Chinese Wire Color Code – A Guide for Manufacturers

Wiring requirements vary, and your industry and application will dictate the design, voltage, current capability, size, and colors, among other variables. Therefore, working with a China wiring manufacturer that understands your needs is essential.

This article will provide detailed information on China’s wiring — wiring and cable harnessing, color codes, designing, testing, and other wiring processes.

Color-coded wiring harness

Understanding Cable Assemblies and Wiring Harnesses

A cable harness is a combination of two or more conductors that are insulated with a more intensive exterior product. Mostly, a cable will have a positive wire to carry current, a neutral one to complete the electrical path, and a grounding wire. The whole combination is covered with heavy-duty materials such as shrink-wrapped thermoplastic, rubber, or vinyl sheath.

Cable harnessing is a custom-designed assembly to ensure the product meets your specific logistic and structural requirements. Also, other factors are considered, for instance, temperature, humidity, size, shape, chemical substance exposure, friction, colors, and area of application.

Wire Harness Design

Wire harness design begins with the development of a blueprint for manufacturing and a pinboard for hosting the harness. The pin or assembly board is a representation of the harness. It indicates all the components and their location and serves as a working table for the wire harness.

The wires to be assembled come in a master reel, cut into the desired lengths, and printed for labeling and bar codes where required. With the required lengths, the wires are stripped off at the end to fit the terminals and connector housing where necessary.

The wires are placed on the assembly board and attached with suitable lacing, wire ties, tapes, strings, weaves or straps, or a combination of the components.

Over time, there have been attempts to advance manual wire harness designing to automation, but as the process involves many activities, most of the stages of the process remain manual. Nevertheless, some parts of the process have been automated for speed and accuracy.

Cable Assembly Process

• Cutting and shaping cables to the required lengths
• Installing the wires, cables, and components (subassemblies) on the assembly or pinboard
• Routing and attaching subassemblies with terminals and through other connector housing or sleeves
• Attach the subassemblies to the board with wraps, weaves, ties, or tapes
• Where possible, soldering of wire ends with a solder machine

Nevertheless, this is just a general process of what cable assembly entails, not a specific step-to-step process. Also, automation of the whole process has proven difficult as manual cable harness is more cost-effective considering the numerous activities involved. However, the initial parts of harnessing and kitting can somehow be automated.

Cable Harness Testing

Before releasing the wire harness to you, we ensure the cable harness meets the geometric and electrical requirements through thorough testing and evaluation by our experienced team. Repeat purchases of similar products over the years have allowed us to develop standard products and save time in the harnessing process, testing, and installation.

Benefits of Consistent Wire Color

Standardized wire and cable color codes create a safer and more efficient environment for everyone.

For wire and cable installation: 

Take the power cable for example; Using consistent colors makes it easier to identify the ground, line, and neutral wires to enable easier tracing of circuits, thus facilitating troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. Furthermore, having a standardized color coding system helps protect electricians as it is easier to differentiate live wires from neutral ones.

For electrical distribution: 

Sticking to a set color code saves valuable time when dealing with electrical systems since technicians and electricians don’t have to spend as much effort figuring out what type of wire is connected to what, as the colors immediately provide the information.

Chinese Wiring Color Code

Now, let’s detail the standard wiring color codes for cable assemblies or wiring harnesses in China.

Chinese power cable assembly color codes

Various colors are used for different cables and wires in different regions for single-phase, alternating current (AC), direct current (DC), and three-phase for design and installation.  In the past, China used to use its old wiring color code; however, today, they use the IEC wire codes for their flexible cable assemblies. The wire color codes from this category are power cables, lamp cords, and extension cables.

IEC AC WIRING COLOR CODES
PHASE SUPPLY	CABLE & WIRE	OLD IEC CODES	NEW IEC CODES
3 – PHASE	LINE 1 (L1)	BROWN, BLACK	BROWN
	LINE 2 (L2)	BROWN, BLACK	BLACK
	LINE 3 (L3)	BROWN, BLACK	GREY
EARTH / GROUND (PE)		YELLOW-GREEN STRIPED	YELLOW-GREEN STRIPED
COMMON	NEUTRAL (N)	BLUE	BLUE
1 – PHASE	LINE (L)	BROWN BLACK	BROWN

IEC DC WIRING COLOR CODES
Two-Wire Undergrounded DC Power System	Negative (L-)	Grey
	Positive (L+)	Brown
Two-Wire Grounded DC Power System	L+ (of a -VE Grounded) Circuit	Brown
	L- (of a +VE Grounded) Circuit	Grey
	‘M,N’ +VE (of a +VE Grounded) Circuit	Blue
	Three-Wire Grounded DC Power System	Blue
Three Wire Grounded DC Power System	Positive (L+)	Brown
	Negative (L-)	Grey
	‘M, N’ Mid Wire	Blue
Earth / Ground (PE / PG)		Yellow Green Striped

Chinese Ethernet Cable Assembly Color Codes

T568A and T568B are the two different types of wiring standards. The more prevalent T568B standard and the less common T568A differ in how their wires are colored and organized. 

