Hakko Wire Stripper Frustration

[T4P]

^This is what i call a good post .
I don't think i really need a thermal stripper . Really .

[EEVblog]

Well said - it's something I would suggest Dave address if he would like this forum to succeed and not become an embarrassment to the eevblog brand.  My 2 cents.

For the record, I saw nothing wrong with Ian's post, and an overly sensitive response on the part of the OP.
As much as I don't like to do it, I think the best solution here is to simply delete all posts that are not on topic, lest the situation get more inflamed.
I like people to lead by example on the forum, and try not to take any obvious bait 

As for the topic at hand. I wonder if the OP has considered safety? Burning wire strippers are IMO, not the safest devices in terms of fumes. I wouldn't like to be melting PVC all the time in a typical small enclosed lab area for example. Yes, they can be convenient, but I personally wouldn't use them unless it was a proper production environment with adequate ventilation and/or fume extraction.

Dave.

[Kilroy]

Digikey Oz has this wee rig...

http://search.digikey.com/au/en/products/PTS-30/PTS-30-ND/102961

Takes up way less space and available in a battery operated version...no cord to drag stuff off one's bench. That can never be a bad thing.

[EEVblog]

In the case of this thread i think an equal amount of mud has been thrown from both sides so I think it would be unfair to "moderate" either, both can stand proudly making fools of themselves !

I would tend to agree,. But in this case I have decided to simply delete all off-topic posts, so as not to pollute the thread any more and remove the fuel from the fire.
I don't want to get into the habit of deleting posts, as I hate heavily "moderated" forums, so hopefully this serves as an example of what happens when
a) someone posts an over-sensitive response to an otherwise normal post that had no malicious intent.
and b) someone is then lured into responding to a)
And therein starts the vicious cycle.

The moral of the story, don't take thing too seriously. Have a laugh instead of taking offence to something.
Or best of all, simply ignore something you didn't like and post good content.

Dave.

[nukie]

Handheld units will not hold up well in an industrial setting where repetitive jobs is required.

For PTFE cables, some wire manufacturers recommend manual wire stripper hand tools. Best is to contact the manufacturer for a suitable recomendation.

[robrenz]

For PTFE cables, some wire manufacturers recommend manual wire stripper hand tools. Best is to contact the manufacturer for a suitable recomendation.

I use these Knipex 121202 on tefllon and silicone and they are very nice as I mentioned in a earlier post.  Expensive at $157.70 (Chads toolbox) list is $199.10  i think they are worth it. Here is the catalog page pdf

[sonicj]

i saw some of those hot tweezers at the hamfest in orlando for peanuts. i thought they were for surface mount chip removal. silly me.
-sj

[kd7eir]

Nothing at all wrong with wanting to use a particular tool for a job.  The use of a particular tool is certainly a very personal choice. 

What I am amazed about is the fact that so many things are not available in Australia.  Being an American I never thought about that sad state of affairs.

And then to hear of the ridiculous prices that are charged for items in the rest of the world compared to the US.  And it's not even the fault of the greedy American companies.

[vk6zgo]

Nothing at all wrong with wanting to use a particular tool for a job.  The use of a particular tool is certainly a very personal choice. 

What I am amazed about is the fact that so many things are not available in Australia.  Being an American I never thought about that sad state of affairs.

And then to hear of the ridiculous prices that are charged for items in the rest of the world compared to the US.  And it's not even the fault of the greedy American companies.

It's all to do with the size of the potential market.

Back in the day,a local manufacturer or an importer could sell enough of a special device to large Government & private organisations who did a lot of handwiring of Comms equipment,for instance,to make it worthwhile,& hobbyists,etc could "ride along on their coat tails",as far as being able to buy the gear.
These large organisations have largely been gutted of their technical capacity,& technological change has removed the necessity to terminate thousands of connections,so for those that are done,fairly effective alternatives,have been found.
Even if intensive hand soldering had still been the norm,manufacturing in this country is only a shadow of what it was in,say,the 1960s,so that market has all but gone.

Although the same thing has happened in the USA,the larger population there gives importers the incentive to bring in equipment,the sales of which,are quite large in absolute terms (although low as a percentage of population),so they can sell stuff cheaper.

[amyk]

Somebody talked about this and it's time i harped about it
http://patcoinc.net/PTS-10.html
Well it's a wire stripper , it's expensive because it's demand is low .
Yes , the base looks like everything a analog soldering station does , the wire stripper ? Nothing much better then a glorified soldering iron with a melted insulation puller . Too bad if silicone is untouchable you still have to fall back to your wire strippers .
Sadly the Patco is a 120V item , expensive for something so small , and it's only 200C , some wires won't even budge .

From your link:

which heats up quickly (less than five seconds) to an optimal temperature of 450? F and efficiently strips thermoplastic insulation from solid, stranded or shielded wires from #14 to #30 AWG, and will not burn the skin if accidentally touched due to its low power and minimal mass.

