I noticed at the store that NMD90 is now available in different colours. For example, I just picked up 12/2 in yellow. I understand 14/2 is available in blue. I have seen the orange (or is it red?) cable for electric heating, but what’s with the yellow and blue stuff? It appears to be “normal” (black/white/ground) NMD90. Looks nice. Will there be a standard set of colours for different sizes, or will the colours just be used to identify different runs?

I also noticed 14/2 cable available with black/red/ground wires. Is this for 220 volt circuits? Maybe this has been around for a while, and I never noticed before. Is it now code to use black/red? Is it still ok to use black/white for 220 volt? I normally mark the white wire with black electrical tape when I use it for 220 volt.

 

This coloring is to make it easier to identify which cables are for which circuit sizes. It helps ensure the installer grabbed the right size. It may also help the inspector during rough-in. I believe orange is the color for #10. I wonder when they will do this for MC.

Yes, it is for 240 volt circuits. It could also be used on switch loops in lieu of marking a white wire as black. I've seen such cable with those colors as far back as 1970. It seems to be harder to find these days than back then. Now if only I can find it in 12/2 and 10/2.

 

Unfortunately the coloring of the outside of the cable is not standardized. Southwire began to color the cable, then others followed, but they sometimes use different colors between manufacturers.

 

At least if you stick with the same cable manufacturer, you should have consistency and depend on the colors. Whether the inspector can, though, is another matter. But I've seen yellow for #12 and orange for #10 wherever they are.

 

10/2 or 10/3 - Orange
12/2 or 12/3 - Yellow
14/2 or 14/3 - White

I have yet to see blue 14 AG wire.

Aparently the draft of the 2005 NEC requires this, so manufacturers will be ticked if they have old bundles of white 12/2 laying around. You can't use the old wire on new work.

Another thing I noticed is that the shielding is now dated. You can look at the wire and see when it was manufactured. Interesting. I bet you could really get an electrician into trouble if an inspector was given the impression that it was old work, but the date on the wire was recent.

 

Since the OP specified NMD-90 I believe he is in Canada. That is the spec for non metallic dry.

 

Old undated wire will soon be a valuable commodity, selling big time on EBay.

 

You might be interested in reading this
http://www.ccbda.org/pdfs/CCMagazinePDFs/E151b.pdf

 

Thanks for the pointer to the PDF.

So you can get NMD-90 in blue. The guy at Home Depot was right.

"Cable for use with 15-ampere AFCI is supplied with a blue jacket"