diff --git a/pylabrobot/io/binary.py b/pylabrobot/io/binary.py
index 9651abb58c3..0405bfa239f 100644
--- a/pylabrobot/io/binary.py
+++ b/pylabrobot/io/binary.py
@@ -32,41 +32,57 @@ def __init__(self, little_endian: bool = True):
 
   def u8(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write unsigned 8-bit integer (0-255)."""
+    if not 0 <= value <= 0xFF:
+      raise ValueError(f"u8 requires 0 <= value <= {0xFF}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}B", value))
     return self
 
   def u16(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write unsigned 16-bit integer."""
+    if not 0 <= value <= 0xFFFF:
+      raise ValueError(f"u16 requires 0 <= value <= {0xFFFF}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}H", value))
     return self
 
   def u32(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write unsigned 32-bit integer."""
+    if not 0 <= value <= (1 << 32) - 1:
+      raise ValueError(f"u32 requires 0 <= value <= {(1 << 32) - 1}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}I", value))
     return self
 
   def u64(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write unsigned 64-bit integer."""
+    if not 0 <= value <= (1 << 64) - 1:
+      raise ValueError(f"u64 requires 0 <= value <= {(1 << 64) - 1}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}Q", value))
     return self
 
   def i8(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write signed 8-bit integer (-128 to 127)."""
+    if not -(1 << 7) <= value <= (1 << 7) - 1:
+      raise ValueError(f"i8 requires {-(1 << 7)} <= value <= {(1 << 7) - 1}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}b", value))
     return self
 
   def i16(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write signed 16-bit integer."""
+    if not -(1 << 15) <= value <= (1 << 15) - 1:
+      raise ValueError(f"i16 requires {-(1 << 15)} <= value <= {(1 << 15) - 1}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}h", value))
     return self
 
   def i32(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write signed 32-bit integer."""
+    if not -(1 << 31) <= value <= (1 << 31) - 1:
+      raise ValueError(f"i32 requires {-(1 << 31)} <= value <= {(1 << 31) - 1}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}i", value))
     return self
 
   def i64(self, value: int) -> "Writer":
     """Write signed 64-bit integer."""
+    if not -(1 << 63) <= value <= (1 << 63) - 1:
+      raise ValueError(f"i64 requires {-(1 << 63)} <= value <= {(1 << 63) - 1}, got {value}")
     self._buffer.write(struct.pack(f"{self._endian}q", value))
     return self