Colour Types of Electrical Wiring in Australia

You may have encountered a rainbow-coloured jumble of electric wires. According to purpose, electrical wires are colour-coded. Make sure you are using them safely and appropriately.  Know the function of each wire which is very important and understand the electrical wire colour coding system. To make repairs on your electrical system, the colour code of the wire helps and guides you. Here in Australia, most homes are wires with 120/240V electrical service, though electrical voltage and wiring vary around the world. For convenience and safety, the home wire colour code was created.

To identify wires and work with them without risks, it allows electrical wires. Caution is advised in older homes as the electrical wire colours may be outdated or the colour might have faded over time. Therefore, the demand for the installation of the electrical wiring in buildings is getting tougher all the time as the technology itself advances.  To identify their purpose, electrical wires are coloured. The colour determines how it should be treated and what the wire does for the house & appliance.

 

Here is a quick guide to electrical wire colour coding. Listed below are the most common wires:

• Black wires:

Wires with a black insulation coating are always used as underground conductors or hot wires. For ground or neutral connection, black wires should never be used. They often run between an electrical load and a switch. The black wire can be attached to another black wire. If you need to install the wires, you must not handle these, until a licensed electrician Wollongong has completed the task.

• Red wires:

Red wires are versatile. They can be used as ungrounded conductors like black wires. In a circuit that requires an interconnection, such as a smoke detector, this is commonly used as the second wire in a 220-volt installation. It is usually the secondary live wires in circuits.

• Yellow and blue wires:

To differentiate the destinations and paths of different wires in the same box, yellow and blue, and other coloured wires are used. You might find them on lights or fans, where they can assist a multi-way switch. Though this appears complicated, the electricians have simplified things for you by using simple electrical wiring diagrams.

• White wire:

White wires are used as neutral wires or grounded conductors. Only white wires should be used as grounded conductors in mall residential circuits, though other wire colours such as grey and green can be used for outdoor or commercial wiring. These are almost always neutral. They can only be linked to other grey and white wires. White is much more frequent than grey.

• Bare copper and green wires:

Non-insulated bare copper wires and wires with green insulation coating are used exclusively as grounding conductors. These are known as grounding conductors. However, power is re-directed through the underground wiring, if there is a fault that could potentially cause a fire or damage appliances. As a safety precaution, these wires are connected to electrical boxes and switches. To direct currents into the ground when necessary and for the utmost safety, they are used. It is the earthing or grounding wires in the circuit. The green wire can be joined to another green wire only. The ground wire is used for geysers, ACs and other heavy load applications.

Bottom Line:

One should take into account the colour coding of the wires before handling them. It is best to ask a professional first before taking a hands-on approach as the colour coding is different in each country.