Color Coding for Pilot Devices

[MESC1]

We are seeing color request all over the map on pilot devices...

On to be green, off to be red, alarm to be white
On to be red, off to be green, alarm to be blue...

Gets really confussing especially when there is also an E-Stop which is almost always RED. The go and the emergency stop both being red, yes we think this is silly too..

Please share industry standards on this issue or an explaination why this is logical...

Thanks
SC

 

[buzzp]

You opened a can on this one. This has been discussed extensively in another thread. Use the search function for pilot lights and I am sure you will hit on it. I believe the consensus was their is no standard which everyone follows. Based on personal experience, power generating companies like to use red for run (stop dont go in or get electrocuted) and most others use red for equipment stopped, de-energized, whatever the case may be.

 

[MESC1]

Promise I'm not being lazy, ran a search found nothing...

Power Gen. is where we are finding a lot of the discrepencies...

We had one customer go with a White E-Stop, even our AB rep. wasn't sure there was such a thing... (there is, it's hideous)

A can of worms with lots of competing input is exactly what I want, see it debated from every angle then when I have to justify our companies position to my boss, I know every side...

Thanks
SC

 

[buzzp]

Okay I found it.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?SQID=48055&SPID=237&page=1

If the link dont work it is under motor controls forum. The thread is titled "Standard color for indicator lights".

 

[dpc]

If you are in the US, there is no "standard". Most electric utilties and power generation facilities use red for energized, running, open and green for off, and closed.

Many, many other industries do it exactly opposite and there is not always consistency between similar facilities of the same industry or even between plants owned by the same company.

NEMA may have some standards for machine tool control panels, but that's a different story.

If the owner doesn't express a preference, I do it the way that I like.

 

[peebee]

Something that's been driving some of us even buggier lately --

I come from the red=on=danger school of thought. Better than 99% of the installations I've ever seen conform to this.

And now, the new digital lighting controls showing up more and more often often use green=on. It's not quite clear yet if they will give us red=on even as a special order. So much for consistency.

 

[IEEMT]

OK here we go.

Color coding for pushbuttons, indicator(pilot)lights and illuminated pushbuttons. ( NFPA 79 Industrial Machinery)
___________________________________________________________
COLOR Device Type Typical Function
___________________________________________________________
RED Pushbuttion(PB) Emergency Stop, Stop, Off

Pilot Light(PL) Danger or alarm,abnormal
condition requiring
immediate attention.
____________________________________________________________
YELLOW PB Return,Emergencyreturn, Intervention-suppress abnormal conditions

 

[IEEMT]

sorry about my post. We are having some bad storms so I will try later. This is the color standard I haveused in all industrial plants plus the USAF for over 20 years and all equiment I build or install. Motor Centers and so on.

 

[dpc]

IEEMT,

There are millions of lights and pushbuttons in the US that are done exactly opposite of this standard (which has a limited scope). This includes most nuclear and fossil power plants and every electrical substation that I have ever been in.