What tool should be used?

How to remove insulation from electrical wires and cables?

Electric knife

The easiest way is to remove the insulation from the wire with a conventional knife. In this case, the upper protective layer is removed with a longitudinal cut, and the contact sleeve is cut in a circle, slightly penetrating the blade inward. In this case, you will not spend a lot of time on such activity, but there is a risk of damaging the connector, especially if the turns are weak.

If you decide to use a knife, it is recommended to use a special knife, the blade of which is slightly curved for the convenience of stripping. Pay attention to the handle, it must be made of a material that does not conduct current.

Experienced electricians are advised to remove the wire insulation with a knife according to the following technology:

1. Place the connector on the table.
2. Press with the index finger of your left hand (if you are on your right hand).
3. Using your other hand, take an insulation stripping tool (in this case, a knife) and push it slightly into the protective sleeve.
4. Using the index finger of your left hand, slowly swipe the material one complete time (very convenient if you decide to remove the sheath from the circular power cable).
5. Pull out a cut piece of insulating material (possibly PVC, rubber, silicone, even paper wrap).

This is the essence of the whole work. As you can see, there is nothing complicated, but there is a high probability of damage to the contact, which makes this method not very effective.

About, how to make an electric knife with your own hands we talked in a separate article. Step-by-step instructions with photo examples explain the whole essence of the work!

Iron soldering

The second way to remove insulation from the wire and power cable is to use a soldering iron. In this case, the tip is heated to the required temperature, after which, by analogy with the previous option, the shell is removed (swipe the connector with your finger, tilting the soldering iron over the insulation). As a result, the extra part of the shell can be easily separated from the rest. The disadvantage of this method is that when the material comes into contact with a hot bite, an unpleasant odor will spread around the room. In addition, a soldering iron is not recommended if the shell is rubber.

By the way, another tool can be used in a similar way – the so-called “roasting”. When using it, you will hear the same unpleasant odor, so you do not need to use it except in extreme cases.

puller

There are also universal tools for stripping wires and cables, called manual strippers. These products are more functional, because they allow manual adjustment of the diameter of the cores, so that when cutting they do not damage them. Using strippers is very simple – fix the desired contact and slide along the guide arrow revolution (as shown in the photo).

There is also a special stripper on the market to remove insulation from cross-linked polyethylene without burning it. These tools have a high price (more than 6000) and are used for industrial purposes, so we will not talk about their review in detail.

stripper

Well, another best-rated electrical method is to use a tool called a stripper. This device is specially designed for automatic wire stripping. The design provides not only a section organizer, but also special cutters, as well as a crimper (used for crimping blades). It is not difficult to use a stripper: the cable is fixed in the mounting jaws, the handle is compressed and expanded. The result is quickly exposed veins without damage. It can be used to remove insulating materials from the most common types of conductors: VVG, POLY, NYM and many others.

In fact, if you have already decided to do electrical work, be sure to purchase a stripper. The cost of the model for an amateur does not exceed 1000 (usually 300-500).

At the same time, the advantages of the tool are as follows:

• Used for very thin section from 0.05 mm2 ^, with thickness of 6 ^mm2 ;
• It can also be used as a clipper and pressing machine;
• Use with any type of insulating material: silicone, PVC, rubber, fluoroplastic film:
• The sheath can be easily removed even from loops, twisted pairs and stranded wires;
• It does not damage the live part of both aluminum and copper wires;
• easy to use;
• not expensive.

As you can see, this device has a lot of advantages and absolutely no disadvantages, compared to alternative options. This is why we recommend choosing a stripper for stripping wires and cutting cable. This gadget has many positive reviews on thematic forums from experts in the field of electronics.

In the field, many electricians use their own teeth to remove the protective shell. We draw your attention to the fact that this method is very dangerous for tooth enamel, so it is not recommended to use it! If possible, take a pair of pliers or side cutters, you should always have them on hand with an electrician!

Useful Tips

Above, we told you about the available tools for stripping wires and how to use them correctly. Now I would like to pay attention to the rules for removing the most common insulation materials.

So, when removing the outer shell, we recommend that you consider the following tips:

1. If you need to remove the coaxial cable sleeve, divide the process into two steps.First you need to remove the outer shell with a soldering iron, after passing the sting in the longitudinal direction. Next, the upper braid is removed and twisted so that access to the polyethylene insulation of the central core appears. The latter, in turn, can be removed with a knife or one of the special tools that we talked about above.
2. To strip the insulation from enameled wires, it is recommended to use a knife or a soldering iron. The first option is suitable if the core part is more than 0.2 mm. In the event that the core is thinner, it is necessary to use a soldering iron to remove the enameled coating. You can also gently remove the enamel with sandpaper and clean it with moving movements.
3. The rubber coating is best removed using a special wire stripping tool. As we said before, a soldering iron and a toaster are not suitable here.
4. If you need to peel off the sheath in the middle of a long cable, use an electrician’s knife. Carefully slide the blade over the protective layer in the right place, then remove the unnecessary piece of material.
5. To remove the paper insulation from the cable, use the same knife. Another tool to do this is more problematic.

We hope you now know what tools are available for stripping wires and cables. Finally, we draw your attention to the fact that stripping the outer sheath of wires under voltage is strictly prohibited by the rules of GOST, whatever you use in this case!

How to remove insulation from electrical wires and cables?