Wire Label Maker

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dduffee260

dduffee260

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Texas
We are looking at wire marking. I think we are going to use the tubes that heat shrink. I see also now where they have a stick type that wraps around the wire.
Does anyone have input on a label maker such as Brady, Kroy or any other brand? I think we have a T&B but it seems like it will not mark the tubes. Most of the wire is going to be #14 thhn single wires with a few 16/2 shielded control wire in other conduits.
 
So one day as my business grew I thought I would spend more money on a wire labeler. Not a WalMart special for 20.00 but a real nice one. The supply house had the Brady ID pal for 149.00. Looked stout and printed on all kinds of material type roll tapes. I used it here and there. Then about 1 year later it quit. I called Brady to see about a repair or to get parts or if they could tell me what was wrong. They said those are just throw away models. Non repairable. You need to buy another one. I took it to the manager of the supple house and he gave me a new one.
 
I have the Brady IDExpert and it seems to work OK and is repairable.
I know they have the heat shrink sleeves for this labeler.

I would also look at the Panduit Panther.

The Brady has a max width of 1-1/4" and the Panther's max is 1".
 
I've had the Kroy for a while, which I bought for printing onto heatshrink, but to be honest I hardly ever use it these days; I just do the label on the el-cheapo Brother PTouch and pop it under a bit of clear heatshrink...
 
Rampage_Rick said:
I'm partial to the Dymo RhinoPro 5000. Funny, your T&B should be essentially the same unit. I don't have any problems with the heatshrink that you describe. Read more here
Click to expand...

I think I will shovel the dust off the T&B and see it if will print tubes. No sense in buying something we already have. Thanks for the info.
 
we mostly use the self laminating labels. easy to print out, easy to apply. no extra labor to heat shrink them.

and they work a lot better then you might think. about the only place you have trouble with them is if the wires get coated with oil or water. sometimes that will cause the adhesive to lift.

we have a few of the portable Brady label printers for printing a few wire markers, but most of the markers are made in advance on a wire label printer. much much faster for printing large numbers of labels. they com out on sheets, instead of one at a time.
 
Rampage_Rick said:
I'm partial to the Dymo RhinoPro 5000. Funny, your T&B should be essentially the same unit. I don't have any problems with the heatshrink that you describe. Read more here
Click to expand...
Hi, I'm getting ready to label the wires on a panel and I see the Rhino 6000 without case for $174 and the Rhino5000 for $116 with case...I like the tube Idea but I would think you would have to disconnect the wire from the breaker to put the tube on and then have to heatshrink it??? Are they worth the effort or will another type work as well. I think the heatshrink tubes couldn't come off... the labels I've seen don't stick very well, any suggestions,??Thanks, JB
 
dbuckley said:
I've had the Kroy for a while, which I bought for printing onto heatshrink, but to be honest I hardly ever use it these days; I just do the label on the el-cheapo Brother PTouch and pop it under a bit of clear heatshrink...
Click to expand...
I have an older brother p-touch model 2200, can you tell me what size and kind of tape/heat shrink you use and how you apply this..Thanks, JB
 
No rocket science...

My P-Touch is really old, so old I couldn't find a picture of it in google image search, but, it does 9mm and 12mm labels same as the modern P-Touch printers.

I use see-thru heatshrink, off the display stand at the supply house, or cheaper from the electronics shops(!), which is handy since it's next door...

I choose the heatshrink size to be a bit bigger than the cable it will attach to, as the stuff shrinks up to about 40% by circumference, I believe. I print the label, stick the label to the cable, pop on the heatshrink that is about half an inch longer than the label at each end, and heat away with a Chinese made heat gun with burst fire control that makes my workshop lamps dim cyclically. If I'm in the wild I have a gas heat tool (its a soldering tool, but has a hot air attachment) like this one

lnea_p1.jpg


Works easily on cables from about a quarter inch to over an inch OD, and I've got some two inch heatshrink that I just haven't found a cable to try it on yet!

It also works with paper, so you can print up labels on the laser printer, cut to size with a pair of scissors, and then shrink them into place.
 
brady rhino

brady rhino

dduffee260 said:
We are looking at wire marking. I think we are going to use the tubes that heat shrink. I see also now where they have a stick type that wraps around the wire.
Does anyone have input on a label maker such as Brady, Kroy or any other brand? I think we have a T&B but it seems like it will not mark the tubes. Most of the wire is going to be #14 thhn single wires with a few 16/2 shielded control wire in other conduits.
Click to expand...
I have been using extensively it is not perfect but gets the job done
 
Thanks to all for the help...I ended up getting the rhino pro 5000 and tried 3/8 heat shrink around a #12 and looks great...might be a little time consuming but I think well woth the effort...JB
 
This post is edited to show proper icon to replace "thum down" icon sent on previous post... Thanks again, JB:D
 
Panduit
Pan-Quik LS3E
-we have used this labeller for three years are are very pleased with it's performance.
- it can label different sizes of tube style off a roll cartridge in different sizes
-it can also print off labels that stick to wires that you can not disconnect to slip the typical tube style over , you simply stick it on and wrap the clear protective tape around it.
 
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