Unified Colours

[Knobhead]

Just out of curiosity, have there been any reported fatalities due to the new unified colours.
The company I used to work for was French owned and most new equipment was designed in France and so all panels were wired to the then French code. This was before the unified colours came in and it caused chaos! I recall being asked by an electrician why the neutral went through the isolator and blue phase was linked around the side. He wasn’t happy when he had to remake the 185mm supply cable!
I’m glad I’ve now got out of engineering

 

[telectrix]

if i had my way, thers stupid colours would be sleeved red/blue/yellow/black

 

[malcolmsanford]

Not heard of any fatalities but a few embaressed faces mine as one.

I was wiring up a 3 phase supply and the SWA I was using was new colours. At the switch isolator I wired correctly and then went to the board and yes blue to phase and black to neutral, as I was wiring the earth in the banjo ,I had a lad with me that was doing his job training thing from school, he was a mates lad and he asked me why I changed the colours around from the switch to the board.

I have to admit I was pushed at the time as the factory I was in, the guys needing the supply were coming back in from lunch, so I gave him the don't tell me son how to do things look, and I asked him to go to the van and get me my meter, quicly changed the cables round, thank god I'm a keep plenty of spare man, and wired it up. When he came back he knew and I knew but bless him never told his dad who would have ripped me apart.

 

[Knobhead]

if i had my way, thers stupid colours would be sleeved red/blue/yellow/black

I'm with you! But I'd go for red, yellow, blue & black.

 

[solo2771]

I'm with you! But I'd go for red, yellow, blue & black.

as above pmsl

 

[telectrix]

sorry , my motor was running backwards, i had to reverse the phase rotation.

 

[cantabrian9]

i,m with the old school RED,YELLOW,BLUE ,BLACK all this unified stuff is complete rubbish when you leave the uk, i have been asked (here in spain) to install the wiring for a small block of flats----3 blacks for the phases and g/yellow for the rest of the installation!!! polarity doesn,t mean anything either

 

[Knobhead]

sorry , my motor was running backwards, i had to reverse the phase rotation.

OK teletrix here’s one for you.
The plant’s I served my time on had had their own power station in the past. It ran BYR rotation when compared to the then North Western Electricity Co. (We’re going back to the 1940’s here). So the new intake sub had to be reversed.
I started my apprenticeship in the 1960’s so just took it as normal.
So we build a new plant 3 X 1000KVA transformers as the supply. Came the day to start the commissioning tests the forman of the electrical contractors confidently stood there and announced every drive will run correctly Oops! He was well cheased off when I wouldn’t allow him to reverse the feeds to each MCC.
OK I should have told him about the reversed rotation in the first place.

 

[Sintra]

The whole of Belfast has incorrect rotation to this day.

 

[Knobhead]

The whole of Belfast has incorrect rotation to this day.

Have a look at East Midlands Electricity and Mansfield Corporation Electricity Department : History of Mansfield Corporation there's a lot of reading.
It relates to Mansfield where I live. The system grew and combined with various collieries in to a large system. Rotation was one problem, phase angle was another. You would have a 11KV supply to a transformer down to 440V supplying a distribution pillar next to it would be a 440V supply from a 3KV/440V transformer fed from a 11/3KV transformer. The angles were 30 degree out. They jammed wooden wedges in the link points to stop an engineer from blowing their selves up by mistake.
There was also the problem of frequency 50 & 25 Hrz
Fun and games, if you’ve got the time read it.
I live in one of the houses originally fed from the DC system!

 

[thepurple1]

There was never nothing wrong with red/yellow/blue. Why is it that the British standard kite mark was supposed to be the best in the world, in yet its always britain that conforms to europe costing the British industry thousands of £££££££

 

[telectrix]

when the IEE made the 16th ed. into BS7671, it was so that ( and i quote from an IEE member) johnny foreigner could not interfere with our regulations, 240volts etc.etc. few years later, it,s yes mr. brusslels bureau rat, we will obey. MAKES ME PIG SICK.

 

[Knobhead]

To my mind the UK have upheld the safest systems in the world. Now degraded by the EU, the whole system is drowning in paperwork. Non of which improves standards.