But I thought one of your reasons that the grey must be used for neutral was that it is in the same position as was blue of RYB.I'm not sure if there is any significance in the layout of the cable
But I thought one of your reasons that the grey must be used for neutral was that it is in the same position as was blue of RYB.I'm not sure if there is any significance in the layout of the cable
Yes, possibly but my question was relating to choosing the black or grey as neutral as I thought sparkwright was stating the grey must be used and was implying that was why the conductors are in the order they are.If you're thinking of cable penetration or melting insulation, then yes, I would have thought so, but wouldn't:
line, cpc, line, neutral perhaps be even better?
But I thought one of your reasons that the grey must be used for neutral was that it is in the same position as was blue of RYB.I'm not sure if there is any significance in the layout of the cable
Yes, possibly but my question was relating to choosing the black or grey as neutral as I thought sparkwright was stating the grey must be used and was implying that was why the conductors are in the order they are.If you're thinking of cable penetration or melting insulation, then yes, I would have thought so, but wouldn't:
line, cpc, line, neutral perhaps be even better?
I'm not sure about 'very logical and obvious' but, given that "it doesn't matter", I suppose it's at least as good a basis for making a choice as would be 'tossing a coin'!But it just seems very logical and obvious for the old colours sequence to mirror the new colours sequence.
As you will have seen, opinions vary. FWIW, I've established the consistent habit/convention of using grey as neutral, but not for any strong or particularly logical reason, and certainly not the reason you've suggested. However, others think that black is 'logical', even if usually for a reason that you have 'rejected'.Even if it 'doesn't matter', I think there should be some thought and logic that goes into the decision. And I can't see any good reason to do it any other way than the way I have described. (Sounding very masterful now!)
By 'at the time', I presume you mean the time of introduction of the harmonised colours. However, although it's slipped that way, I don't think the primary discussion is actually anything to do with 'the change' - it's about which of the harmonised colours should be used for neutral, regardless of 'the past' - and BS7671 and the OSG certainly don't give any guidance on that issue.In any case, there were guidelines at the time as to which colours should be used.
If it really were "the industry standard", then there would have been little or no need for all this discussion and argument, amongst members of 'the industry' as well as outsiders.The industry standard is to use grey as neutral, and whilst it's not mandatory it would be much easier for everyone if it were.
That's what I suspected, and I would suggest that what you now say is very different from it being an "industry standard". We've seen some members of the industry supporting the use of black - so it's clearly not a totally straightforward situation.I have no hard evidence to back up my claim but the majority of electricians I work with and installations I work on use the grey as neutral.
They are, IMO, both perfectly reasonable arguments. As I said, I've always used grey, but I'm not totally sure why I adopted that practice/convention.1) It makes sense to deprecate the use of black for neutral.
2) It makes sense to use grey for neutral because that's L3, as was blue.
I certainly agree with "3 bis)" - but I thought it was you who accused me of 'whinging about change' when I expressed my concern (for that reason) that brown has been selected for line (even though it is 'here to stay'!)?3) It makes sense to use grey for neutral because it's a neutral colour.
3 bis) It makes sense to use brown for the cpc, as what colour is earth?
3 is maybe less serious than 1 & 2.
I realise that, but:I was talking about what cores to use in a 3-core (Br/Bl/G) cable.
... was seemingly an acknowledgement of the reason why I was always a bit surprised that brown was chosen for line!3 bis) It makes sense to use brown for the cpc, as what colour is earth?
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