Bizywk Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 We have our first holiday display under our belt (Halloween) and what an experience it was! Now we're looking at improvement ideas to make the set-up faster & easier as well as more asthetic. When my son and I put our AC controllers together, we quickly identified that good labeling would be very helpful, and that concept sure came true in our first set-up in the dark. We used our label maker to print out clean numbers, attached them to the unassembled power cords, put shrink wrap on them and sealed them all up (See Pic 1). It really looked great in the shop, but proved to be very difficult to see in the dark as we had to wiggle and twist them around to see the number when the vampire tap wires kept coming free, and often, the physical manipulation caused others to come free as well. Heading into the Christmas display, we decided to take a silver sharpie, which has weather resistant properties, and mark all four sides of the power cable outputs (See Photo 2). The silver ink seems to hold up OK and is much clearer in the dark and is much larger. Since we marked all four sides, its much easier to find the right output as well. We'll see how well the marker holds up to the weather, but Sharpie is a good marker and we fully expect this to be our new standard practice. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this idea is already out there somewhere but since we haven't seen it yet we decided to share with the group. Hope this idea helps someone. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gc75067 Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 i used the silver sharpie too. so far so good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 I've got some controllers going on their sixth season and the silver Sharpie is still holding up. White paint pens work well also. At first I was paranoid about white on black showing too well, but no one, including me, ever noticed. I soon realized that if viewers noticed infrastructure things like that, well, then I need to step up my sequencing a notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Been using silver sharpies for 3 years now to mark my controller dangles, have never had to remark them in 3 years and this with controllers being outside 365/24/7 and in very wet weather conditions and harsh direct sunlight. Not a one has even come close to fading in 3 years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob VandenBoom Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 White paint pen. 6 years and still going strong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Silver Sharpie is the only way to go. The only problem is walmart only sold them in a three pack with bronze and gold this year. thumbs up walmart for figuring you could get an each dollar from me by making me buy something I don't need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulXmas Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Silver sharpie. 4th year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Silver Sharpie is the only way to go. The only problem is walmart only sold them in a three pack with bronze and gold this year. thumbs up walmart for figuring you could get an each dollar from me by making me buy something I don't need.I buy mine at the Dollar Tree: 2 pack for $1.00! And on rare occasion I've found 5 packs there of the Silver Sharpies for $1.00! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hall Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 The Silver Sharpie has been used for 4 years now with great results. However, at night, my vision is getting worse and I picked up this hat last Sunday:http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-4-led-adjustable-lighted-work-cap-black/p-03493341000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1 I wish I would've bought one of these much sooner. They also have them in Camo and Khaki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Batzdorf Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Sharpie here for 7 years. Use it on everything. From the LOR dongles to vamp ends to the individual elements in the display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarrOut Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 When installing controllers, be sure to consider drip loops on the wiring.Because the cables leave the box on the bottom, it is unlikely water can run up the cord to get in the box, but your extension cords should be installed so that there is a loop in the wire below the plugs. Every wire should have a way to keep the water from running into places you don't want to get wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrforemark Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 I used a silver sharpie two years ago and they are still golden (actually silver)This year I added another controller and used a yellow paint marker to differentiate between "1, 2, 3, silver", etc. to 1, 2, 3, yellow"n etc. If I add additional controllers in the future, I'll use different color paint markers.Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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