John Jasmin,
Cirent Semiconductor
Problem
Labels on patch cables often contain smeared or illegible writing. As a result, when these cables are accidentally pulled from their outlets, reinserting them into the proper outlet becomes guesswork. Also, ribbon-type labels are not permissible in some environments, such as cleanrooms.
Solution
Attaching clear thermal labels to wrap-around labels prevents the inscriptions from being smeared. The thermal labels also allow the wrap-around labels to be used in contaminant-free environments.
Procedure
1) Choose transparent, white, or colored tape to use in your electronic labeler. I prefer transparent.
2) Input whatever information you want to appear on the wrap-around label into the thermal labeler. You may want to use a labeler that allows two lines of type on a 12-millimeter piece of tape. Then, input the identity of the end point on the first line, and the connection point on the second line.
3) Print the thermal label.
4) Attach the thermal label to the writing field of the wrap-around label.
5) The ends of the thermal label will overlap the wrap-around label. Either fold the ends over or cut them off.
6) Attach the wrap-around label to the patch cable as you normally would.
This technique can also be used for marking other types of cable, as long as the correct type of label wrap is used with the correct diameter of cable. You may find that the products used fit almost perfectly on a Category 5 cable, but they sometimes overlap a Category 3 cable.
Thermal labels can fit in the writing field of many styles of wrap-around label. However, a thermal label`s edges overlap those of the wrap-around label. Users can fold the thermal label`s edges or cut them off.
The inscription on the thermal label fits almost perfectly onto a Category 5 cable.
John Jasmin is lead network technician with Cirent Semiconductor (Orlando, FL).