What are the functions of color band inductors?
Manufacturers of inductors produce color-coded inductors that can be used to color-code wires for identifying their function, voltage rating, polarity, phase, or the circuit they are used in. The insulation can be securely colored, or a trace stripe or two can be added for more combinations. Certain wiring color codes are set by national regulations, but typically, color codes are specific to manufacturers or industries.
Building wiring under the National Electrical Code of the United States and the Canadian Electrical Code is identified by color to indicate live conductors, neutral conductors, grounding conductors, and phase identification. The United Kingdom and other regions use different color codes to identify building wiring or flexible cable wiring.
The primary wires on buildings and equipment were once usually red, black for neutral, and green for ground, but this has changed as it poses a danger to colorblind individuals who might confuse red and green; different countries follow different conventions. Red and black are often used for the positive and negative poles of batteries or for single-voltage DC wiring.
Thermocouple wires and extension cables are identified by the color code of the thermocouple type; exchanging thermocouple with an incompatible extension cable will compromise measurement accuracy.
Vehicle wiring uses color coding, but the standards vary by manufacturer; there are different SAE and DIN standards.
Modern personal computer peripheral device cables and connectors are color-coded to simplify the connections of speakers, microphones, mice, keyboards, and other peripherals, typically following the PC99 scheme.
Standard conventions in industrial building wiring systems are as follows: black sheath - AC voltage below 1.000 volts, blue sheath - DC or communication, orange sheath - medium voltage at 2.300 or 4.160 volts, red sheath - 13.800 volts or higher. Red jacket cables are also used for relatively low-voltage fire alarm wiring, but they look quite different.
Local area network cables can also feature non-standard sheath colors, such as distinguishing process control networks from office automation networks, or identifying redundant network connections, but these codes vary by organization and facility.
