Brother label printer

[Russell griffiths]

So I’ve just been given a brand new E300 label maker thingy 

anybody used one, got any tips for ease of use, or do I do myself a favour and chuck it in the garage as it will be one less thing to annoy me. 

[ToughButterCup]

Oooooo, thats posh. I bought the cheapest one - and cant live without it. I would be a raving looney if our circuits weren't labelled. 

See if you can go for the absolute minimum , something like

• switch on (top left)
• type the label
• print (top right)
• cut (left hand white thing).

Thats all I do with ours. If you want to throw it, tell me and I'll send you my address

[Barney12]

I've got the lesser manual model:

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I've had a cheaper Brother label printer for a while and it's invaluable.  I label pretty much everything with it, cables, pipes, switches, you name it, it has a label on it.  I've lost count of the number of times all these labels have saved me hours of head scratching later, trying to remember what does what.  It's very easy to just get on and do stuff, thinking that you'll remember why you did it and what it does, only to find that you come back to it a year or two later and can't remember what goes where.

[Gone West]

We've got a Dymo LetraTag and have ended up using it far more than we thought we would.

[Bitpipe]

I had a similar Dymo label printer from an old job - could print black on white tape and vice versa. 

 

Very addictive - was told to stop using it by SWMBO as was labelling every jar, container etc.

 

This was pre build, I left the post build labelling to our OCD electrician...

 

[Jeremy Harris]

31 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

This was pre build, I left the post build labelling to our OCD electrician...

 

 

I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to labelling cables.  During the saga of the sale of our old house, when the buyer forked out for the surveyor's recommended electrician to do another EIRC, the chap was a bit taken aback by the labels on every wire, including ring final starts and ends, etc, and the labels on every circuit.  I can't see the point in spending time working out what wires run where and then not sticking a label on them.  That just makes work for the next person who comes along and has to play detective.  It only takes a few minutes to label stuff as you go, and saves a great deal of hassle later on.

[epsilonGreedy]

15 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to labelling cables.  During the saga of the sale of our old house, when the buyer forked out for the surveyor's recommended electrician to do another EIRC, the chap was a bit taken aback by the labels on every wire, including ring final starts and ends, etc, and the labels on every circuit.  I can't see the point in spending time working out what wires run where and then not sticking a label on them.  That just makes work for the next person who comes along and has to play detective.  It only takes a few minutes to label stuff as you go, and saves a great deal of hassle later on.

 

 

How many labels per cable do you recommend, just each end or also at mid points where cable runs are clustered?

[ToughButterCup]

One each end....

[Jeremy Harris]

13 minutes ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

How many labels per cable do you recommend, just each end or also at mid points where cable runs are clustered?

 

Just the ends that aren't obvious.  No point in labelling a single light switch cable, for example, as it's obvious what it is.  Very useful to label the ends of cables where there are lots of them close together.

[Russell griffiths]

Does this stick well to pvc cables. 

Or do I need a specific one for cables. 

[Bitpipe]

7 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

Does this stick well to pvc cables. 

Or do I need a specific one for cables. 

 

What worked well for me was to print a longer than required tag (using spaces), loop round cable and stick it back on itself. 

[Jeremy Harris]

If it's like my cheapo Brother it may well have a cable label option (there's an icon with "ABC" and a loop) that does this automatically.

[Russell griffiths]

Thanks all I will charge it up and have a play. 

[Miek]

18 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

Does this stick well to pvc cables. 

Or do I need a specific one for cables. 

You can choose cable 'wrap format' then enter the cable diameter and print, this works well for round cables. Or you can choose 'flag' format an it will print a long strip which wraps around the cable but leaves a long bit with the printing on. 

 

You can buy heat shrink tube print medium but it's very expensive for what it is. 

 

Just a note on cartridges, as with all printers the cost is in the ink. Cheap clone cartidges work well but the glue is not so good I've found, especially if doing cable wrap, but it's a third the price. I use clone eBay cartridges myself as I can't stomach the brother prices.