A simple trick for labeling alarm panel wires that saved me hours last month

I was doing a full system upgrade in a big old house in Ann Arbor, and the old panel had about 30 wires with no tags. Instead of just guessing, I got a cheap label maker and a pack of colored zip ties. I labeled each wire with the zone number and used a different color zip tie for each floor. It took maybe 20 extra minutes during the demo, but when I wired the new panel, I was done in under an hour with zero mix-ups. What's your go-to method for keeping a messy panel swap organized?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_thomas2d ago

Only thing I'd change is using the zip ties for the floor colors. Those can snag when you're pulling the wire bundle back through. A dot of colored heat shrink or even a sharpie mark on the label itself is cleaner.

the_paul1d ago

My old boss in Detroit used to say the extra ten minutes of prep always saves an hour of fix. That zip tie trick is just the wiring version of measuring twice.