouldn't be opening it up.

 

[Einzeln]

Power red and black ground.
Black between the board and breakout board Orange in out.

So the answer your question: No

 

[GAStan]

The first three, red, black and green, are commonly used in general electronics as you list.

I like that you distinguish between ground and negative, ground should never carry current.

 

[jdduffield]

The first three, red, black and green, are commonly used in general electronics as you list.

I like that you distinguish between ground and negative, ground should never carry current.

I wonder if keeping the two separate negates the need to make a clean power stage with a polarized cap. Like if current leaks into the main ground plate causing unwanted noises like pot scratching.

 

[KreoPensas]

Black for Neg, brown for earth is a very old paradigm but I wouldn't call *anything* universal. Having your own color coding is perfectly acceptable.

 

[jdduffield]

Having your own color coding is perfectly acceptable.

I had seen a YouTube video where someone had yellow as output and blue as input, which is opposite of what I’ve been doing. I was thinking maybe I was doing that backwards or something but seems the consensus is that it is just fine after all (to use whatever color I want for in and out).

 

[Robert]

but I wouldn't call *anything* universal.

Nope, for example, when it comes to electrical wiring the black wire is hot.

Had a guy standing on a ladder tell me the white wire "will never shock you" ... I guess he didn't consider that a previous electrician could have mixed them up.

 

[KreoPensas]

"will never shock you"

yeah? I say no fate but what you make

 

[Einzeln]

Nope, for example, when it comes to electrical wiring the black wire is hot.

Had a guy standing on a ladder tell me the white wire "will never shock you" ... I guess he didn't consider that a previous electrician could have mixed them up.

Haha. You kicked him of the ladder? Electrical wiring Netherlands: Brown is fase. (230v) Blue is zero. Black is switchwire, green/yellow earthwire.

 

[fontoponto]

+ red -black, the depends on the color of the pcb

 

[Robert]

Haha. You kicked him of the ladder?

He didn't fall but he learned a valuable lesson that day.

 

[derevaun]

I try to be consistent about having output be a "dirtier" color than input. White > Yellow, etc.

 

[JTEX]

FWIW, I use white for input (makes me think of innocent, celestial, bride, not f*cked with yet) and yellow for output (the idea being that it's more colored than the input). Red is always the positive rail and ground is black. If there's a negative rail, I'll pick a cold color like blue or purple.

 

[pricklyrobot]

Had a guy standing on a ladder tell me the white wire "will never shock you" ... I guess he didn't consider that a previous electrician could have mixed them up.

“Guy on a ladder” is the correct title for this character. No legit Electrician would say something this dumb.

Other than red and black for power, the only thing I consistently color code is offboard-wired pots. So I can easily visually distinguish lugs 1, 2, and 3 (generally do Brown Orange Yellow).

 

[Paradox916]

In aerospace ( at least everything I ever worked on ) all the wires are white (tefzel) with identifiers printed on them if it’s on the original type certificate, or done at a reputable repair station, in automotive and I think most consumers electronics color coding is specific to the make and model of the product, most might have a legend telling what is what, but the safest bet is to know exactly what you are dealing with and consult the schematic, you never know what someone else did.