Thermal wire strippers, are they good?

[zapta]

I am working with teflon wires (e.g. awg 30) and stripping them without scarring the conductors is pain. I am thinking of getting a low end thermal stripper like this one:

http://patcoinc.net/pts30.html

Anybody has any experience with thermal strippers? Do they work well (especially with PTFE wires)? Is this low end one a reasonable choice?

Thanks,

Z.

[Kjelt]

Good find  , I have the same problem with AWG 25 0,25mm = AWG30 teflon wire but I didn't even know these devices existed. I always thought teflon was heat resistant but 1700F could do the trick 
I am also curious if these are worth the money. I can only find a short youtube movie but that does not look very convincing    (lots of smoke and long strip).

[abyrvalg]

Afaik, stripping PTFE this way is very unhealthy (C4F8 gas released), consider proper ventilation

[ConKbot]

Those patco strippers are crap. Maybe I need to watch something on the proper use technique, but Its a pair of wire strippers, I shouldn't need a manual. You have to have the element orange hot to just vaporize the insulation the second you get it close, otherwise having to slide the wire sideways just bends it over and makes it hard to accurately strip it.

Teledyne stripall are the standard imo.  The variable ones are nice because you can use the red-hot setting for stripping teflon, and a less hot temp for stripping pvc wire.  The american beauty strippers work but are way overpriced for what you get as far as build quality goes.

For non thermal,
http://www.idealindustries.com/products/wire_processing/hand_tools/custom_stripmaster.jsp these style of wire strippers work great, but you have to have a very precise die that matches your wire, and they can go from $50ish to as bad as ratcheting crimpers.

[tszaboo]

I'm using this kind of strippers:
http://uk.farnell.com/ck-tools/330013/wire-stripper-98mm-0-25-0-8mm/dp/1364514?Ntt=1364514
At work. At home, i would probably use my teeth before spending this much on (that kind of) strippers. pun intended.

[amyk]

Afaik, stripping PTFE this way is very unhealthy (C4F8 gas released), consider proper ventilation

C4F8 is mostly inert and nontoxic... but burning PTFE can cause release of HF which is truly nasty.

[quarks]

if it does not have to be a thermal stripper, I prefer and use especially for PTFE these (see att. picture) they work very well for me

[fpliuzzi]

In the past I used thermal strippers when I worked in the Aerospace Industry to remove the insulation from Teflon wires. You can feel pretty ill from breathing the fumes that are given off. After a couple of negative reactions to the fumes myself, I made sure that there was always proper ventilation available, or used mechanical strippers instead. Here's a bit of info about Polymer fume fever or "Teflon flu"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_fume_fever

[Kjelt]

I'm using this kind of strippers:
http://uk.farnell.com/ck-tools/330013/wire-stripper-

Yup the CK is what I also use but then the red ones that have a fixed size for the wire, problem is now and then you push a bit too hard and you dent the inner wire. You can only see it under microscope but you notice it as soon as you soldered the wire and bent it three times it breaks off 
So although CK is pretty good it is just not good enough IMO. But the fault could also lie in my wires that are very tough to strip.

if it does not have to be a thermal stripper, I prefer and use especially for PTFE these (see att. picture) they work very well for me

Knipex I know as a very good brand, does it really work 100% on ptfe or do you also sometimes nick the inner wire? Can you set it for one wire diameter cause I saw that it has multiple sizes.

[quarks]

Hello Kjelt,

I use them only for PTFE wire and they work very well. You just need to put the wire in the right sized Slot. The diameters are fixed and you cannot change it (see Picture).

bye
quarks

[zapta]

Thanks everybody for the feedback. 

It got me to the conclusion that I want a Teledyne TW-1  (fixed temperature for Teflon).

The TWC-1 has the advantage of temperature control (e.g. for pvc) but is more bulky and expensive.

I will start hunting for one...

[ConKbot]

The blades on the teledyne units have some thermal mass, so you can get away with pulsing the button and doing PVC once you get the hang of it. I was doing it earlier today and the ribbon cable wasnt even smoking

Plus with the flat edge instead of the goofy notch like on the PTS-30 units, Ive even stripped 20 conductor flat-flex for making a breakout. Buy spare blades, keep em clean, you wont be disappointed.

[Eddie]

Personally I would  not use thermal strippers with teflon wires I tend to only use a mechanical stripper as the fumes are toxic (from most insulation used on all wires), in the telco industry thermal strippers would be frowned upon (well when I was there).

[nanofrog]

I've always cringed at the prices for thermal strippers, so I also use mechanical.

The automatic strippers I own offer different blade cartridges, one of them specifically for Teflon insulation. Work quite well overall, but old insulation does cause issues from time to time (usually won't bite in enough to strip; can squeeze the jaws a bit, but risk nicking the strands).

[zapta]

The blades on the teledyne units have some thermal mass, so you can get away with pulsing the button and doing PVC once you get the hang of it. I was doing it earlier today and the ribbon cable wasnt even smoking

Good to know I will give it a try.   Any idea what the Teledyne TC1 has inside? The TW1 has, I think, a transformer so I don't know how triac dimmers work well with it. Or maybe a variac?

Just ordered an used TW1 (teflon only, no heat control) from ebay. Less than $40 taxed and shipped, suppose to work and looks good in the pictures. Will see how it goes.

[zapta]

The TW-1 arrived. Used but seems to work. It arrived with a notch blade for larger wires to I just ordered a straight one for thinner wires. This will also get me clean screws and better contact.

This this is massive, built like a tank and weigh 15 oz. Nor surprise they last forever. It has a transformer inside and two separate outputs for each of the blades. Very high current and low voltage, about 1VAC with open blade.

It melts the teflon easily and for the first time, I am certain that I did not nick the conductors. With teflon wires, even a small nick causes the wire to break, not sure why, maybe because of the stiffness of the insulation.

[uoficowboy]

Thanks everybody for the feedback. 

It got me to the conclusion that I want a Teledyne TW-1  (fixed temperature for Teflon).

The TWC-1 has the advantage of temperature control (e.g. for pvc) but is more bulky and expensive.

I will start hunting for one...

At a previous job we had a Teledyne wire stripper. It did the job, but was certainly unpleasant to use, due to the smells. I think we were stripping 36 AWG stranded wire with a Teflon insulation.

[SLJ]

Cheap:  I have an old Weller soldering gun with a cutting tip (#6115).  Five bucks at a garage sale.  Gun heats in a few seconds and the back of the tip has a slot that cuts insulation just fine.

[vk6zgo]

Personally I would  not use thermal strippers with teflon wires I tend to only use a mechanical stripper as the fumes are toxic (from most insulation used on all wires), in the telco industry thermal strippers would be frowned upon (well when I was there).

Back in the early 1980s we learned to use them as part of the "High Reliability  Hand Soldering" course that Telecom Aust ran,so at that time there was no problem with their use.

There were a bunch of thermal gadgets,including one for removing thick conformal coatings.
We were supposed to go back to work & suggest that our Supervisors obtain such things,but we were firmly told
"Not in the budget",so that was that!

[zapta]

The beaten up Teledyne Stripall-1 I got from ebay for $20 had corroded wire so I order a replacement part from Stanley.  The part does not fit so I contacted Teledyne and mailed them the unit for inspection. They fixed the unit for free and I only paid $8.5 for shipping.

What a great service!  First they have a detailed assembly diagram with all parts available from Stanley and then they have a service department to handle any problem. Chapeau!