Electrical, Wire and Cable Identification

Selecting the correct wire marking material:

There are a variety of materials that can be used for labeling wires and cables - paper, polyolefin shrink tube, self-laminating wire markers and pre-printed wire labels. Various type of printing can be used from hand labeling with Sharpie markers, to dot matrix printers, to thermal transfer printers. What material is best for labeling wires and cables?

When selecting a material to label wires or cables it is important to ask yourself four key questions.

1) Will you be marking the wire before or after it is terminated?

2) What size (gauge) wire will you be labeling?

3) In what type of environment will the wire markers be located?

4) Do you need to print your own wire markers, or will you be using preprinted labels?