Heat Branding Laptops

[Gongalong]

Hi folks,

 

I have been asked to look at heat branding, or otherwise physically marking laptops (on the lid), with an asset number. This is for laptops that are handed out to students during lessons. We are trying to prevent damage to laptops happening during lessons, and this is one potential idea. (Any other ideas gratefully received!)

 

Has anyone come across a system that will allow marking of plastic in this way? (It would need to be a 4 digit number) Or are we more likely to have to use an engraving tool?

 

Thanks

[ZeroHour]

I am not sure about doing the lids to be honest, I have seen laptops with branding in the base before but I fear the screens may not be the happiest about the heat.

[Brax]

Hi folks,

 

I have been asked to look at heat branding, or otherwise physically marking laptops (on the lid), with an asset number. This is for laptops that are handed out to students during lessons. We are trying to prevent damage to laptops happening during lessons, and this is one potential idea. (Any other ideas gratefully received!)

 

Has anyone come across a system that will allow marking of plastic in this way? (It would need to be a 4 digit number) Or are we more likely to have to use an engraving tool?

 

Thanks

That sounds cool but I can't think of anything that wouldn't damage the plastic. We normally just record the Serial number along with sticking an asset tag underneath the laptop on the base. So even if the tag was peeled off we'd still have the serial number as a reference. I wonder if there's something similar to a trophy engraving tool that might do the trick?

[Mark182]

We've used seareach for years and have not had any issues.

[DaveTheTech]

Sounds like a perfect business case to ask for a laser cutter

You can get asset tags that are hard to remove. I remember seeing the schools postcode engraved in things before - it was too neat to have been completely free hand. Something like acid etching?

A dremel with an engraving tool and a template might be another option.

[Koldov]

I'd be worried the lid may be too thin for anything heat related (or at least hot enough to melt into the plastic - could get very messy too)...

 

Before I joined here, they had used something called 'SelectaMark' which was used to chemically etch the postcode into all the things (I think the company is still around), you might be limited on what you can have for the stencil though.

 

Dremel with a stencil sounds like a good option depending on how many you have to do (lets face it you wouldn't have to go too deep into the plastic to make a permanent mark after all - as we all know too well)!

[6Foot2]

Sounds like a perfect business case to ask for a laser cutter ...

 

I was about to suggest the same. Try it on a broken/EOL laptop that will be of no further use (we had loads!)

 

Our Technology technician couldn't wait t try it. He made a nice job of etching/burning the school badge into the lid (top left, away from the manufacturer's logo) Make sure the school badge/logo/motto isn't changing anytime soon.

 

It looked good, but ultimately it wasn't adopted: Blocked by SLT for reasons (unknown)

[pete]

We found 0.3 mm depth on the laser cutter was sufficiently deep to be obvious / readable, but not enough to compromise structural integrity.

 

We tested on laptop lids from the scrap pile.

[andy_b]

I'd be worried the lid may be too thin for anything heat related (or at least hot enough to melt into the plastic - could get very messy too)...

 

Before I joined here, they had used something called 'SelectaMark' which was used to chemically etch the postcode into all the things (I think the company is still around), you might be limited on what you can have for the stencil though.

 

Dremel with a stencil sounds like a good option depending on how many you have to do (lets face it you wouldn't have to go too deep into the plastic to make a permanent mark after all - as we all know too well)!

 

Yeah used to use SelectaMark - https://www.selectamark.co.uk/security-marking/selectamark-stencils (not necessarily a recommendation )

[Squelch]

I use a stencil set and bright yellow spray paint to mark my laptops, it works well if you only need a few characters on each lid.

[jmak]

Class dunce reporting for duty.

 

How does marking the lids reduce damage during lesson time? I can see it's a theft deterrent, but for damage you'd need the log of who had used it.

[6Foot2]

...How does marking the lids reduce damage during lesson time? I can see it's a theft deterrent, but for damage you'd need the log of who had used it.

 

For us, the marking was purely for the anti-theft/deterrent effect.

 

We had lots of classroom damage, too, but we went through a period (that lasted about two years) where it wasn't unusual to find that our stock of kit had been depleted in some way (usually, but not exclusively, due to intruders onto the site)

[Koldov]

Class dunce reporting for duty.

 

How does marking the lids reduce damage during lesson time? I can see it's a theft deterrent, but for damage you'd need the log of who had used it.

 

I'm thinking it is just for ease of recognition (I imagine there is a list being made of who used which laptop), once the laptops are given out and opened up, they could even do that from their teaching desk/front of class.

 

The teacher can simply look at the laptops and see a clearly visible 4 digit reference number very easily.

 

Otherwise it is 'line the children up, turn the laptop over, read a small serial number or asset tag (if they haven't been peeled/scratched off, scribbled over), send the child back to their desk....