[joe.horton.jr]

How big of a no-no is using a Anchor12/3 black white green for a DC circuit and ignoring the third wire or maybe grounding the extra wire? OK to buy a small spool of large diameter instead of ordering per foot so then would you buy red and for the ground wire add black tape as spiral or just at the ends? The Anchor DC that I've already bought are 18/2 black red, 16/2, black red, 14/2 red yellow. Is indeed the normal system in an RV DC wires the hot is red and for AC, like your house, the black is hot? In our houses when you do a light leg you tape the white wire on both ends with some black tape to indicate hot. Thanks.

 

[Sams stock van]

If you follow typical marine wiring when AC and DC circuits are present, all DC would be done with "safety" wire colors, red+ and yellow-. AC would be black, white and green- as is your home. No confusion. Can you designate other colors? Sure. But it can get confusing over time if not well labeled.

 

[gregoryx]

Good wire is good wire; use it wherever you like. But the colors? I think it helps to have stuff that can be traced more easily. Hardly a requirement. Mostly, I try to use something /different/ when possible if they're all going into a similar location. And label either way - just less mess to trace when the time comes.

The big mess of various gauge pairs coming in to the back-side of our fuse- and relay-panels? So much stuff in there... you can see how many of them are different gauge and/or colors from the terminations. It's all gently routed in the back - strain relief and all that - but it's still a LOT of DC lines.

 

[Michael Ophus]

I bought black single conductor wire only and the tagged it with color coding tape, Wire is cheaper when you buy it in 250 foot rolls.

 

[khangaldinho]

For me, I treat white as always neutral and green as always ground. I bought a big spool of 12/2 black red for the AC/DC and a 12/1 green to add for grounding the AC circuits. I know electrical code states that white has to be neutral for AC circuits but not sure if it translates to DC. But, I figured I would keep the same to avoid confusion for myself - I just need to remember to look at the cable bundle when changing things.

So I would suggest using your 12/3 with the white being neutral and black being hot and capping the green.

 

[jkmann]

Color coding only the ends is acceptable in my view. However, I would recommend using shrink tubing vs. tape. It's possible for tape to come off as you do maintenance, but shrink tubing will stay on.