On 5/7/2012 8:56 PM, vickipowys wrote:
> Or maybe you could heat the blade of a razor knife and make the nicks
> that way? I usually strip wire using a razor knife, carefully run
> the knife all the way around in a circle without quite touching the
> wires, then gently coax the plastic off using fingernails. Being
> short-sighted helps. I've never had any luck with a conventional
> wire-stripper. I will have to give Mitch's soldering iron method a
> go sometime, sounds good.
>
> Vicki
>
>
I would add a cautionary note, Kynar is a relatively heat resistant
resin, Kynar is a trade name, the material is polyvinylidene fluoride
(PVDF) and somewhat similar to Teflon in characteristics. It is popular
as a tough wire insulation, one area is wirewrap where wires are pulled
around sharp cornered posts in the process of routing wires around a
wirewrap board. The tough insulation is important as a softer insulation
will creep and eventually open up on a sharp corner and short against
the post.
Kynar is also good for transformer wire insulation in high voltage
transformers where transformers and inductors are used with a large
capacitor for high power pulse generation where the capacitor dumps high
levels of energy through an inductor or transformer causing windings to
jump and move violently against each other.
The reason I mention this is that while Kynar is used widely as wire
insulation in high technology applications, I would not expect it to be
used for low power microphone element conductors... Teflon is also a
popular wire insulation much more common than Kynar and best method of
stripping Teflon is as has been described, nick the insulation but not
the wire and then pull the teflon insulation off... No-nick wire
strippers are popular for Teflon stripping and a skilled technician will
use the old cheap and dirty stamped metal pliers type stripper with
v-notches in the blades as he has developed the skill of not nicking the
wires in the process...
Two other types of wire insulation are a hard PVC insulation which has
poor temperature resistance, and High density polyethylene popular for
wet environments often used in hydrophone cabling.
The point of all this is that the trick of using a hot soldering iron to
strip wires works best with Kynar insulation, fairly well with Teflon
and HDPE, and makes a mess of PVC which is the most common plastic
insulation used on wires. However the benefit is no worry of nicking
the wire or stressing a delicate joint as a mechanical stripper will
do... However melting plastic on the tip of the iron makes a tough
soldering tool unless you clean it and re tin it. Best to keep some old
sacrificial soldering iron tips for the dirty work of stripping wires,
do not use your favorite soldering iron or a tip that you have tinned
and have working to perfection as stripping insulation will ruin its
functionality as a soldering tool in short order...
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Mitch Hill
(Sent from HP DV6T)
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