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Can I use electrical tape to color code black cable?

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  • Can I use electrical tape to color code black cable?

    Id like to use the same 10awg black spool for my entire run hot/neutral/ground, does NEC allow color coding the wires in Jboxes and Combiner/Disconnect/Panel boxes with electrical tape? If yes, then how aggressive does it need to be? Just a mark or two or spend half a roll covering the entire thing?

    I am running AC current, and am in California in case it makes a difference.
    Last edited by Duxa; 01-23-2020, 09:51 PM.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Duxa View Post
    Id like to use the same 10awg black spool for my entire run hot/neutral/ground, does NEC allow color coding the wires in Jboxes and Combiner/Disconnect/Panel boxes with electrical tape? If yes, then how aggressive does it need to be? Just a mark or two or spend half a roll covering the entire thing?

    I am running AC current, and am in California in case it makes a difference.
    Colored tape to mark black wire is almost necessary on most jobs. Unless your AHJ has an issue it is the best way to identify a phase or neutral wire. But a ground wire should always have a green colored insulation in case the tape falls off.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by SunEagle View Post
      Colored tape to mark black wire is almost necessary on most jobs. Unless your AHJ has an issue it is the best way to identify a phase or neutral wire. But a ground wire should always have a green colored insulation in case the tape falls off.
      NEC 200.6(A) doesn't allow for tape to be used to identify a neutral that's 10AWG. That section says the conductor for the neutral which is under 6AWG should be one of:
      * white outer finish
      * grey outer finish
      * continous white stripes along entire length

      Now - the inspector might allow you to get away with white tape to show it is the neutral. But if he wants to be a stickler for the code, well it IS contrary to the NEC code. So he'd be in the right if he made you re-pull the wire.

      I'm assuming you're dealing with US 220V setup. For the hots you can have black and can (if you want) color code them with a bit of tape (ex. a circle of red tape on each end of one wire, a circle of blue tape on each end of another)


      BTW - the EGC (ground wire) needs to be green (or bare) per 250.119 and tape for 10AWG won't meet the requirements. (but again the inspector *might* let you get away with tape - I just would not count on it if it were me. 100' of green 10AWG is $26. And probably you need less than that. I'd just buy the correct colored wire .)

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      • #4
        Many retail suppliers (Lowes, HD, etc.) have smaller size rolls in all colors. It isn't much more expensive to buy that way and have a job that you're proud of.

        In addition to pride, the code makes these distinctions for specific safety reasons. It would be really bad if someone got hurt because they were confused by the color.
        7kW Roof PV, APsystems QS1 micros, Nissan Leaf EV

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        • #5
          The practice here is to use black, white or green tape as needed. Pull a little extra wire
          into the box, tape the entire exposed length, pull it back into conduit so the end of the
          tape is not exposed. My inspector had no problem, maybe he did not even notice?
          Your inspector and regs may be tougher, check it out.

          Beyond that I have marked DC pairs each with a color, and an additional red band to
          indicate the positive. Also wire markers are good, numbers are used here (I used to
          be in the phone bus). An on line bumper sticker was made up with lots of big
          numbers, cut up to apply each one. Bruce Roe

          CombAug18.JPG
          Last edited by bcroe; 01-24-2020, 01:51 PM.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by foo1bar View Post

            NEC 200.6(A) doesn't allow for tape to be used to identify a neutral that's 10AWG. That section says the conductor for the neutral which is under 6AWG should be one of:
            * white outer finish
            * grey outer finish
            * continous white stripes along entire length

            Now - the inspector might allow you to get away with white tape to show it is the neutral. But if he wants to be a stickler for the code, well it IS contrary to the NEC code. So he'd be in the right if he made you re-pull the wire.

            I'm assuming you're dealing with US 220V setup. For the hots you can have black and can (if you want) color code them with a bit of tape (ex. a circle of red tape on each end of one wire, a circle of blue tape on each end of another)


            BTW - the EGC (ground wire) needs to be green (or bare) per 250.119 and tape for 10AWG won't meet the requirements. (but again the inspector *might* let you get away with tape - I just would not count on it if it were me. 100' of green 10AWG is $26. And probably you need less than that. I'd just buy the correct colored wire .)
            You are correct. I was thinking the wire size was bigger than 10AWG so I am sorry for the misdirection concerning the neutral wire in my earlier post.

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