Sheathed cable with a red. Some sheathed cable includes a fourth red wire which makes it useful for wiring fixtures with three way switches or a ceiling fan with separate light and fan switches.
Color Coding Electrical Wires And Terminal Screws
Red white black wiring. The different colors of electrical wires indicate the function of the wire with black and red indicating the wires carry electric current white usually indicating neutral charge and green indicating the wire is grounded. The colors regulated by the national electrical code in the united states are standardized for safety. The cable has a black wire which connects directly to the circuit and a red wire which connects to the switch. The white red and black wires in an electric ac motor supply power to the motor itself and determine which of the speed coils turn on when electricity is supplied. One of the hot wires attaches to a brass terminal on one side of the outlet and the other attaches to a brass terminal on the other side. White wires augmented with red or black tape or markings are used as hot.
However a black wire can never be used as a neutral or ground wire or for any purpose other than to carry a live electrical load. In almost every motor design the white wire will be the neutral. Black wires are always hot wires meaning that they carry electricity. Regardless of output setting power will be applied to this wire. The ground wire also connects to the switch but the white wire gets spliced to the circuit neutral wire and bypasses the switch. When measured with respect to the white neutral wire the red wire carries the same 120 volt current that the black one carries making the voltage across these two hot wires 240 volts.