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In a flexible cable, the brown is the "line" voltage and blue is "neutral", often tied to ground at the mains panel.
In fixed cables, i.e., "behind the walls", the UK wiring standard changed in 2004, where it now MATCHES the flexible cable: brown is line, blue is neutral. Prior to that, blue, red or yellow were acceptable LINE conductor colors and black was neutral.
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Where do you connect blue and brown wires in European and UK wiring?
These colour wires are used in European and UK wiring. The blue wire is used to the identify the neutral conductor and the brown wire is used to identify the "hot" conductor.In Canada and the US. The white wire is used to the identify the neutral conductor and the any colour but green is used to identify the "hot" conductor.
What brown colour wire indicate in a electric iron?
Brown is the "hot" wire and blue is the neutral on a UK 220 volt power system.
Why do the French use single core copper wire for house wiring whereas in the UK we use multi-strand?
In the North American market, solid core is used for home wiring where flexibility is not a problem with installation. Conduit systems use stranded wire because of its flexibility when being pulled into a conduit system that has multiple bends between pull boxes.
Are UK and Australian electrical wiring the same?
No.
Why is a plug live wire brown?
I've been trying to find a satisfactory answer to this through a casual search on the web and nothing jumps out at me immediately which amazes me!What idiot sitting on some "standards committee" somewhere thought that brown would be a good colour for a live wire?For starters brown is the colour of earth, so anyone knowing nothing about electricity would assume that brown is earth and that live must be that fancy coloured green and yellow wire with fatal consequences no doubt.Nature gives us natural warning and danger colours and they are typically vivid colours or unnatural contrasts - such as green and yellow in snakes! Red is also a classic danger colour and means "stop" on traffic lights etc. So...why is the live wire not red ?From my dim and distant past I can vaguely recall messing around with plugs and wires and in those days I remember the live wire in the UK as being red. So...what caused the change? I suspect some crazy dictate from faceless bureaucrats at the so called European Union lol.The only reason I can think of for this madness is that major circuits which feed directly into the mains, tend to have live as red and neutral as black (earth is green or green and yellow I think). As a means of distinguishing between the two, brown was chosen as a "shade" of red to mean live - though why not choose vivid orange? Why do we need to distinguish between the two types of circuits anyway?Unfortunately, I suspect that the real answer lies in some legal case where an idiot was working in building somewhere and mixed up the old style red live of a lighting circuit with a red live straight from the mains and frizzled themselves to death. The family sued because they were short of cash and the legal precendent was set that wiring should be re-labeled in colour (because - displaying warning signs near every electrical outlet was deemed unpractical...doh!)CommentI think you're probably correct in assuming that it was dreamt up by some idiot in the European Union of Socialist Republics!
What are the UK wiring colours?
The brown wire is live (Mr Brown is a live wire!)Blue is the neutral wire for the return current. Green/yellow is the earth wire.
What color is live wire in old plugs?
In the UK, the old wiring colours were... Live = red, Neutral = black, Earth = green.
Where do you connect blue and brown wires in European and UK wiring?
These colour wires are used in European and UK wiring. The blue wire is used to the identify the neutral conductor and the brown wire is used to identify the "hot" conductor.In Canada and the US. The white wire is used to the identify the neutral conductor and the any colour but green is used to identify the "hot" conductor.
What colour is earth wire in the UK?
green and yellow
How do you wire a UK socket?
The following applies to the UK Blue wire goes to neutral Brown wire to live Yellow/Green stripe wire to earth
What colour earth neutral and live in armoued cable?
All depends on what country you are in, wiring standards and cable type. Industrial cable in the UK is. :- Red = Live Black = Neutral Copper wire = earth. (add Green/Yellow striped sleeve at junctions.) Domestic is:- Brown = Live Blue = neutral Green/yellow stripe = Earth Europe Black = Live Blue = Neutral Brown = Earth
What brown colour wire indicate in a electric iron?
Brown is the "hot" wire and blue is the neutral on a UK 220 volt power system.
What is phase wire?
A phase wire is the hot wire in a circuit if looking at single phase that would be the live (brown in the UK). If you are trying to find out which wire is your phase wire use a voltmeter connect the black lead to earth and red lead on the wire to be tested. If the circuit is on and you have a phase wire you will read voltage on the meter. If the circuit is off or you have the neutral(blue wire in the UK) you will read little or no volts.Notice electricity is dangerous always use common sense if you don't know what you are doing find someone who does failing that put a hand in your pocket you will have less chance of killing yourself.Answer'Phase' is the incorrect name widely used in place of the correct term, 'line'. The current version of BS 7671(2008), the IEE Wiring Regulations, has, at last, recognised the misuse of the term 'phase' in its previous editions.In the UK, a single-phase AC line conductor has a nominal potential of 230 V with respect to the neutral. In Europe, a single-phase line conductor is normally colour-coded brown; in three-phase systems, the three line conductors are colour codes brown, black, and grey.
Is a brown electrical wire live?
If you don't know different for sure, then you must treat ANY electrical wire as if it's live, regardless of what color it may be.
What is a Black wire in a household circuit?
Answer for USA, Canada and countries using similar 60Hz household electrical servicesBlack insulated wire is used for a "Hot" (or "Live") wire. Answer for European and other countries using similar 50Hz household electrical services In old wiring, as was used for household electrical circuits installed in the UK prior to 2006, the "Neutral" would have been a black insulated wire. Black insulated wiring is not used for that purpose today. For more information see the answers to the Related Questions shown below.
What do the different wire colors mean in doing electricity?
The Flex A length of flex will usually consist of three insulated conductors2, encased in an insulating sheath. Each of the conductors will have a different colour insulation, according to the terminal it should be connected to: * Brown - Live * Blue - Neutral * Yellow and green - Earth If you have any old style appliances, they may well have different colours: * Red - Live * Black - Neutral * Green - Earth The reason for the colour change has to do with red-green colour-blindness3. 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 consequences of this situation. Note that appliances which are double-insulated may not have an Earth wire, and some appliances (such as doorbells or fairy lights) may have flex consisting of two uncoloured wires.
What is electrical wire color code for brown?
Different colours mean different things in different countries, but in the UK remember Mr Brown is a live wire.
