I finally understood why my old boss was so picky about wire labeling after a new guy at a job site in Tampa asked me to trace a single unmarked cable for him.

It took us 45 minutes to find where it terminated, and now I use a label maker on every single run, no exceptions, because what's your go-to method for keeping a panel tidy when you're in a rush?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopher8672mo ago

That Tampa story is why my label maker never leaves my bag.

ivangrant2mo ago

My last big rush job in Phoenix taught me to just use colored zip ties for a quick visual system. It's not as good as labels, but it saves you when you have to get back in there later. Honestly, that little bit of color coding has saved my butt more than once.

leor3712d ago

Oh man, colored zip ties are a lifesaver until you forget your own system. I did a job once where I used blue for power and green for data, then came back two weeks later and couldn't remember which was which. Ended up just calling everything "the blue ones" and hoping for the best. At least with labels you can't second-guess yourself at 2am in a hot attic. But hey, any system is better than the "poke it and see what happens" method I used to rely on.