Electrical wiring

[Garten Haeska]

In the inspection list, we see that

Wire Colors - must be color coded - red/white/brown/black w/stripe for +24, +12, +5 VDC supply wires and black/blue for
supply return wires <R41>

and we are also using green, yellow, and orange wiring to help us organize our wires so would that be illegal? or am I interpreting this rule wrong? If not im guessing we are going to have to change this, but the wire we are using is up to the specifications of the wire needed to do the job. Please help so i can finally get some sleep?

Btw. if you guys haven't got your hands on some wire track i would strongly recommend it, it works its magic and sure cleans up your robot when you have it run from one side of your robot to the other!

[kgzak]

You'll probably need to be rewiring some of it. red/white/brown/black w/stripe are the only colors allowed to be used for + and black/blue for the -

I might be wrong but I am pretty sure this is what the rule is. Last year we ran out of red wire so we used a different color and had to change it. it wasn't a big deal since we bought wire after bagging but when the inspector looked at our robot we had to change it to a legal color.

If the wire already on a device is a different color I believe that is okay and signal wires can be different colors (If I am remembering correctly)

[WizenedEE]

Signal wire may be any color you choose. Connections going from jaguars/watever to motors can be any color. Everything else must follow the rule, sorry.

I hope it's not too much of a problem for you to change. If you used quick disconnects, make sure you bring enough for rewiring everything... and get really good at crimping before the competition!

[Garten Haeska]

Thanks for replying so quickly, our mentor really wanted to clean up our robot this year and since we are using 6 motors he wanted to make it so we new what wires led to where without having to follow the entire wire, so he are currently using yellow, orange, red, green, and then a wire that has 4 wires in it 2 red and 2 black running up to our arm for the two window motors, we were really hoping it is legal, because it really cleans things up!

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by WizenedEE

Signal wire may be any color you choose. Connections going from jaguars/watever to motors can be any color.

I am not sure about that, can you show me a rule?

To the original question: Yes, it seems that you may need to do some re-wiring. We use colored electrical tape to keep things organized.

[Garten Haeska]

looks like we will be rewiring! Our colored wire is coming from the pd board to the jaguars, but on the bright side all the wires going to the motors from the controllers are are red and black!

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

I am not sure about that, can you show me a rule?

<R41> which defines the wire colors, specifically excludes connections that do not have constant polarity.

[548swimmer]

Originally Posted by Garten Haeska

Thanks for replying so quickly, our mentor really wanted to clean up our robot this year and since we are using 6 motors he wanted to make it so we new what wires led to where without having to follow the entire wire, so he are currently using yellow, orange, red, green, and then a wire that has 4 wires in it 2 red and 2 black running up to our arm for the two window motors, we were really hoping it is legal, because it really cleans things up!

Think about marking the plugs on your wires with some sort of color code last year we used paint pens on the connectors.
You should also consider using a labelmaker and labeling your jags/victors with what each one controlls.

[WizenedEE]

Originally Posted by Garten Haeska

Thanks for replying so quickly, our mentor really wanted to clean up our robot this year and since we are using 6 motors he wanted to make it so we new what wires led to where without having to follow the entire wire, so he are currently using yellow, orange, red, green, and then a wire that has 4 wires in it 2 red and 2 black running up to our arm for the two window motors, we were really hoping it is legal, because it really cleans things up!

If they're only going to motors, they can be any color. <R41> says "Constant Polarity" and "except for... speed controller.. outputs", which clearly states that exception.

Just wondering, how are you connecting the wires connected to the motors themselves with the jaguars/victors? Quick disconnects? Solder? Putting them near each other and hoping?

[Garten Haeska]

Originally Posted by WizenedEE

If they're only going to motors, they can be any color. <R41> says "Constant Polarity" and "except for... speed controller.. outputs", which clearly states that exception.

Just wondering, how are you connecting the wires connected to the motors themselves with the jaguars/victors? Quick disconnects? Solder? Putting them near each other and hoping?

we just have the colored wire going to the speed controllers in our case jaguars and are connected with spade connectors, then on the wires going to the motors, we are connecting them with spade connectors also.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Jesus,
Sorry but it sounds like you are going to be changing some wire. The color code rule reflects generally accepted wiring practice and that is why it is specific. Sensors and other COTS devices that are supplied with wire of a different color are acceptable. i.e. the photo sensors in the KOP. Your mentor had the right idea as color coding is often used with multi-conductor cable. We use a 3M product that is available from Digikey. It is a package that contains a couple of yards of ten different colors of 1/4" wide tape in a dispenser. Everything used in a particular circuit gets the same color code. The motor, the controller, the wiring to the motor, the PD wiring, the breaker, the PWM cable and the position on the DSC, analog module or solenoid module all get the same color. That way if the red motor is not running, one checks the red speed controller to see if it is lit, then the red breaker if there is no power or the red PWM cable to see if it has pulled out.

[Nelson]

Best just to change the wires and not deal with all the problems.