Pro tip - label wall warts

[duckduck]

When I buy a new device that comes with an AC-DC converter / power supply / wall wart, I print up a label on the label maker for what the wall wart is for and stick it on the wall wart. This prevents me from having to do the dreaded "dig through the box of wall warts" and read the tiny writing on the underside of each one until I find a match, or, heaven forbid, using a lab bench power supply with an adapter.

EDIT: grammar

EDIT2: I have a Brother PT-D220. I like the Brother because knock-off labels are available for cheap. I have labels that I printed a couple of years ago that look like the day I printed them. HOLY CRAP there are shrink-tubing labels! I need those to mark audio and RF cables I make. Thanks for the tip! Now I have to figure out which Brother printer will work with the cheap knock-off shrink-tubing labels. I always work backwards like that when purchasing consumer gear that eats consumables.

[mendip_discovery]

A few years ago I thought what would be nice is a AC to DC power supply that can have multiple addressed outputs which can be used to power the myriad of stuff that lives on or around my desk. But I don't have the skills or know-how to build it.

Does your label printer have a label on it, telling you its a label printer?

[BrokenYugo]

That's actually one of the first things I did with my new label maker (Brother PTH111). The knockoff ~$2 cartridges work quite well for general purpose use, they stick good and peel off clean even after a trip through the dishwasher.

On the wall warts I label anything center negative on the wart and with a flag on the end of the cable to prevent mixups, label on all the center neg gear too, including the label maker.

[berke]

That's actually one of the first things I did with my new label maker (Brother PTH111). The knockoff ~$2 cartridges work quite well for general purpose use, they stick good and peel off clean even after a trip through the dishwasher.

OP's idea is good if you know your labels won't fade.  Last year I labeled the outlets etc. in my house with a Dymo and a knock-off cardtridge, they're now all faded, even those not seeing the sun.  I don't know if the heat from the adapter will help with the faading.  Maybe the old-style embossed labels would be better.

On the wall warts I label anything center negative on the wart and with a flag on the end of the cable to prevent mixups, label on all the center neg gear too, including the label maker.

What is the evolutionary advantage of a species that produces center negative adapters?

[schmitt trigger]

One of those ideas, which you facepalm yourself, while thinking: “why didn’t I think of that myself? Its sooooo obvious.”

[tom66]

What is the evolutionary advantage of a species that produces center negative adapters?

Sony used to do it with their camcorders.  It meant it was quite hard (for some time) to find third party adapters.  They were at least smart enough to put a crowbar diode on the input so it wouldn't nuke the camera if you wired it backwards.

[PlainName]

Used to do this, but now everything is USB-powered there seems to be little point.

[AVGresponding]

That's actually one of the first things I did with my new label maker (Brother PTH111). The knockoff ~$2 cartridges work quite well for general purpose use, they stick good and peel off clean even after a trip through the dishwasher.

OP's idea is good if you know your labels won't fade.  Last year I labeled the outlets etc. in my house with a Dymo and a knock-off cardtridge, they're now all faded, even those not seeing the sun.  I don't know if the heat from the adapter will help with the faading.  Maybe the old-style embossed labels would be better.

On the wall warts I label anything center negative on the wart and with a flag on the end of the cable to prevent mixups, label on all the center neg gear too, including the label maker.

What is the evolutionary advantage of a species that produces center negative adapters?

That's interesting... the Brother ones don't fade, even the knock-off ones. Must be a different printing process? The Brother uses a thermal transfer method, which does leave a negative behind on the "ink" roll, inside the cartridge, so needs to be destroyed if you print anything sensitive (passwords etc). Big Clive did a vid tearing one down iirc.

[PlainName]

Dymo use heat-sensitive labels. Make a spot hot and it goes black. Fine if you're labelling, say, condiments in the larder but stuck to a PSU that gets hot they will turn grey then black over time.

