What dissolves / removes magnetic wire enamel / coating ?

[lordvader88]

I hate trying to sand the ends off mag. wire, especially fine stuff. Is there a common solvent that usually works on average cheap coated copper wire?

[BravoV]

Acetone.

[Rog520]

Depends on what the wire is coated with. Basic enamels and polyurethanes are best stripped with solder and flux. More durable insulations like polyimide require mechanical or chemical stripping. Molten sodium hydroxide (lye/drain cleaner) works well...just be very careful to do it under a fume hood or outside with plenty of ventilation (i.e. don't breathe the fumes!).

[joeqsmith]

An eraser.  Not the kind you have on a pencil.   It's similar to a centerless grinder.  I've used one a fail amount and it works well.       

[joeqsmith]

Also, even for fine wire, at home I have resorted to holding it onto the ESD mat and dragging the X-acto blade over it.  Hold the knife so the brake is dragging over the wire, not cutting into it.  This is a bit of a pain.   If you do it a lot, the eraser. 

[MasterT]

Aspirin, press wire to a pill by  hot iron.

[T3sl4co1l]

At room temperature?  Methylene chloride?

At high temperature, soldering heat does it, for "Sold-Ez" types.

Ask the manufacturer, it varies by formulation.  Some high temperature enamels (polyimide based) have to be removed mechanically, or chemically with some very unsavory substances.

If nothing else, if you find you need fire -- fire leaves scale (copper oxides).  These can be removed with a strong flux (usually acid), but acids cause corrosion later.  I find it's better -- and much more exciting (wear PPE) -- to use a spoonful of molten NaOH.  This melts around the melting point of lead, and forms salts of everything involved (lead and tin oxides dissolve, forming the respective {plumb|stann}{ite|ate}, while copper oxide becomes the strongly blue sodium cuprate; metal particles floating around tend to turn the melt gray or black, though).  Quench the wire in water and soak until the lye and salts are completely dissolved.  Do not get NaOH in your eyes if you want to keep them; melt can spatter, quenching NaOH releases fumes; etc.  All the usual stuff.

Acetone.

Yikes!  Your wire has terrible enamel, for your own sake dispose of it and buy new!

Tim

[Brumby]

Also, even for fine wire, at home I have resorted to holding it onto the ESD mat and dragging the X-acto blade over it.  Hold the knife so the brake is dragging over the wire, not cutting into it.

Yep.  I'm a scraper, too.

[lordvader88]

This is dissapointing

[Brumby]

I think I am like most others, for the quantity of work that I do with such wires, the simple mechanical scrape is the easiest option.

If I was doing 20 a day, I'd probably look for something faster - and if I was doing 100, I certainly would.

[joeqsmith]

This is dissapointing

Eraser cost too much? If you are not sure what I was referring to, marketing clip..

https://youtu.be/KyDjcNE1090

[SeanB]

When I was doing a lot of windings I went and got a pair of cheap plastic tweezers, and took some 1000 grit waterpaper and superglued it to the jaws, then cut to the shape of the jaws. To use simply grip the wire in the tweezers lightly and pull, it strips the enamel enough to solder perfectly then. Worked from 22SWG to 48SWG enamelled wire no problem. For another I had to clean corrosion off the inner terminal, recessed deep in a housing, some 200 grit waterpaper superglued to a bit of shafting ( the guide rod from a old 5.25in Floppy drive was the right diameter and long enough to reach down, plus had a turned flat end both sides) fitted down there and was easily able to clean off the green gunk there.

[RoGeorge]

Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) can disolve enamel when heating with a soldering iron.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin

I used to use this trick back in the days, but it has a terrible, terrible smell.
Be aware that bad smells usually means toxic, or other kind of health hazard.

[lordvader88]

Well I might try acetone/nail polish remover

In the meantime I should try finer grit sp

the tweezers plus sp is a good idea too, easy to improvise from scraps

[Crazy_Engineer]

For smaller amounts of wire I have always cranked up the heat on my soldering iron to melt it off.  If that failed or it was a large amount of wire acetone was my next tool.   

