M

Mike Raviv

Member
Gents,

There must be a better way (a working way) to strip those tiny teflon insulated wires than how I mess and ruin them. I mean mostly those microscoping wires coming out of trimmer rocker switches and others like those.
And perhaps there must be some better stripping tools than I have (although I have quite a few, including those "automatic" ones).
BTW, I went to a pro to show me the ropes, he was just as good at it as I am.

Help please.

TNX
Mike Raviv
4X-ORV
Going electric.
 
Hi Mike:

Indeed, those tiny wires are quite an annoyance. As a general rule, most folks avoid using wire smaller than 22AWG just for that very reason. However, there are times when you *must* deal with them, such as when using the trim rocker switches you mentioned.

The best method I found that works is to carefully score the tefzel with a razor knife (being careful not to nick the wire) and then use the automatic stripper. It worked great for me.

Also on those smaller wires you have to be careful about using any crimping connectors because you can easily break the wires. Anytime I had some of those wires (for example on the trim motors) I used D-SUB pins and crimped and soldered them, then put heatshrink over the connectors for vibration isolation.

Not sure if you have this or not, but if you don't have 'Lectric Bob's book it's highly recommended.
 
I bought one of these strippers.

I have had about 99% satisfaction with it------and the other 1%?? I did not get the wire into the notch before stripping:mad:
 
What Mike said. I have been very happy with the Stripmaster. Stein sells them but there are probably other places that sell them as well. Note that the best model is slightly different than the model that Lowes or HD sells.

greg
 
If you can buy...

fl-mike said:
The proper automatic type wire-stripper is the 45-177:
http://www.idealindustries.com/products/wire_processing/hand_tools/custom_stripmaster.jsp
Or equivalent clone frame with the L-5560 blades.
These blades pinch the insulation rather than cut it. The grit gripper rather than the sawtooth type helps things too.
Check Ebay.
Click to expand...

...the blades on E-bay, they will fit directly into the approx. $29 Stripmaster blue handled stripper from Home Depot...

The Mil-spec wire cutting blades - the 45-2118-1 - are quite different from the commercial from Home Depot. They have a precisely sized "barrel like" area that holds the insulation exactly in place before the cutting edges reach the wire.
 
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No Joy---

az_gila said:
...the blades on E-bay, they will fit directly into the approx. $29 Stripmaster blue handled stripper from Home Depot...

The Mil-spec wire cutting blades - the 45-177 listed above - are quite different from the commercial from Home Depot. They have a precisely sized "barrel like" area that holds the insulation exactly in place before the cutting edges reach the wire.
Click to expand...

...on the blades on E-bay. I did find the blades from several electronics shops at $80 to $95:eek: My cheap versions of these work just fine thanks;)
 
Only if you...

Don Jones said:
........
My cheap versions of these work just fine thanks;)
Click to expand...

...are lucky on getting everything aligned correctly. Tefzel is tough stuff, and the aircraft wires are made to exacting dimensional standards, the commercial cutters have different dimensions.

Try looking at the wires under a magnifying glass and see if any are nicked.
That would be a reject for Mil-Spec work... but your standards may differ....:)
 
Gil is correct if you use the proper mil-spec blades you will never have a problem with nicked wires. I watched ebay closely for a while a scored a set for less than $20 and then put them in the regular stripmaster. They seem to do just fine up to 26ga.
 
Nope, the standards are high...

az_gila said:
...are lucky on getting everything aligned correctly. Tefzel is tough stuff, and the aircraft wires are made to exacting dimensional standards, the commercial cutters have different dimensions.

Try looking at the wires under a magnifying glass and see if any are nicked.
That would be a reject for Mil-Spec work... but your standards may differ....:)
Click to expand...

...I just worked with them until I could dependably strip without damaging wires. I would love to have some of the real blades and will keep watching E-Bay aircraft supply. It will save time not having to be so careful. Just not going to pay $90 bucks for them:) I already picked up some DMC D-sub crimpers and the positioners on E-Bay, so this will be something else to add to my wiring tools.
 
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pssst

Here is a photo. They differ from the homestore ones, look at the wire gripper. But you can glue a small patch of cloth backed sand paper to the "teeth" of the home store strippers, for a fix.
Air parts Inc. of KC kansas has them, $10 if you go there.. root around in the shelves in the back, nice ones! wire strippers paradise.;)
img2563.jpg
 
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Shouldn't we use these?

I was cruising Ideal's website and found a pdf reference chart for their wire strippers. http://www.idealindustries.ca/media/pdfs/products/stripmaster_mil_spec_chart.pdf

According to the chart MIL-W-22759/16 wire uses the 45-1987-1 blades for 16-26 ga. and 45-1611-1 for 10 - 14 ga.
Am I right in thinking these are the ones we should really use?

Edit: I do see that the ones Gil posted the 45-2118-1 are the correct blades for the Stripmaster Lite, only problem is they are for 22-26 ga. wire.
 
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Back in the '60s and '70s...

...there were a set wire strippers available that were designed to only strip Teflon coated #30 wires. This wire was used in the wire-wrap construction / fabrication of our early PC's and various mid range and high end computer back-planes.

I see that the company "EREM" is still out there and these strippers are carried by a number of US distributors.

A word of caution here...these strippers are abt $100. each, and should not be used for anything else except stripping the wire gauge selected. Back in the day, we only used #30, but I see that they now offer wire strippers that are semi-adjustable.

As for the automatic-spring loaded-multi wire strippers...I never did get the consistant perfect results that were required when using them. So, I bit the bullet and have a dedicated set for each wire size that I use.
 
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