[berke]

Dymo use heat-sensitive labels. Make a spot hot and it goes black. Fine if you're labelling, say, condiments in the larder but stuck to a PSU that gets hot they will turn grey then black over time.

Yes but my labels faded even though they weren't exposed to any particularly high temperatures (on the wall for example).  I have some labels printed with original Dymo cartridges that haven't faded.  It's not only that the "unheated" white part gets darker, but the dark parts that were originally printed lose their blackness as well, the whole label converges to a purlish gray haze.

Someone should invent a portable laser label printer.
 

[PlainName]

Given that Dymo are trying to outdo HP as spawn of the devil currently, and your cheap knock-off label fades without prompting, perhaps you're better dumping it all for a Brother or something 

[themadhippy]

yellow insulating tape and a black sharpie.No power supply/batteries,no manufactures material lock in and unlimited symbols and languages built in.

[berke]

Given that Dymo are trying to outdo HP as spawn of the devil currently, and your cheap knock-off label fades without prompting, perhaps you're better dumping it all for a Brother or something 

It is tempting.  Looks like there is even a good Linux driver for the USB models.  Would be most useful if the tape is wide enough to print 4 lines, so that I can have for example a readable label with pinout information on the back of a small board.

EDIT: Holy crap HEAT SHRINK TUBING LABELS exist!

[BrokenYugo]

That's actually one of the first things I did with my new label maker (Brother PTH111). The knockoff ~$2 cartridges work quite well for general purpose use, they stick good and peel off clean even after a trip through the dishwasher.

OP's idea is good if you know your labels won't fade.  Last year I labeled the outlets etc. in my house with a Dymo and a knock-off cardtridge, they're now all faded, even those not seeing the sun.  I don't know if the heat from the adapter will help with the faading.  Maybe the old-style embossed labels would be better.

On the wall warts I label anything center negative on the wart and with a flag on the end of the cable to prevent mixups, label on all the center neg gear too, including the label maker.

What is the evolutionary advantage of a species that produces center negative adapters?

I put a flame to one and it shriveled up, melted and burned before the print did anything funny. All the laminated Brother stuff thermal transfers the text to backside of the clear film, then sticks it to a piece of double sided tape that also forms the background. Smart system aside from how it inevitably wastes some since the print head is like an inch back from the cutter to make room for the two tapes to come together and the toner ribbon return path.

Center neg is a Japanese standard, some throwback to germanium era (PNP dominant) stuff if I had to guess.

[berke]

yellow insulating tape and a black sharpie.No power supply/batteries,no manufactures material lock in and unlimited symbols and languages built in.

Relevant username

Electrical tape gets gooey and shifts around in my experience, collecting dust, and requies cleaning when you peel it off; but then you could user another kind of tape.  The Sharpie traces wear off with abrasion and common solvents, but you could add a layer of transparent tape on top.  You need to lay the yellow tape on a flat, convenient surface if you want to write properly, it's hard to pack lots of information.  If you write something elaborate and make a mistake, you can't fix it.
You need scissors, the Sharpie, the yellow tape, the transparent tape and the writing surface.  If you use a Sharpie to write something on a circuit board and then solder something, guess what happens when you use IPA to clean the board.

[Haenk]

Yes but my labels faded even though they weren't exposed to any particularly high temperatures (on the wall for example).  I have some labels printed with original Dymo cartridges that haven't faded.  It's not only that the "unheated" white part gets darker, but the dark parts that were originally printed lose their blackness as well, the whole label converges to a purlish gray haze.

Thermal printing is a chemical process, the printing *will* get weaker over time, the label will turn somewhat yellow/grey-ish over time, especially when exposed to light. The decomposition will be sped up by higher temperature and UV-light.
DYMO (original) is not a lot better than 3rd party labels, just way more expensive.
Thermo transfer (with black foil) however keeps the black printing like forever. Essentially you are covering your label with a mix of wax and carbon particles, so you don't have a chemical process involved, the print is a physical process.

