Brady printers

[apelly]

Have any of you guys had experience labelling cables/leads/wires with a brady printer?

Would you mind sharing? I like to be tidy, and my shitty brother label printer, well, I'm not sure those labels will be on the cable in a year.

[Balaur]

I'm an absolute label freak. Label all the things!

I quite appreciate my Brother label makers. I have the autonomous one and a small USB one. They use the laminated TZ(e) tapes which are quite indestructible when applied correctly. I stick cable labels to themselves and they cannot be removed easily. Works also very well for automotive stuff. The downside is cost obviously.

At work, we also use  Dymo LabelWritter stuff for consumable/destructible stuff. The labels themselves are quite cheap (especially when using compatible ones). Fade may be a problem though, depending on your application.

[madires]

Can't say anything about brady printers but I can you tell you about their labels. We had to use them to label whole datacenters, i.e. patch cables. They are expensive and suck (at least the ones we used). The wire labels look nice and got a large transparent part which is meant to be wound around the wire to protect the printed part but they don't stick well enough and come off easily. They had to be fixed with a transparent film tape additionally :-(

At home I'm using Brother TZ tapes and I really like them. Anway, get a printer with USB to be able to print special characters/icons/symbols.

[all_repair]

I like Brother and have been using it for my general labeling.  The extra lamination solves the peeling problems that Casio and dynamo have.  But I think it cannot "roll" stick well.  The biggest problem is the wordings are subjected to fading when the enivronment is hot.  I have seen those labels on the wires on outdoor installation totally blanked off.
I just bought an Epson to try.  It claimed that it would not have heat induced fading problem as the wordings are not thermal transfered but heat-printed onto the label.

[apelly]

Interesting. They're supposed to be the best in the business. The labels are bloody expensive though.

My Brother "label maker," as I've been corrected  , uses the TZ tape too. Funny, just after I started this thread I noticed that a label I applied recently, wrapped around a wire and stuck on itself sticky side to sticky side, had delaminated. May have been a fluke. Anyway, never had a problem on clean flat surfaces.

Your experience has put me off the Brady's, at least until someone can recommend one that actually works.

My Brother is stand-alone unfortunately. Never opened it, but maybe it can be hacked for better connectivity. Not sure why I didn't get one with USB. Maybe this one was on sale or something.

[Balaur]

My Brother "label maker," as I've been corrected  ,

Heh, sorry for being too bold in my statement. That was not a correction, actually. It's just the fact that Brother seems to like using the "labeler" or "laber maker" term for products using some sort of continuous tape (possibly in a cartridge) while the "label printer" term is used for the devices that print on individual, fixed-size labels in a roll. I wasn't sure what kind of Brother printer you had.

Edit:

A bit of marketing blurb right from Brother:

Brother P-touch label printers are a fast and effective way to create adhesive-backed labels to help keep you organized at home, the office, business, or school. Brother P-touch label makers are designed to print quality, durable labels to fit any need and any budget.

From handheld and desktop models to computer label printers, Brother P-touch labelers produce durable, colorful labels. Almost all of the P-touch products print on laminated labels that withstand abrasions, chemicals, water, spills, heat, cold and other harsh environments. Applications for Brother P-touch labels are virtually infinite, and P-touch labelers are both affordable and easy to use.

[apelly]

I just cracked it open and there's bugger all going on inside. Can show pics if anyone is interested. However, there are some interesting test points marked. TX, RX and what appear to be some programming points. Will have a sniff around the tx & rx later and see what's there. A very quick google doesn't yield any info about people hacking these. Brother do well at supporting linux though so I might see if there's some driver source around.

and Balaur: Relax mate. This is the internet!

[elliot42]

I use a Brady at one of my work's customer's sites for labeling Ethernet cables. I couldn't tell you the model of the printer or labels, but they work well. The labels have a third printable area and two thirds clear that wraps around and over the printed part. They're very sticky and take some effort to get off when I've made a mistake.

But as already said, they're considered one of the best, and their labels are pretty expensive (I don't know how much, just that it's a lot ).

[Fraser]

Please be advised that Brother acknowledge that their labels do NOT work as well as they wish when wrapped around small diameters such as cables. I found this out when I saw a special extra flexible Tz tape specifically designed for labelling of cables etc.

They are called 'Flexi ID tapes and may be found here (near the bottom)

http://www.printerbase.co.uk/acatalog/brother-tz-tapes.php?referrer=google&gclid=CIXAmfHImbsCFejpwgods14Azg

The tape codes begin with "TZFX".

6mm  Black on white is TZFX211
12mm Black on white is TZFX231

Some e*ay purchases I made recently:

I purchased some new Brother 1230PC PC label printers for GBP11 each a month or so ago. I also bought a couple of 2430PC printers for GBP50 each with a GBP30 rebate applicable, so they cost GBP20 each and can print 24mm wide tapes     

[Corporate666]

I use these labels...

http://divbio.com/dtcryo-tags150x0751000roll.aspx

they stick really well - I guess because they are designed for cryogenic use, the adhesive holds up better than most in normal temperatures.  The labels are not that cheap paper crap, they are more of a plastic material, so they hold together well if you need to peel them off.  Not the cheapest, but they are really good.

[bilko]

I use the old fashioned method.
Print labels onto paper or adhesive backed labels.
Cut to size, and apply clear heatshrink over the label.
Works and is durable

[robrenz]

I use the brother labeler but I always buy the extra strong adhesive versions. But even those when wrapped around a very small cable flag style will start to come unglued where the back bend is very tight. The picture is extra strong adhesive flag style on a 6mm diameter cable that is about 2 years old which is working fine.

[bingo600]

I'm also using a Brady at work for labeling ethernet cables.
I can't remember the model , but i think it's serious $$$$

The labels comes on "drums" with an eeprom inside , prob. also $$.

But it's the best label'er i have used , and the labels would never fall off (as mentioned above).

If i'm in a hurry, and have made an err , i just put a new one on top of the old one.

/Bingo