Wiring Question?

[EliStevens12]

Hi, some of the members on my robotics team had a question regarding wiring and whether we could use white wires instead of black wires. I have read the rule book and I did not see anything prohibiting this. I was hoping to get a second opinion.

[Mark_McLeod]

@R40

All non-SIGNAL LEVEL wiring with a constant polarity (i.e., except for outputs of relay modules, motor controllers, or sensors)
shall be color-coded along their entire length (from the manufacturer) as follows:

A. Red, yellow, white, brown, or black-with-stripe on the positive (e.g. +24VDC, +12VDC, +5VDC, etc.) connections

B. Black or blue for the common or negative side (-) of the connections.

Wires that are originally attached to legal devices are considered part of the device and by default legal. Such wires are exempt
from R40.

No white wires for the negative side of power wiring can replace black wires.

[philso]

What are you using the wires for?

Wires carrying higher power must follow the color code shown in the Game Manual. A non-exhaustive list would be wires between any of the following; battery, breaker, PDP, motor controller power input terminals, compressor, SPIKE relay power input terminals, RoboRio power plug, VRM, PCM and solenoids(?).

Wires carrying signal levels can be any color. A non-exhaustive list would be wires between any of the following; RoboRio DIO ports, RoboRio Analog Input ports, RoboRio PWM ports, sensors and motor controller control input ports (PWM or CAN). It make troubleshooting much easier if one uses yellow/green twisted pair for the CAN Bus connections, especially if you are using the new Talon SRX’s.

[EliStevens12]

It is being used used to power a LED Camera

[philso]

If the wires are for “powering” anything on your robot (camera, RoboRio, DLink LED’s, camera or custom circuits), you will be using voltage with a “constant polarity” so yes, R40 should apply. Please note that I am not the GDC nor am I trained as an Inspector but it would be safest to follow R40 in these instances anyway. We don’t want you to have to rewire your robot at a tournament like one of the teams I had worked with in the past.

[GeeTwo]

Also, if you follow the color code faithfully, you are much less likely to wire something backwards and have to repair your robot or yourself.

[Sperkowsky]

We use a white cable on our led camera but if you strip it you notice there is black and red underneath. that is if you are referring to the. Axis cameras. The white Is a. Good indicator for me. To know quickly which cables are. For the cam

[Mark_McLeod]

Yea, a white sleeve is okay. Just expose an inch or two at the end so the black/red insulation of the wires inside the sleeve can be seen.