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Pin Identification Color Bands (Heat Shrink Rings)

In professional motorsport, aerospace, and defense harness manufacturing, wire ends are frequently identified using miniature heat shrink marker rings (such as Raychem RN-F or ATUM rings) coded with the international resistor color standard.

Because source and destination pins on a wire run almost always differ (e.g., ECU Pin 14 running to Injector 1 Pin B), Wiringly generates and tracks marker rings independently for each wire end.

Video Tutorial​

Video Tutorial Coming Soon

🎥 Video Walkthrough Placeholder
A dedicated video tutorial demonstrating this feature will be linked below.

Enabling Color Bands in Settings​

Pin identification bands are an optional feature and are disabled by default to keep your canvas and tables streamlined when not required.

How to Enable:​

  1. Open the Edit ribbon in the top navigation bar.
  2. Click Wire Management, then click Settings (gear icon) in the header.
  3. Scroll down to the Pin Identification Color Bands (Marker Rings) section.
  4. Switch the toggle ON.
[ ] Enable Color Band Identification (Marker Rings) -> Switch to [x] ON

When enabled, Wiringly immediately evaluates all active connections and renders marker rings across your connection cards and canvas tables.

The 0–9 Standard Resistor Color Map​

Wiringly uses the standard international electronic resistor color code for digits 0 through 9:

DigitResistor StandardWire Palette ColorHex Code
0BlackBlack#000000
1BrownBrown#8B4513
2RedRed#ef4444
3OrangeOrange#f97316
4YellowYellow#eab308
5GreenGreen#22c55e
6BlueBlue#3b82f6
7VioletViolet#8A2BE2
8GreyGrey#6b7280
9WhiteWhite#ffffff

Customizing Digit Colors​

If your workshop utilizes a modified wire marking convention or custom shop wire stock:

  • Click any digit card in the Wire Management → Settings modal.
  • Select any color from your Wire Colors library (including secondary shop colors such as Pink, Light Blue, Light Green, or custom project colors).
  • Click Reset Colors at any time to instantly restore the default international resistor palette.

Auto-Generation Rules​

Wiringly parses connector pin identifiers automatically using structured physical rules:

1. Numeric Pins​

  • Single-digit pin (e.g. Pin 7):
    • 1 Band: Violet (7)
  • Two-digit pin (e.g. Pin 14):
    • 2 Bands: Brown (1) + Yellow (4)
  • Three-digit pin (e.g. Pin 102):
    • 3 Bands: Brown (1) + Black (0) + Red (2)

2. Alphabetical Pins​

For connectors with lettered cavities (such as Deutsch DT, DTM, MS-spec, or Mil-Spec circular connectors):

  • Letters convert to their alphabetical index ($A=1, B=2, \dots, Z=26$):
    • Pin A: $1 \rightarrow$ 1 Band: Brown (1)
    • Pin B: $2 \rightarrow$ 1 Band: Red (2)
    • Pin K: $11 \rightarrow$ 2 Bands: Brown (1) + Brown (1)
    • Pin Z: $26 \rightarrow$ 2 Bands: Red (2) + Blue (6)

3. Alphanumeric & Multi-Letter Pins​

  • Composite identifiers (e.g. B2, AA):
    • Pin B2: $B=2$, $2=2 \rightarrow$ 2 Bands: Red (2) + Red (2)
    • Pin AA: $A=1$, $A=1 \rightarrow$ 2 Bands: Brown (1) + Brown (1)

Independent Wire Ends​

Because a harness wire connects two different physical pins, the color rings on either end are independent:

[ECU - Pin 14]                                              [Injectors - Pin 1]
======================== W I R E   R U N ======================================
[Brown][Yellow]                                             [Brown]
  • Source End: Generates bands for Pin 14 $\rightarrow$ Brown + Yellow.
  • Destination End: Generates bands for Pin 1 $\rightarrow$ Brown.

Both sets of rings are displayed side-by-side in connection cards and wiring tables so harness builders can immediately know which rings to slide onto each end before crimping terminals.

Connection Cards & Manual Overrides​

When color bands are enabled, small marker ring pills appear directly next to the pin number in connection cards and pinout lists.

Customizing or Overriding Rings:​

  1. Click on any color band pill next to a pin row.
  2. A popover opens showing the active rings and a quick 0–9 color palette.
  3. Change color: Click an active ring, then click any color button from 0–9.
  4. Add extra ring: Click + Add Band to add a supplementary ring.
  5. Delete ring: Click the trash icon on any ring.
  6. Reset to Auto: Click Reset to Auto to clear manual overrides and restore the auto-generated rings.

Canvas Pinout Tables & Wiring List Integration​

Color bands are fully integrated into both Wiringly's canvas pinout tables and the full-page Wiring List (Wiring Table tab):

  • Pin # Column (Source): Colored marker rings render right beside the source pin number.
  • To Pin # Column (Destination): Colored marker rings render right beside the destination pin number.
  • Interactive Editing from the Wiring List:
    • Just like on the canvas connection cards, you can click on any color band pill in the Wiring List table to open the customization popover.
    • You can override colors, add extra bands, or reset to auto directly from the table row.
  • Single Source of Truth (Two-Way Sync):
    • Any customization or override made in the Wiring List updates immediately in the Connections view (and on canvas pinout cards).
    • Conversely, any change made on the canvas immediately reflects in the Wiring List.
  • Clean & Compact: High contrast borders ensure both Black and White rings remain crisp and legible against light or dark backgrounds.
  • Toggled Off: When the feature toggle is disabled, table columns remain standard width with zero visual distraction.

Workshop Assembly Tip​

Assembly Order

When assembling harnesses with heat shrink marker rings:

  1. Cut the wire to the cut length specified in the Wiring List (which already includes routing margins and twisting extra).
  2. Slide on your outer protective heat shrink or Raychem boots first.
  3. Slide on the Pin Identification Rings in sequence:
    • Slide the first digit ring on first so it sits closest to the connector backshell, followed by subsequent digits.
  4. Crimp and insert terminals into the connector housing according to the colored rings.