Silver Marker

Today I have not even a micro-review, but more of a nano-review, and it’s about a marker. Yes, it’s almost an ordinary marker, except that it writes in "silver." Of course, it isn’t real silver, but the color is similar :)


Markers like this are sometimes used to label wires, or really just about anything. They’re more visible than ordinary markers and a little more versatile because of the color.
This marker is also available on AliExpress, and it’s cheaper to buy a single one there.

There are three versions available: Gold, Silver, and Copper.


One of my readers sent me this marker to test. He’s one of my “suppliers” of all sorts of useful goodies, including MEAN WELL power supplies and batteries :)


Markers like this are made by various companies. In my case, it’s a Sharpie permanent marker, and it’s easy to find by that name even on Taobao.


There are some additional markings on the other side, along with what appears to be a laser-etched production date: 11191719. It most likely indicates either the production date (week 11 of 2019) and batch, or the production date and expiration date.


It even shines. I can already hear the question: does it conduct electricity? No, it doesn’t. My multimeter showed nothing on the 60 MΩ range.


For my first test, I used a piece of laminate flooring. For some reason, it didn’t write very brightly at first, but almost immediately started working normally. It does write better on smooth, clean surfaces, though.


And here are some conditions closer to real-world use.
1. Thin brown and blue wires: writes great, but the line is a little thick. Insulation diameter: 3.6 mm.
2. Ordinary ШВВП cable, 6 mm wide: easy to see.
3. Some capacitors: easy to see on both black/brown and blue backgrounds.
4. A relay: also very easy to see, although it looks less visible in the photo than in real life.
5. It’s harder to see on metal surfaces. In this case, it’s actually less visible to the naked eye than under the camera flash.
6. A piece of 3M electrical tape: no problem there either.


But it turned out that the marker can be easily rubbed off smooth surfaces just by running a finger over the writing.
It came off the blue wire completely; only dots remained on the brown one. It’s much harder to remove from the electrical tape because its surface isn’t smooth.


Later, someone gave me a couple of pieces of ВВГНГ cable, 3x1.5 and 3x2.5, for which I’m especially grateful. I couldn’t find any of this cable at home, and I got the impression that this marker was made specifically for writing on cables like these. The cable is wide and flat, and it’s also black, so the silver marker stands out “from a mile away,” while you have to look closely to read labels made with ordinary markers.


I tried writing with different amounts of pressure. The cable is 9.5 mm wide at the top and 10.5 mm at the bottom.
It writes really well, whether you want a thin or thick line.


Unfortunately, the writing can also be rubbed off—or, more accurately, smudged. No, you won’t erase it by accident. What you see in the photo took several rubs with noticeable pressure, and an ordinary marker comes off about as easily. But because its color is less visible, the effect is more pronounced with the silver marker. I tried rubbing the writing off both immediately and after about 8 hours, and noticed almost no difference.



Here are my conclusions from the test:
Writes neatly.
The writing is easy to see on many surfaces, whether dark or light. It’s only harder to see on light-colored metal surfaces.
Comes off easily from smooth surfaces and takes noticeable effort to remove from rough ones.
Doesn’t conduct electricity.

Keeping these limitations in mind, it’s definitely useful. But if the writing needs to withstand mechanical wear, this probably isn’t the right choice.

That’s all for now. I hope you found this useful.