[BrianHG]

For the really thick high tension wire, use the 45 degree angle metal wire polish/scraping brush on your dremel drill tool.  It removes the enamel instantly like a magic eraser, no chemicals, no fumes, just clean easy to solder bright copper remains.  For the smaller/thinner wires, just turn up the temperature of your weller.

As for the other hot method, one of my custom local transformer/toroid manufacturer used to have a hot solder pot.  (Don't remember what they are called).  It was just hot enough, much more than a weller, the guy at the manufacturer just dipped the ends of the transformer wires in the pot filled with molten lead and the enamel vanished/bubbled away instantly.

[tautech]

Brian
You're on the money....a solder pot.

Couldn't believe it took so long for somebody to mention this.
And they're cheap:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20180325054251&SearchText=solder+pot

[BrianHG]

Brian
You're on the money....a solder pot.

Couldn't believe it took so long for somebody to mention this.
And they're cheap:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20180325054251&SearchText=solder+pot

Lordvader needs a 120v version.  Go for the high power 300watt version:
https://www.amazon.com/100mm-Solder-Capactity-Welding-Soldering/dp/B076M2BCPQ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1521985750&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=solder+pot&psc=1

A smaller 150watt version:
https://www.amazon.com/50mm-Solder-Capactity-Welding-Soldering/dp/B074K3GVQM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1521986241&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=solder+pot&psc=1

Plus a bar of solder:
https://www.amazon.com/40-Lead-Solder-Made-RotoMetals/dp/B001QUZ6W0/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1521985935&sr=1-5&keywords=Bar+Solder

Don't forget flux...

[mikemxyzzy]

There are tools made for this:

https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=group_detail&parentID=&groupID=1390

Knipex part #15 11 120

[Neomys Sapiens]

There are tools made for this:

https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=group_detail&parentID=&groupID=1390

Knipex part #15 11 120

I was scrolling all the way down, and since halfway I wondered if I have to tell them first about the Lackabziehpinzette.
Also here (Vomm):
https://www.weidinger.eu/shop/werkzeuge/pinzetten/vomm_pinzetten/vomm_pinzetten_fuer_spezielle_anwendung/wl26792
or here (Bernstein):
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00IOHIUFI/ref=asc_df_B00IOHIUFI51133689

[kg4arn]

I use the Knipex tools.

[dhutch]

Put the enamelled copper wire in 98% sulphuric acid for 10 minutes. The coating lifts and floats away.

[jpanhalt]

"Enameled" magnet wire is not a single entity.  There is a variety of coatings, some are harder to remove than others.  For the solderable versions, it is usually not problem.  For the non-solderable versions, a molten salt bath can be used.  There used to be a commercial version of that.  I am not sure it is still available.

I took a small steel block, bored a 1/2" to 3/4" hole, and used a mixture of NaOH and/or KOH with a little NaNO3. (ratio  4:1).


At about 300° to 325°C the insulation is cleanly removed.  The wire may darken quickly when removed, but is still easily soldered without further treatment.

[Psi]

Unless you are winding transformers, motors or something that runs hot.. throw that wire in the rubbish bin and buy the type where the coating can easily be burnt off just by touching it with the iron tip and some solder.

Using the type where you have to use sandpaper, or scrape with a knife, is just too annoying to be bothered with.

When it comes to enameled wire, even with the kind that is removable by soldering there are different grades.  Some are still annoying while others very easy to remove.  so YMMV

For super fine wire the roadrunner stuff is awesome. I don't think they make thicker wire.

[Ian.M]

Of course there's always FOOF, which will dissolve any wire varnish or insulation except pure PTFE.  It has the minor disadvantage that it also explosively decomposes the wire, lab bench, technician and nearly all other nearby substances, which would make a dip pot of the stuff excessively 'interesting' (in the curse sense) even if you can cope with the need for cryogenic cooling of the pot.

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride Much of the joy is in the comments!