Do you "colour-code" your wiring?

[Mark Hammer]

For some years, I've been making a point of colour-coding my wiring, with some colours dedicated to specific functions.  (Input is always white, output always blue, resonance always purple, t/m/b always yellow-orange-brown, etc.)  Given how many different things a distractible guy like myself has on the go - many because I didn't have "that" pot value on hand or a suitable enclosure or switch - it can sometimes take a while to get back to something.  And by the time I get back to it, I need reminders of what was what. Given my penchant for using perfboard, it's not like I can rely on legending to show me what goes or comes from where.  The colour-coding gives me a head start.

So I was wondering if others used similar colour coding.  Alternatively do you have any particular reason for using the same colour throughout?

[GGBB]

I try, but I don't always have enough of the color I want to use. Usually - in to switch is white, pcb in from switch is yellow, pcb out to switch is green, out from switch is blue, power red, ground black. Beyond that I don't have a scheme - I always have board mounted pots, so the only other things are the occasional toggle where I usually just use whatever I have the most of.

[Prehistoricman]

You would LOVE my first pedal build. I only used blue solid-core wire 

[EBK]

White wire for "clean", brown wire (sometimes gray) for "dirty".

Red wire for +V, black wire for -V, and green wire for Vb or ground (if bipolar supply).

[roseblood11]

Only in more complex pedal builds, but always in amps.

[italianguy63]

I do... a lot of it has to do with how much of which color there is.. so some colors get multi-purposed!!

Red - V+
Black - V-
White - also common, V- or ground.
Grey - ditto
Brown - ditto, or offboard pots, (pot GND)
Green - Input
Blue - Output, or offboard pots
Purple - Output
Orange - Bipolor power, switches, or offboard pots
Yellow - Ring, or offboard pots
Twisted pair solid core - LED lamps

MC

[EBK]

I forgot to mention that I will often deviate from my color coding scheme if the particular pedal that I am building is a booster, overdrive, distortion, fuzz, filter, delay, or modulation circuit of any type. 

[Derringer]

I just did a build with a bipolar supply on protoboard
Ground was black
-V was green
+V was red
signal was mixed between blue and yellow

[davent]

Yup;
Red V+
Black V-
Green - signal ground
White - signal inputs
Orange - signal outputs

Other colours where needed.
dave

[Fancy Lime]

Interesting thread.

I always mean to but I have no real system, so there are always inconsistencies, a fact which renders the whole exercise completely pointless the way I do it.

It would be really awesome if those of you who do it right could suggest "recommended color coding guidelines" for the most important functions. There seems to be some but not complete consensus in the answers so far. Might make it easier for beginners to adopt a sensible color coding system if V+, V-, Vr, In, Out and maybe some other important functions had a "sort of agreed upon" coding.

Cheers,
Andy

[patrick398]

For some reason i have strong association with colour and it's function in a circuit. I don't know where it came from but i assume it was just habit that stuck but it stick to it fairly religiously now.
V+ - Red
Gnd - Black
Input - Blue
Output - Orange
1/2 supply or regulator output - Yellow
Pots/Switches - Purple, White, Green

If i run out of a colour i have to swap for closest match. Black for Brown, Blue for Purple etc.

[Transmogrifox]

Yup.  I usually make up a color coding scheme for a specific project (like others have said) depending on what colors of wire I have available.

The only thing that seems to be a constant is I always have Red and Black wire around so,
Red V+
Black V-

In projects with bipolar supplies, green is ground. Sometimes I will use green for virtual grounds.

[Rob Strand]

I try to use color coding where I can.  It prevents making errors, especially silly errors which blows stuff up.  It also makes servicing and debugging easier.   If you have ever worked on equipment with 10 bundles of 20 grey wires you quickly realize you are fighting with cable identification more than solving the problem.  Imagine how much time is wasted trying to find a swapped cable in one of the bundles, or tracing signals from one end to the other when you have different connectors at each end.

For small stuff I think you can get away with the same color wire for economical/convenience reasons.

Important stuff like power and grounds should be color coded regardless.

Mains is color coded by law.

[Marcos - Munky]

I try to use those ones:
- red/white: V+
- black/brown: gnd
- blue: in
- green: out
- whatever color I have: pot/switch wiring, just try to use at least 2 different colors

[Mark Hammer]

Looks like I'm in good company!

My penchant for colour coding is why I like to order the "samplers" from Small Bear now and then.  A bit of each of 10 colours keeps a distractible guy like me out of trouble. 

[bloxstompboxes]

Yeah, but not the same necessarily for every build. Obviously, power is black and red. Input and output is usually white, can be yellow. Pots, if not onboard are whatever hasn't already been used... blue, orange, yellow, etc.

[nocentelli]

Apart from red for +ve, black for 0v/ground, every build has blue for input and yellow for ouput because I first understood how 3pdt bypass worked using gaussmarkov's excellent 3D images and understood this to be some kind of convention 

[bean]

Red: +
Brown: gnd
Green: In
Blue: Out

Everything else is grey or bits of leftover wire.

[duck_arse]

my practise is to pick up the printer cable and see what colour is sticking out the longest, and then work the scheme around that, seeing as I have white striped and black striped as well as solids. generally [always], red/black for supply, but greens for ground. lights for signal to bypass and a variant to jacks. leds and mill wires - I just amuse myself with some dumb fun reason for the colours chosen.

lots of scribble on circuit dias, too. and then I have trouble picking the ugly "pink" wire from any of the grey wires, or the white/black. brown/white.

[tonyharker]

Yes I use pink wire everywhere.