Ultraviolet Marking

[Gongalong]

Hi All,

 

Currently we mark all items on our asset register with postcode and the school name, but to comply with LA recommendations we have been asked to invisibly mark as well (with both postcode and school name).

 

We are audited on this every 2 years, and the invisible marking might have to survive several sets of audits. I'm not sure a standard UV felt pen is going to work that well as inevitably there's lots of plastic/metal shiny surfaces and we've got several hundred items to mark, aside from whether the written text from a felt pen would survive several years.

 

Anyone found a good solution?

 

TIA

Edited April 1, 2014 by Gongalong

[FN-GM]

Used smart water in the past. Works really well, and had a few items returned to us - Products

[Koldov]

This is really strange! I've been tasked with sourcing this exact thing...

 

We have used Smartwater in the past also, but this time we actually need something to identify things given to staff!

 

Recently we have had all staff cameras returned for inventory checks and we normally take them all in before the holiday, to stop any staff taking them to Magaluf (I kid you not)!

 

Anyhow, two had been 'lost' and one of the staff members in question amazingly turned in one a week later, with all our identification labels missing! However they missed the one on the SD card, which showed it was the other staff members camera! How they had the nerve to take another staff members camera and turn it in as their own, I'll never know...

 

Anyway, I was looking at this:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Permanent-Ultra-Violet-Marker-Pen/dp/B0019SLP60

 

Maybe the UV light from Maplins as I've read the battery powered portable ones aren't much cop, but can't see any reviews...

 

UV Light Source Fluorescent | Maplin

 

Kol.

 

 

 

But if anyone has experience of other UV pens, please let us know!

[featured_spectre]

Wow...that's nuts, hope you caught them out with official documentation etc!

 

As for what would I use, I have used smart water and a fine brush, and written the post code on.

[plexer]

To be honest I wouldn't use smartwater in order to put on a visible mark rather I would use it as it's intended i.e to make it hard to remove all traces if an item with smartwater is recovered the forensic process is gone through to identify the owner of that item, I find it strange that the LEA has a specific method of marking they want you to use although rather than just using an indelible marker the solutions like selctamark actually embed the details in to the surface of the item and they have different formulations for different materials.

 

Ben

[Koldov]

Our old Technician/Site Agent used the Selectamark stuff in the past, that's the acid etch stuff right? Burns a stencil of your choice into the actual, plastic of the item.

 

Bit big for cameras and I'm not sure I'd be happy putting on really delicate items.

 

Kol.

[plexer]

That's the stuff.

 

We used a mixture selctamark from the factory on our Viglen pc's and smartwater other items.

 

Ben

[JSchlackman]

We are audited on this every 2 years, and the invisible marking might have to survive several sets of audits. I'm not sure a standard UV felt pen is going to work that well as inevitably there's lots of plastic/metal shiny surfaces.

It depends a lot on the surface - in some cases you would be surprised how well it holds up. Smooth plastics and metals do wear/clean off more easily, as you suspect, but the 'crackled' plastic finish on a lot of IT kit takes the marking remarkably well; in a test case on a Lenovo X131e, I have actually tried very very hard to remove a standard UV marking using all sorts of solvents and cleaners, and I can still see the marking under UV.

 

Getting a good quality pen makes a big difference too. Some free ones I got from the local Neighbourhood Watch were decidedly sub-par, but the ones I got from Crime Prevention Products have been excellent.

[john]

Our LA provided Smartwater for us to use, however worth reading small print on warranty's as you apply that stuff (or Selectamark or other permanent markings it invalidates On-Site swap out warranty's and they become return to base ones, when you think about it that makes sense if you etch your name into it and it breaks, they swap it with a fixed one, take yours and fix it and give it to someone else to use, but when that one dies but they cannot do that as it says its yours....