White wire on 12 v LED Light

[Blue Drifter]

Grateful as ever for advice. What is the white wire on this LED light?

TIA - thinking about it in slower time it's got to be the supply 12 v + - is white the new red?

 

[VicS]

Grateful as ever for advice. What is the white wire on this LED light?



TIA - thinking about it in slower time it's got to be the supply 12 v + - is white the new red?

Different counties use different colour codes. You should refer to the wiring instructions to be sure.

 

[prv]

Black and red for low voltage is fairly universal - although the US manages to confuse matters by also using black for 110v live!

I'm not aware of any scheme under which white is +12v for lighting, but this unit is so utterly simple that there really isn't any need for a code - you can see how it's connected, it's right in front of you. The manufacturer probably found a good deal on white cable

Pete

 

[Len Ingalls]

In N.A. -in DC wiring- Black is always neg. The "lighter" colour is pos. Simple!
In the pic, Black is Neg bat & white is Pos bat.
The most common "lighter" colours" for Pos are Red or White,but occasionally other colours could be used.
Just remember that Black is always Neg & the other colour is Pos.

In N.A. AC wiring-because we use a 3 wire (+Ground/Earth) system:
L1 is Black
Neutral N is White
L2 is Red
There is 240VAC between L1 & L2-used to power devices that draw more than 1300W (nominal 15A)
There is 120VAC between L1 & Neutral & 120VAC between L2 & Neutral-used to power 120VAC devices that can draw no more than 1300W (nominal 15A)
The Neutral is Ground/Earth bonded at the entrance to the building & carries NO current.
A further Green or bare wire Ground/Earth is included in all AC wiring to each electric receptacle(plug socket) & connected to a U ground "third hole" at each receptacle. The intent is that that cabinet/chassis of all appliances are Earthed.
If a "hot" wire comes loose & touches cabinet, breaker will trip & no shock hazard.
There are appliances that use only 2 wire Lx & N & do not have the Green wire U ground extended thru the unit's power cord. These appliances are rated "double insulated",where by design & use of plastic cabinet/housing,there is no possibility of power being passed thru the housing to the consumer.

DC wiring colours have no correlation to AC wiring colours in N. A. & this is confusing to non-electrical folks-that shouldn't be playing with wires anyway

Cheers/ Len

 

[Blue Drifter]

Thanks all - all I can offer in mitigation was that it was pre-caffeine fix, and plain being a dope. Now fitted and working.

 

[nigelmercier]

I'm not aware of any scheme under which white is +12v for lighting...

My Bavaria is, with blue for negative.

 

[gazzarose]

I assume the bit the white wire is attached to is the switch. If so just connect it to + and the black to negative. I have seen lots of lights with white supply wires. I think its intended for mass produced boats where to make things easier they use different colours for positive for different functions so wires can be traced more easily than a big loom full of red and black wires.

 

[Len Ingalls]

As stated in post #4:
In N. America (US & Canada) in DC wiring, the Black is always Negative. The Other colour is Positive. (usually Red or White)
Simple.
Japan must be the same,as all Japanese & other Asian mfgrs (Furuno,Koden,JRC/Raytheon,etc,etc) are the same-Black Negative.
The only exception I have come across in N.A.,is some bilge pump mfgrs-notably Rule) that use Brown (I think) for Pos.

My boat is Danish built, & it was Brown & Blue-now mostly gone-as I upgraded the wiring as the original was corroded,etc.

I have come across some EU eqpt that used brown,blue,yellow,etc.

I learned very quickly to find out before hooking up