The color code of the T568A standard
Pin	Wire Color	Signal	Signal Description
1	White/Green	TX1+	Transmit +
2	Green	TX1-	Transmit –
3	White/Orange	RX+	Receive +
4	Blue	TX2+	Bi-Directional Transmit +
5	White/Blue	TX2-	Bi-Directional Transmit –
6	Orange	RX-	Receive –
7	White/Brown	TX3+	Bi-Directional Transmit +
8	Brown	TX3-	Bi-Directional Transmit –

The color code of T-568B standard
Pin	Wire Color	Signal	Signal Description
1	White/orange	TX1+	Transmit +
2	Orange	TX1-	Transmit –
3	White/Green	RX+	Receive +
4	Blue	TX2+	Bi-Directional Transmit +
5	White/Blue	TX2-	Bi-Directional Transmit –
6	Green	RX-	Receive –
7	White/Brown	TX3+	Bi-Directional Transmit +
8	Brown	TX3-	Bi-Directional Transmit –

Chinese Wiring Harness Color Codes

In the day, OEMs used color codes that varied by part model or brand. But, nowadays, they use standardized wire colors when manufacturing. The electrical wires are available in categories, with each color’s purpose:

YELLOW	12 VOLT MEMORY
RED	12 VOLT IGNITION
ORANGE	DASH LIGHT/ILLUMINATION
BLACK	RADIO CHASSIS GROUND
BLUE	POWER ANTENNA
WHITE	LEFT FRONT (+) POSITIVE
WHITE/ BLACK	LEFT FRONT (-) NEGATIVE
GREEN	LEFT REAR (+) POSITIVE
GREEN/ BLACK	LEFT REAR (-) NEGATIVE
GRAY	RIGHT FRONT (+) POSITIVE
GRAY/ BLACK	RIGHT FRONT (-) NEGATIVE
PURPLE	RIGHT REAR (+) POSITIVE
PURPLE/BLACK	RIGHT REAR (-) NEGATIVE

Note: While these are common color codes, it’s important to consult the specific wiring diagram or manufacturer’s specifications for the particular system being worked on to ensure accurate identification and proper wiring. 

What to Look for in China Wiring Harness Manufacturers

Even strictly meeting customer requirements and international color codes, a poorly manufactured cable harness can damage the devices connected to it. Consequently, you need to buy your wiring harnesses from a trusted manufacturer. Below are tips to consider when searching for a suitable China wiring manufacturer.

The company history

A manufacturer’s longevity in China wiring is an assurance of a skilled and trusted provider of wiring harnesses. More time spent in the industry means accumulating knowledge, skills, practices, better methodologies, and acquiring quality materials.

Also, it would help if you did not worry about discovering that your manufacturer closed the business without getting the job done. Like every industry, businesses start and get closed; a more rooted China wiring manufacturer will advantageously have you at peace.

Skill level and experience

As discussed earlier, automating the whole wiring harness process has become impossible. Therefore, standardization is less achieved with manual working thus making it easy for you to identify a quality finished product. It will depend on the level of expertise of the designers and manufacturers.

Quality control is also an aspect you can consider about your cable harness manufacturer. It is mainly implemented during testing. Therefore, the company should have invested in high-testing technology. Efficient and optimal testing guarantees that your requirements for a quality and reliable wiring harness will be met.

Does the company’s cost complement the quality?

It is human nature to relate expensive with quality. However, your wiring harness manufacturer should be able to meet your component and product quality needs so that you will be happy to pay for it.

Proper communication and interaction

Apart from working to achieve a quality product, the manufacturer should be attentive to your specific needs and put them into action. Additionally, when you reach out, the manufacturer should respond immediately and address your concerns. Communication should not be frustrating.

FAQ 

What are the regulations for China wiring?

Apart from meeting customer requirements, China wiring is under certain safety, design, and installation standards.

The rules and regulations are formulated by GB standards (GuoBiao Standards), China Compulsory Certification (CCC), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

The IEC tries to harmonize the wiring standards globally. It has proven difficult as every country varies environmentally and structurally regarding electrical appliances, machines, and automobiles.

What other codes apply to wiring?

One of the most popular is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which most European countries, the UK, and Argentina follow.

Another popular code is the National Electric Code (NEC) that Canada and the US follow. 

Wiringo: Your Trusted Wiring Harness Manufacturer

Manufacturing wire harnesses or cable harnesses requires expertise and experience. We at Wiringo are committed to providing outstanding wire harness solutions. Through our expert technicians who understand and are familiar with the required standards of China wiring, we deliver nothing short of the best.

With years of experience in wiring and manufacturing related materials, we have mastered the skill and perfected the art of understanding and making your ideas come to be. We deal with highly qualified electrical engineers in designing cable harnesses, thus ensuring quality from the start.

Aside from acquiring standard processes, we also develop a methodology to develop some of our tools, plastic, dies, glass, metal, and synthetic materials. To bring all the materials and tools together, we have a highly designed and developed process with qualified technicians to ensure the manufacturing process goes smoothly and efficiently.

Our Commitment to Quality

We are solely responsible for testing that every harness will provide its optimum function. We confirm its durability under different environments, desired functionality and the place of application. Ultimately, we come up with quality-defined standards for manufacturing a cable harness.

Contact us any time; we will be glad to serve you.