Color codes

[bfuhrmann]

Any suggestions for standard wiring colors with stripes?
I want the items I work on to be easily identifyable in dim light.

Obviously some base/stripe combinations tend to be hard to see.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Dark stripe with light main color, light stripe with dark main colors. If the color of the light is limited to something other than non-white, you run into other identity issues.

 

[bfuhrmann]

Contrast was one of the first things on my list.

Also colors that can be confused (gray vs white or orange vs red stripe on dark wires) and just plain hard to see like red strip on blue wire.

Just was hoping that someone else had already done this to help spot differences and combinations that would make me say Duh! after seeing them.

 

[patprimmer]

If you watch football. Team colours generally have high contrast, so the various team colours might be a good starting point.

Regards
pat pprimmer@acay.com.au
eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[evelrod]

I have worked for so many years with the British color coding that I find I use it when I design any electrical system from scratch.
Perhaps there may be a better system---can't say.

Long live BMC , Leyland , Rover , errrrr, whatever!

Rod

 

[EngJW]

Is there any such thing as a standard color code, like red for positive and black for negative, that would apply to different sensors and actuators? I heard something once about a GM code for efi components.

 

[bfuhrmann]

Each automaker has their own standard for color codes. You can find color codes for some of the Brit cars on the web.

The code will cover just about everything. Left Speaker +, overhead lamp, etc.

With the number of wires in a car, that gets into some ugly (hard to see) combinations.

SAE has a few standards for things like trailer wiring for trucks.

 

[crysta1c1ear]

Further contrast could be made by having different threads on the helices of the colours, eg one cable being like slices, one like splines, and one like a screw thread.

You could check out colour blindness, to know which mixtures are likely to be difficult for some people to differentiate. There are for example two different sorts of red detector in the eyes, carried on the X chromosones, so men (X-Y) see reds in one of two different distinct shades [Men colour matching mixtures with pure colours fall into two categories], whereas some women (X-X) have superior colour sensing since they can have both types of red color detectors in their eyes.

Bear in mind many street lights are yellow so some combinations like yellow and white might look much like plain yellow under street lights.

 

[kart80]

Hi Bill!

The "Old New Guy"

 

[EngJW]

Several efi aftermarket companies say they use a GM color code. Does anyone out there have a list or a pdf of the colors?