blair_butler47•2mo agoTop Commenter

Shoutout to the old guy at the air show in Oshkosh who showed me his wire marking system

Honestly, I was just walking through the vintage aircraft area last summer, looking at a restored DC-3. This guy, must have been in his 70s, was doing some work on a panel. I asked him about a bundle of wires he had out. He pulled out this little plastic box, the kind you'd keep fishing tackle in, but it was full of different colored heat shrink and tiny printed labels. He said he's used the same system for 40 years, one color for power, one for ground, one for data, and he prints the circuit number on the label before he shrinks it. He told me, 'A clean wire is a happy wire, and a marked wire saves the next guy a headache.' I went home and spent maybe $80 on a label maker and a bunch of sleeves. It adds maybe five minutes to a termination job, but ngl, troubleshooting my last install was way faster because I could trace everything at a glance. Has anyone else picked up a simple trick like that from an old timer that just stuck with you?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee_barnes702mo agoMost Upvoted

That old guy's system sounds way better than my usual method of just remembering which wire is which, which never works. Kinda like how @grace926's grandpa knew about oiling leather, some of that old-school know-how just makes life easier. I mean, my uncle showed me how to use a chalk line for straight cuts, and now I feel like a pro even though it's just a piece of string covered in blue dust. Those little tricks save so much time and cussing.

grace9262mo ago

My grandpa taught me to always oil a leather hinge.

wren3014d ago

Wait, "always oil a leather hinge"? @grace926, that's wild, I've never even heard of that. I mean, I've seen leather hinges on like old toolboxes and some vintage gun cases, but I always thought you just let them be or replace em. Oiling them sounds like it would attract dirt and make them all greasy and nasty. But then again, your grandpa probably knew more than me since I've just been slapping WD-40 on everything that creaks. Still, the idea of purposely putting oil on leather feels wrong to me, like pouring water on a candle. I guess if it worked for him, then it's got to be good, but my brain is just short-circuiting trying to picture it.