In this case your water heater is probably wired with two wire flexible. Sounds like your model requires a neutral connection as it is most likely rated as a combo 120240 volt oven based on the oven wire color code of black red and white.
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White black copper wire. Get free shipping on qualified copper black white building wires or buy online pick up in store today in the electrical department. The black and blue wires are called hot wires because they hold electrical current. The white wire is neutral and completes the electrical circuit. The black wire is the hot wire that leads to the switch. Ok so what you will find. According to standards in use since the mid 1900s a wire color code identifies the purpose of each wire in an electrical circuit.
The white wire is your neutral wire the copper wire is the grounded wire and the black wire powers the fan. If you have a blue and black wire coming from your household circuit you should have two switches on your wall. Copper or green wire is the ground wire and keeps your fan from experience power surges. If you have a blue and black wire hanging out from your ceiling you should also have 2 switches on your wall. Ground always connects to ground no question. I color coded them but i am left with the blue wire from the fan and the copper and red wire from the supply circuit.
Youre right white sheathing does generally indicate a neutral wire but its not always so simple to decipher. In the most basic 110 volt electrical setup youll find two wires. Since your house wires are only white and black excluding the bare copper ground you are lacking the red wire to make up a 240 volt circuit. Red and black are hot leads white is neutral and the bare copper is ground. Hot when a white wire is augmented with a red or black color marking this often indicates that it is being used as a hot wire rather than a neutral wire. The supply circuit has a black red white and copper wires.
The white wire is always neutral and when the cable has only two conductors as most 120 volt cables do the hot wire is black. The ground wire is usually left bare but in some cases the ground wire color is green. Sometimes youll find a white wire with a piece of black electrical tape wrapped around it. According to the instruction stated to connect the ground conductor of the 120v supply this may be a bare or a wire with green colored insulation to the green. Power flows from the box to the outlet through the black wire and back to the box through the white one. The white wire goes by many names that all mean the same thing.
Neutral common or return. The black wire is hot. Typically this is indicated with a band of black or red electrical tape but other colors may be used wrapped around the wires insulation. The neutral wire can also be gray. Ground is always bare or insulated with green. White wires with black or red tape.