Rich,

I made a full set of labels for my circuit breaker panel for pennies. I bought a pack of Avery labels about the right size for those small spaces alongside each switch. They’re sticky on the back when you peel them away from the protective wax-like paper backing, like all those standard Avery labels are. Then I typed the labels’ text into a template on my laptop, printed that onto a label sheet, and laid a clear laminate sheet (available from any office supply store) over the top side of the labels page only. (Why does this sound more complicated than it was?) When I’m ready to apply the labels, which are now semi-waterproof and dirt-proof thanks to the laminate sheet, I’ll cut them with a scissors, peel off the backing and stick ’em on. The rub is I first want to reorganize my switches into a more sensible configuration on the panel, a job I won’t get to until I’m down-islands.

Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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Rich,

I have had a very advanced Brother labeler for many years. THis is a
bigger machine with a qwerty keyboard that cost several hundred dollars
new. It uses the TX series of tapes upto 1″ wide. I have all sorts of
tape cartridges for it including the 1/2″ white on black and neat tapes
like 1″ black on dayglo orange, and black on yellow. These tapes are
laminated and hold up very well to weather, though I find the orange
fades after a few years in the sun.

I did my whole electrical panel with these. The neat thing about the
advanced machine is that you can really control the formatting, length
of the label, etc so they all look very consistent and professional. I
was thinking about starting n online service for customized labels where
you could design your label interactively on-line and we would print and
mail them.

By the way, the TX cartridges are much larger than the newer TZ carts
and hold much more tape for about the same price. Lots of good buys on
the tape cartridges on e-bay. I have 5 or 6 cartiridges of the white
on black becasue everytime another boater seems my panel, they want some
labels of their own… $1 each plus $1 mailing for any quantity…

Pete

Rich Carter wrote:

I use my Brothers label maker for all kinds of things. Its become one of my
favorite tools. The most useful purpose is to label cables. That way I can
tell what gets wired to where. I also lable my wall-wart power supplies.
These are the AC converter boxes that seem to come with everything these
days. There seems to be no standard for plugs. It is possible to plug the
wrong adapter into the wrong appliance. If you grab the wrong one by
accident you can burn up your electronics. I label these too. I also label
storage boxes and all kinds of other stuff. I keep one at work and one at
home. I somehow lost the one at home so I went to Staples to buy a
replacement. I need one for the boat too. If the missing labeler shows up,
I’ll put it on the boat.

I’ve always wanted to make my own circuit braker labels. Today at Staples I
saw that they have white-on-black label tape. The tape requires one of
their more expensive machines, but they have one with a $35 rebate. This
makes the $50 labeler cost $15. For what the tape costs, they should give
them away. Maybe that’s the idea with the rebate. The tape runs anywhere
from $25 to $35 per roll. A roll lasts a long time, but its still
expensive. I hate the rebates, but what the heck. Now I’ll be able to tag
my breaker panel with more descriptive labels.

The tape isn’t very durable so its not suitable for outdoor applications.
For high-wear situations such as switch and breaker labels I cover the label
with clear tape to protect the lettering. It may be possible to spray the
tape with clear matt Krylon paint. I haven’t tried it yet.

Rich
BlackSheep

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Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum

Rich,

Switches in the cockpit makes too much sense. As for having to stare at the panel for a while to figure out what switch to hit, I’m guilty as charged. That’s why I made the new labels. However, as I said, I’ve been saving them until I reorganize the switches. Right now my panel is about as clear as mud. When it’s done it should be much easier to use.

Tor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~