wire label coating

I had an ink roller once that would put numbers on small wires. You had to roll it twice for double digits but it still came in handy. I'll look around for it.

JC

Clear heatshrink tubing. Not perfectly clear, but the numbers show through and it keeps the labels from getting peeled off.

Tove

What sort of labels? We used to use some cloth-based ones that stuck pretty well, any electrical supply will have them, but they do cost a bunch. I tried the Brother P-Touch on car wiring, the stuff delaminated after about a year in the engine compartment. The adhesive was still good, though.

I've also used little plastic tags that attach with tie-wraps, you mark on them with a Sharpie. They work fine until you have to run a bunch of wires into a tight spot.

The best idea I've seen is the thermal marker, melts the numbers/ letters into the wire jacket. Then there's the VW way, use various insulation colors and stripe combinations with a matching wire diagram which is also marked with the actual wire size. Unless everything is totally black and grungy, you can usually puzzle out what goes to where with that system. Terminals on the various switches have numbers that match the diagrams, too.

Stan

snipped-for-privacy@prolynx.com fired this volley in news:3d2470bd-0b49-41ab-acc1- snipped-for-privacy@j8g2000yql.googlegroups.com:

diagram

I thought that was pretty much the "every car manufacturer way".

In any case, that's not practical for the guy re-wiring his own harness. One cannot easily obtain a broad selection of color-coded wires in a given gauge. You'll be lucky to get five colors through consumer outlets.

Tags or wire markers are the way to go. Brady markers with clear heat-shrink over them are probably the most durable and easy-to-come- by solution for the shade-tree guy. You can get Brady labels at any decent electrical supply house, and most home centers. They aren't cheap, but keep the extras in a temperate environment, and they'll last for years.

Make your heat shrink cover longer than you think. Oil can migrate in between it and the wire, and suck up by capillary attraction until it munges the label.

Personally, all my engines are wet/dirty somewhere... so I label everything (at both ends of every run).

LLoyd

"Karl Townsend" wrote in rec.crafts.metalworking:

Krylon "Crystal Clear".

For a heavier coating, Krylon "Clear Glaze". [Triple thickness]

Hey! I was going to suggest that!

It works well. Just be sure to use indelible ink underneath.

Even better- write on clear (or white) heat shrink, shrink on, cover with clear heat shrink.

Dave

Agreed.

Also see McMaster-Carr page 1934.

Unless you are doing a vintage restoration with "points off" for non "vintage era" components, I'd suggest just using different color wires and extensive use of split wire loom (sold in various diameters in auto parts stores), You could also use color coded crimp terminals or short sections of colored heatshrink tubing. Use lots of wire ties (Ty-Wraps), or if a restoration, you can use black waxed cloth lacing. I also make use of screw terminal blocks (often called barrier strips). Make a good wiring diagram with the connectors on the terminal blocks numbered.

I solder all crimp term> I'm rewiring my tractor. See thread below. While I'm here, I'm taking an

Laser printed paper labels under clear heat shrink tubing seem to hold up well. P-Touch labels under the same heat shrink tubing would also work.

A good idea.

Clear heat-shrink tubing over the labels. Run it at least a half inch beyond each end of the label.

Of course -- if you had the right tools :-) you could do it the way that a previous employer did when building flight simulators for the military. (I have no doubt that other manufacturers used the same practice when building the actual aircraft for the military. :-)

Each wire in the cable is run through a machine which measures off the desired length (longer than needed so there is slack at both ends when the cable is laced up). Aside from color codes, each wire in heat stamped with a number every few inches, so if you dig the wire out in the middle of the harness bundle, you can identify it and look up where each end connects. (They also used computers to sort and print out wire lists to identify everything.)

To do this, you need the heat stamp machine, sets of hot stamp numbers, two or three different colors of hot stamp ribbon so you can select a contrasting color for each wire. Black numbers on white wire and gray wire. White numbers on black wire and on red wire. Experiment to find the best contrast on other wire colors.

Good Luck, DoN.