For thermal printing, you are pretty much stuck to paper-based labels; transfer labels are available in paper, different plastic materials and even metal. So you can even create chemical resistant labels.

So if you want to mark something to be readable for years to come, use transfer print. There are also these useful handheld printers with cartridges, those are transfer printers as well. Cheap and great, IMHO.

[AVGresponding]

Given that Dymo are trying to outdo HP as spawn of the devil currently, and your cheap knock-off label fades without prompting, perhaps you're better dumping it all for a Brother or something 

It is tempting.  Looks like there is even a good Linux driver for the USB models.  Would be most useful if the tape is wide enough to print 4 lines, so that I can have for example a readable label with pinout information on the back of a small board.

EDIT: Holy crap HEAT SHRINK TUBING LABELS exist!

Quite a few of the Brother ones do up to 24mm wide tape, so you can get quite a few lines of text on them, especially if you are happy with smaller font sizes.

My E550W will also connect to a smartphone so you can print out (low res) pictures, and your own designs you make using the app.

The heatshrink labels are super good for making really nice sleeve cable ID's, even better than the Hellerman marker ferrules.

[mendip_discovery]

At work we use the P touch PT-P750W Its isn't too bulky and can use mains and batteries (or pack). Has USB, NFC or WiFi connections. The only downside is the p-touch software as it's a but odd at times but overall it's good. I have done over 40k of labels on mine and only swapped for a newer one a few months back.

The labels are really nice as they stick well but you do have a hour or so before they really start to stick. But even then they still come off easily. They cope ok with most conditions even oily ones. The only time they do become a bit of an arse is when they go through lots of hot/cold cycles as I have found the white bit stays on and the clear bit peals off, still not as much of an arse to clean than paper labels so I wont complain.

At home I have a handheld one as it was being chucked out of a customer's place as the battery was dead. Use it to label all the sorted nuts and bolts boxes. Even used different colours for electical stuff and mech stuff.

[berke]

Thanks a lot, now I have to buy another piece of equipment!    The desktop version is interesting but I need to label all the wiring in my house, OTOH being able to print something defined on the computer is also very useful.  Also I'm allergic to Windows and BT and WiFi.  There seems to be a hand-held version with USB connectivity that should do the trick.

[PlainName]

The Sharpie traces wear off with abrasion and common solvents, but you could add a layer of transparent tape on top.

Not good for long term. I have the pukka Hellerman cable labels where you write on them with felt tip then the clear part of the label sticks over that. OK for a year or two by now my scribbles are worse than doctor's notes. Only way I can tell wtf they are is because I happened to use different coloured pens.

[berke]

Not good for long term. I have the pukka Hellerman cable labels where you write on them with felt tip then the clear part of the label sticks over that. OK for a year or two by now my scribbles are worse than doctor's notes. Only way I can tell wtf they are is because I happened to use different coloured pens.

You could ask your pharmacist to read them for you.

[PlainName]

 

[radar_macgyver]

EDIT: Holy crap HEAT SHRINK TUBING LABELS exist!

Yep, and cheap knockoff ones exist too - Amazon is full of them. I use the Brother HSE knockoffs. The writing can come off under friction, so on cables that may be used outdoors, I add a clear heat shrink on top of the printed one. I used to use the 'Kroy' brand labels and printers, but they seem to be discontinued (and were also quite expensive).

To the OP, thanks for this, I've started doing this on various 'nonstandard' wall warts that have no other indication of what they're originally for. They also help on my very messy workbench when I have several plugged in and can't tell which one to unplug.

[SiliconWizard]

Omg, the OP is a heretic of the USB-C religion.

[tszaboo]

One of those ideas, which you facepalm yourself, while thinking: “why didn’t I think of that myself? Its sooooo obvious.”

I did, right after "charging up" a power drill with 12V AC. The drill didn't appreciate it, no fireworks, just actual zero capacity battery.