Heat shrinkable materials simplify cable management

The so-called cable management is not an easy job that requires not only accuracy but also accuracy. To work with cables, connecting, marking, etc. It takes a lot of time. Heat shrinkable materials come to the aid of data center engineers, which help to label cables, and the labeling lasts a very long time, and the process of labeling is simplified.

In principle, labeling cables using heat shrinkable materials is not a new idea, but now it is becoming widespread. Some companies produce handy handy marking tools using this kind of material. In this case, the inscriptions on the labels, markers are very clear and resistant. The issue of cable labeling is really important. Special standards are introduced to unify this process, one of which (the voluntary standard created by the ANSI institute) is ANSI / TIA 606-B.


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As mentioned above, convenient tools for labeling cables are now being produced; learning how to work with them for an engineer is a matter of hours.

What is a heat shrinkable label?

The materials used to create such labels are made from a thin and sufficiently flexible material. The label itself is attached to the cable when the label is heated with a special device. In the data center, circular heat shrinkable labels are used to label both network and power cables. The label can be installed not on a single cable, but on a whole bundle, after which the size of such a label is optimized (pulled down) with the help of a heat gun.

This method of marking is used not only in data centers, but here the heat-shrinkable materials came very much to the court. Why? There are several main reasons for this:

• Practicality . This is a quick and hassle-free way to label cables. You can work with both individual cables and their group. Without heat shrinkable materials, marking a large number of cables can be a serious problem (although this is always a problem, to one degree or another).
• Durability The heat shrinkable label will last for a very long time, and the inscription on it will not be erased. When a mechanical impact on the cable or their group, with this type of label, nothing happens to it.
• Resistance to external influences . Labels created from heat shrinkable materials do not deteriorate under the influence of heat, cold or other causes. The inscription on the label is not erased and not washed off.
• Appearance. When using heat shrinkable materials, all cables are labeled with labels of the same type, and after all the necessary work has been done, the whole system looks quite aesthetic.

The printer can be like this (printing on labels, PVC tubes, etc.)

How it works?

In order to use heat shrinkable materials for labeling cables, it should be remembered that each tube is approximately halved under the influence of heat, that is, the tube diameter decreases by two. Now on the market there are a large number of different tubes, of very different diameters.

To work with materials of this kind need two devices. This is a heat gun and a thermal transfer marking system. As mentioned above, the market can now offer a number of portable, convenient in daily work devices with spare cartridges, and the price for such devices can not be called transcendental.

Work for professionals

Although laying and labeling cables is only part of the entire infrastructure work, these tasks play an important role in creating an understandable and practical system that is easy to understand.

The days when engineers used scotch tape and markers should sink into oblivion. Now we can not be serious about the labeling of cables, and cable management in general. Whether you are installing a monitoring system, connecting network equipment, or upgrading an existing system, the answer is one — you must follow modern cable labeling standards, including NSI / TIA 606-B.