No! The colors on pre-insulated crimp terminals are to tell you the proper range of wire sizes for which that crimp terminal is correct, and which crimper to use with the terminals. (Yes, each size terminal must be crimped with the proper crimper for proper performance.)

The colors for sizes which are likely to be found in a tractor or automobile are:

Red 22-18 Ga Blue 16-14 Ga Yellow 12-10 Ga Red 8 Ga Blue 6 Ga Yellow 4 Ga Red 2 Ga

The sequence continues beyond both ends of what I have written there, but I doubt that you will be using anything smaller than 22 Ga in a vehicle, nor will you be using anything larger than 2 Ga (if anywhere near that large).

Yes.

Again -- *no*. A proper crimped terminal (e.g. the AMP P.I.D.G. series) with the right size terminal crimped onto the right size wire is more reliable in the face of vibration than any which has been soldered after the crimping. The "P.I.D.G." stands for "Pre Insulated Diamond Grip", and the crimper, as well as crimping firmly an oxygen-tight connection to the wire, will also form a strain relief over the wire's insulation (the "Diamond Grip" part).

Flow solder into it and it will wick up to the insulation, leaving a rigid length of wire which stops just where the insulation starts, so the vibration flexes it all at that one point, and failure is more likely there than at any other point.

Even solder terminal connectors should be soldered with anti-wicking tweezers to prevent this for any system where vibration is a problem.

The heat can cause the crimped terminal insulation to deform, but there is a copper lining to the terminal's insulation which still keeps its shape and grips the insulation of the wire.

BTW -- the proper crimpers leave a mark to allow inspection to verify that the terminals were crimped with the proper size dies. For the smaller size they are alternating single or double dots in the middle of the crimp. For the larger sizes (8 Ga and larger) the size itself is formed in the insulation making it even easier.

IIRC -- the pattern is:

Red (22-18 Ga) 0ne dot Blue (16-14 Ga) Two dots Yellow (12-10 Ga) One dot

and so on.

The proper crimpers also assure a complete cycle of the crimp tool via a ratchet for the sizes up to Yellow (12-10 Ga). Beyond that, the crimpers are hydraulicly powered -- at least up to the 4-0 (again blue) which is as far as my personal collection of crimpers goes. The bottom end is a rare small yellow which is 28-24 Ga IIRC.

Good Luck, DoN.

Before I retired, I had a Brady TLS2200 and used the direct print heat shrink sleeves. They are available in various materials. I'd make .csv files from wire lists, and send to the printer. The sleeves are damned expensive, though.

Pete Keillor

I've used these

along with a layer of clear heat shrink tubing in the past.

Wes

Listen to DoN when it comes to crimpers. He knows everything about them and then some. Based on his advice, I bought a bunch of great and useful crimpers and even resold some ebay ebay. DoN is the God of crimper advice.

Definitely do not solder a proper crimp in a vibration environment. This is known to cause fatigue failure of wire.

i

On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:52:57 -0500, the infamous "Karl Townsend" scrawled the following:

Nope. There isn't one. The best you can do are the preprinted number label strips made for that purpose, Karl.

1) Use color-coded wire.

2) Draw up a wiring diagram/schematic.

3) Keep a list of what each wire's endpoints are. They're often easier than tracing a wiring diagram. (I see that you're already doing this. Good call.)

-- Don't take life so seriously. You'll never get out of it alive. --Elbert Hubbard

We don't use heat stamping on aircraft wires any more; the insulation is so thin on most wires nowadays that the marking will degrade its ability to insulate. Most everyone has bought laser markers, or has gone to sleeves for small jobs. There's an SAE paper out about the problem, but my web connection is on the fritz and I can't find the number. Some nice Kingsley machines can be bought for cheap now, if you look around.

Best regards, Dale

tie knots.

Hul

Karl Townsend wrote:

Are you using proper numbered+coloured ferrules over the wires for the labeling? If so, they won't need protection. If not, get some :-) Forget anything that involves writing or printing on labels, it isn't worth the effort.

Mark Rand RTFM