Electric wire colours for plugs

The fuse breaks the circuit if too much current flows. This should grip the cable itself, and not the individual wires inside it. You should know the colour coding for electrical wires and the function of each wire.

A mains electricity cable contains two or three inner wires. UK electrical wiring colours have changed in the past so it is essential you can tell difference between old wiring colours and new colours.

In this easy follow guide learn about the different types of electric cables and the new standard wiring colours and what each old black and red wire colour has now changed to.

Find out how to stay safe when using electricity in the different areas of your home, what the safety features of your electrical installation are and how they work.

Some old appliances may have the old Black, Red and Green cable colours in the flex. These old cable colours should be connected thus:. Insert the twisted copper wires into the holes in the pins. Make sure the electrical cord is firmly gripped by the arrestor clips.

The green and yellow wire must always be inserted . Electricity can be hugely dangerous and is not something to experiment with as you look . Diagrams showing old colour wiring for UK electric plugs. UK plugs use brown insulation for the live wire , blue insulation for the neutral wire and green with yellow stripes insulation for the earth wire. But why this particular combination of colours ? The answer is deceptively simple: there is no type of colour blindness that will result in these wires becoming confused . Step 2: Most plugs are supplied with instructions as to where to attach the respective wires.

If not, unscrew the outer screws of the plug and . Find out what the electrical wire color coding is when working on electrical projects. Wires are color-coded to avoid wiring errors that may lead to accidents and electrical inconvenience to househol the . Under the old system, red-green colour -blind people were unable to distinguish between the Live wire and the Earth wire. The colours were changed to avoid the potentially deadly . A common cause of electrical faults is an incorrectly wired plug.

If you are in any doubt at all about what you are doing, or your ability to do the work, you should refer any mains connection work to a . Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and installation. Allowable wire and cable types and sizes are specified according to the circuit operating voltage and . The one thing that you want to avoid is cutting into the cables inside the cord. The live wire ( brown ) has been nicked and is no longer safe.

If you are replacing the plug on an old appliance, the colours of the wires may be different. Australian 3-Pin Electrical Mains Plug . Standard wire colors are: Marking, Flex conductor colors , Building wire conductor colors .