I'm not so sure about that... even small droplets of molten solder are not something I wouldn't mind touching.

As for the topic at hand. I wonder if the OP has considered safety? Burning wire strippers are IMO, not the safest devices in terms of fumes. I wouldn't like to be melting PVC all the time in a typical small enclosed lab area for example. Yes, they can be convenient, but I personally wouldn't use them unless it was a proper production environment with adequate ventilation and/or fume extraction.

Having really hot things around is also a bit hazardous, I think you'd have to handle these with the same amount of care as a soldering iron.

[AntiProtonBoy]

Does it actually burn the plastic? I don't know much about these tools, but I'd imagine they'd be warm enough to melt plastic but not burn them, which is a big difference IMO.

[robrenz]

After seeing this video:



 I like the Knipex manual strippers even better.  I thought you could put the wire anywhere in the blades of the thermal stripper which would make it quicker than the manual stripper. But now that I see you have to line it up with the proper size hole it is no benefit other than guaranteed nick free stripping. The Knipex has a plastic guide that aligns the wire with the cutter grooves so you only need to pick the right slot, you don't have to visually align the wire with the cutter. And there is no temperature setting, you could go from pvc to Teflon to silicone to fep and back instantly. The trick to these is don't think you need to use the exact cutter size for the conductor, the next size up strips just as well and does not nick any wires.  the first red wire is teflon and the second is thinwall silcone. FWIW

pics of the cutters

[siliconmix]

best wire stripper i have is a cigarette lighter

[T4P]

best wire stripper i have is a cigarette lighter

I concur ! Of course .

[nanofrog]

I like the Knipex manual strippers even better.

How are the blades holding up?

I ask, as I've looked at a similar pair (12 12 06; different range of wire size and no plastic wire position tab) vs. some of the self-adjusting cartridge types, and don't want to be stuck replacing blades (~$68USD per set) all that often. I presume the Knipex are more durable (based on experience with Ideal Stripmaster's), but I'm not sure.

So any information would be helpful. Thanks. 

[robrenz]

I like the Knipex manual strippers even better.

How are the blades holding up?

I have not done enough to tell yet but since they are hardened and tempered blades and they only cut the insulation I think a long time.

I have used these other Knipex a lot (over 3000 strips) and they are way handier if you are doing normal insulation. they still cut like new.  I highly recommend these
 
http://chadstoolbox.com/1242195knipex775inchuniversalinsulationstripper-awg7-32.aspx

[vk6zgo]

Some insulation will stretch or tear,instead of strip with conventional strippers of any kind,& that is where the thermal strippers are useful.
Having to do all sorts of preliminary stuff is not important in a situation where a process worker is stripping hundreds of wires to a standard length ,to be passed on to the next worker,who does the actual soldering work.
That said, I seem to remember the Pace (Royel?) units being quite easy to use.
They may have been the same as the Hakko,but time,(& senility) has dimmed the memory.

[T4P]

Some insulation will stretch or tear,instead of strip with conventional strippers of any kind,& that is where the thermal strippers are useful.

Actually a side cutter can cut silicone or teflon wire although it will stretch and tear , you can cut 'till there is left a little bit of wire after the stretching , using a needle nose to pull out the remnants but this method cannot net you a standard length , but yeah .

[robrenz]

Some insulation will stretch or tear,instead of strip with conventional strippers of any kind.

This particular Knipex design is specifically for form-fit stripping of difficult-to-remove insulating materials such
as Teflon®, silicone, Radox®, Kapton® and rubber; multilayer too. It has two sets of fully enveloping blades.  The insulation is not gripped at all. The blade pairs together cut through the insulation full circle. then the blades pairs separate forcing the insulation to break even if not cut completely to the conductor. There may be something out there that these would fail on but from what I have seen on very thin wall silicone and Teflon i have tried so far they are the ticket.

[nanofrog]

I have used these other Knipex a lot (over 3000 strips) and they are way handier if you are doing normal insulation. they still cut like new.  I highly recommend these
 
http://chadstoolbox.com/1242195knipex775inchuniversalinsulationstripper-awg7-32.aspx

I've looked at those and similar (i.e. Pressmaster Embla <rebadged as Wiha and Xcelite>, Wiedmueller Stripax <badged as Paladin in the US>). Tad cheaper (~$30 based on the Pressmaster) with a Teflon cartridge, but offer fewer wire gauges for the harder insulation types (28 - 18AWG). Hard decision as I don't know the longevity of the Embla cartridges (or similar).

The 12 12 06 just seemed a bit more convenient in the end (fewer tools to reduce clutter), offer a bit more value (covers 26 -10AWG vs. 28 - 18AWG for harder insulation), and suspect it to be more durable as well (could be totally wrong on this). Guess I'll have to be a guinea pig and find out.