Simple wiring question....

[beelzerob]

I've got 3 wires, red, black, and green. Green is obviously ground. And if this were internal HV wiring, I'd know that black is live and white is neutral. But it's black and red....so, is black still "live" or "hot"? (this is 12 ga wire for a pump, btw).

Now then..if I were to wire this to a 3 pronged plug and plug it into an outlet, and the black is live, or hot....then which prong do I wire it to...the left, or the right (when facing the outlet)? The wide prong or the normal sized one?

Thankee

 

[WayneW]

Sounds like this might be a 220VAC pump? If so, black and red are hot/live, green is ground and their is no neutral.

On a 110VAC plug, the wide blade is the neutral/white.

 

[beelzerob]

No, it's actually only a 110V pump. The pump wire I got is probably the stuff used for a 220v pump (it's the same wire as used by my well pump, which is 220v), but it only requires 110v.

So in that scenario....which wire is typically the "live" or "hot" one? Black? And if so, then that makes the red the neutral, right? And so that sould be the wide/left outlet prong?

Thanks for the answers so far.!

 

[BrettS]

No, it's actually only a 110V pump. The pump wire I got is probably the stuff used for a 220v pump (it's the same wire as used by my well pump, which is 220v), but it only requires 110v.

So in that scenario....which wire is typically the "live" or "hot" one? Black? And if so, then that makes the red the neutral, right? And so that sould be the wide/left outlet prong?

Thanks for the answers so far.!

Like Wayne said, both red and black are typically hot and wiring it the way you are is against code, so there is no right answer for that scenario. That said, though, you can make whatever you want hot and neutral, just make sure you do it the same way on both ends and it will work. Be aware, though, that it's the wrong wire and it could cause confusion or worse if someone else works on this after you.

If you were really set on using that wire, I'd probably make black hot and red neutral, but I'd also wrap the red wire with white electrical tape to try to indicate what I had done to someone else.

HTH,
Brett

 

[beelzerob]

If you were really set on using that wire, I'd probably make black hot and red neutral, but I'd also wrap the red wire with white electrical tape to try to indicate what I had done to someone else.

HTH,
Brett

Oh, I'm definitely set. Fortunately I have white electrical tape already.

Ok, so I'll make the black hot, and the red the neutral...which means when wired for a plug, I'll make the black the smaller/right blade, and the neutral is the wide/left blade. Correct?

 

[BrettS]

Ok, so I'll make the black hot, and the red the neutral...which means when wired for a plug, I'll make the black the smaller/right blade, and the neutral is the wide/left blade. Correct?

Correct

 

[beelzerob]

Ok, so I'll make the black hot, and the red the neutral...which means when wired for a plug, I'll make the black the smaller/right blade, and the neutral is the wide/left blade. Correct?

Correct

Great! Thanks for the help!

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Obtain one of those three light testers that you plug into a 120 volt outlet to insure proper polarity and grounds exist. Also, I'm assuming that this pump will NOT be wired into a GFCI type of outlet, so make sure you do not operate any handheld power tools via this power source.

 

[beelzerob]

Obtain one of those three light testers that you plug into a 120 volt outlet to insure proper polarity and grounds exist. Also, I'm assuming that this pump will NOT be wired into a GFCI type of outlet, so make sure you do not operate any handheld power tools via this power source.

The plug I'm wiring on it is just for testing purposes. The pump will have its own circuit in the breaker box once testing and backfill have happened.