The voltage, painted on

The facts

Straight from the table the clock finder answers from. Voltage is the rated voltage of the system the body is keyed for.

The classes

• Violet: 20–25 V. Extra-low voltage, rare on cords.
• White: 40–50 V. Also extra-low voltage; the white body has a hairline of another colour so it is not mistaken for unpainted plastic.
• Yellow: 100–130 V. The North American 120 V "yellow plug"; 4h.
• Blue: 200–250 V. The most common body in the world, 6h on two poles. Blue is also used for the 3Ø 250 V and 3ØY 120/208 V three-phase systems at 9h.
• Red: 380–480 V. Three-phase industrial power: 6h on three poles and earth in the IEC world, 7h for 480 V in North America.
• Black: 500–690 V. 600 V three phase, 5h.
• Grey: 277 V single phase (5h on two poles), a North American lighting voltage.
• Orange: 125/250 V split phase, 12h on three poles and earth. North American only.
• Green: not a voltage. Green marks bodies for frequencies above 50/60 Hz (aircraft and test power at 400 Hz).

One rule for our own pages

On this site a voltage colour is always a filled square with the voltage printed on it. We never use those colours for stock or error state, so a red "480 V" chip and a red "out of stock" can never look alike.

What colour does not tell you

Amperage. A blue 16 A plug and a blue 63 A plug are the same colour and the same hour; only the shell diameter and the pin sizes change, and they change enough that a 20 A body will not enter a 30 A connector. Read the code on the body for the amps.