Saturday, April 10, 2021

Why are colors being changed to white on UF Underground Feeder Non Metallic cables ?

 Ever since I started doing Electrical Work in 70s  UF Non Metallic Direct Burial and Sunlight Resistant  Cable  used for  swimming pools outside outlets and lighting where Protective Conduit is not required has always been gray .

It was always a way to tell UF from Common" Romex "  a trade mark  NMC  Non Metallic Cable 

as Romex was always white or black if aluminum which ended up banned  but in 90s a company called 

South Wire came out with a color coded romex wire jacket the industry started following and it instantly made it easy for inspectors and contractors alike to tell what type wire was in use .Especially when hard to get to it to read the jacket ID label

Gray UF 14 thru 10 Gauge

White 14# Gauge

Yellow 12# Gauge

Orange 10# Gauge  

So why now is UF coming out white 

It is just going to cause more confusion on job sites especially in residential now inspectors are going to have to make sure they read every label on every wire put in outdoor or in-ground install and unscrupulous contractors are going to cheat and run 14/2 romex instead of UF on jobs and there will be no way to tell unless you physically inspect it. Unlike Gray UF you know its UF when you see it .




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