Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[tonyalbus]

Ideal Stripmaster or clone  Go on Google it but becareful what sites you click on 

+1, but when there is no working space or the cable is short it is a PITA.
For critical missions I use something like this, or similar:


Anyway, in those not ideal circumstances, good results are 80% due to patience and time and 20% tool.

my 1cent.

i also use this, and holding it reverse to strip.... never used a official stripper-tool ....  (lets add -tool to that last word)

[bd139]

I never use side cutters for stripping. The can damage the conductors inside which leads to less current carrying capacity and mechanical weakness. Also you can actually stretch the conductors and break them further up the wire.

Edit: I learned that after doing that and being bollocked by the QA inspector 

[Zucca]

Okay I got this one.



That hole on the handle inspired me. 

[bd139]

The loop in the handle will nip the palms of your hand. I'd cut it off 

[Zucca]

Meh... the idea is to give me more control... worst case Dremel... 

[Robert763]

For most wires and with skill diagonal strippers do a good job but the cable in the 7150 is a pita.
The only issues with the stripmaser are it needs space and it' not cheap. I have 3 and several sets of blades. In aerospace they are the accepte standard but with different blades for different insulation types.
I still mostly use a small pair of diagonal cutters with flush. non-bevelled edges on the "flat" side. 

[BU508A]

I'm using the electronic sidecutter from Wiha.



The trick is to cut only the isolation and not cutting down to the core. And one need to cut 2 times with an angle of 90°.
For doing so, one need a really sharp sidecutter. Wiha is serving me here very well.
And you need the necessary fine motor skills. 

[Specmaster]

Ideal Stripmaster or clone  Go on Google it but becareful what sites you click on 

+1, but when there is no working space or the cable is short it is a PITA.
For critical missions I use something like this, or similar:


Anyway, in those not ideal circumstances, good results are 80% due to patience and time and 20% tool.

my 1cent.

i also use this, and holding it reverse to strip.... never used a official stripper-tool ....  (lets add -tool to that last word)

I ended up trying these when it came to striping the wire to solder onto the new input jacks and because of the way that the insulation bites the cable with the embossed veins, it ends up, due to trying to grip the cutters without cutting the wire, actually cutting the wire anyway Thats why I was using auto strippers because on one side there are 3 teeth to grip the wire and on the side where the stripping takes place just a single tooth to pull the unwanted part of the core. Also you don't end up putting any force into the meter or cable while pulling towards the end you want to strip.

[Robert763]

Okay I got this one.



That hole on the handle inspired me. 

The problem with that style is that whatever way you use it one blade has a bevelled cutting edge facing the insulation being removed. This has a wedging action that increses the force required and can cause the other blade to scrape the conductor.

[mansaxel]

Guys, can ask your opinions on what is the best kind of wire stripper?

Weidmüller Stripax. I've got two old ones, that I'm nursing through their retirement, but they work for me.

I've also got one of these and one of these. They both work, but obviously not so good for electronics.

The cable you're trying to work with looks very much screened to me.

[Zucca]

Gentleman only here at TEA we need at least six tools to strip wires.
The real problem is that I like it, the more tools the better.

[mnementh]

A listing with 51 declined offers for a used Juicero eBay auction: #283340591584 

Only thing I can think of is he's holding out for an offer from The FAIL!!! Museum...

Speaking of juicy...



Lovely 2.5kg pork shoulder roast (so figure ~2kg net) picked up yesterday for only 15 Canadian pesos... just gorgeous marbling and came already bondaged!!!  I really should've taken a pic before I seared it, etc.

As usual, on a bed of carrots with my favorite "Holy Trinity" rub (Dried Onion, Bell pepper, Garlic & Tomato), this time with California blend veggies plus the usual fresh celery, onions & half a bell pepper because both wife & I can no longer tolerate any more than that before our insides rebel. 

Trying a different tack this time tho; did the rub in the pan used for searing the meat, then after all the veggies and onion/pepper dressed on top, drizzled all the drippings and excess rub on top of the meat. Gonna reduce all my cooktime on this one too, to keep from rendering all the fat out; cook to 120°F/50°C on HI, then turn to LO and pull the plug at 180°F/80°C.

I won't be able to make pulled pork out of the leftovers; but I suspect I'm not gonna want to, either. 

mnem
And its sister is tied up in the freezer.

[bd139]

I'd have to shove a pipe up my arse and out the window after eating that 

[mnementh]

Yeah, but if you smelled my kitchen right now... you'd be lining up for the chance... 

mnem
 

[mnementh]

Anyway HP34401a is still a very sexy machine.
I had four of those puppies back in those days, now I got fooled by touch UI and USB stuff.

I miss a HP34401a on my bench like my old and trusty dog.

PS: also dreaming about a chepo HP34410a, one day...

I stopped dreaming about the 34410 after working with one for a few days. The high-pitched noise of the little fan annoyed me to no end.

Why can they no longer dissipate the small amount of heat created in them passively?

Fans are cheaper than a good thermal design.

Barring that... why is it that 50 years later half of them haven't learned the simple lesson that took PC case modders less than a decade (once we put our minds to it) to figure out by trial & error: That big slow fans do the job better and quieter...?

mnem
 

[Ero-Shan]

Guys, can ask your opinions on what is the best kind of wire stripper?

Weidmüller Stripax. I've got two old ones, that I'm nursing through their retirement, but they work for me.

I've also got one of these and one of these. They both work, but obviously not so good for electronics.

The cable you're trying to work with looks very much screened to me.

+1 on the Weidmüller. Works very well for me.
Every method where I have to hold or pull the wire is problematic. Some wires just slip through your fingers (and try turning a 3 cm long piece around a finger several times to get more friction). And pliers damage their insulation.
But in desperate cases, I've used everything from finger nails to kitchen knifes.

[tonyalbus]

Anyway HP34401a is still a very sexy machine.
I had four of those puppies back in those days, now I got fooled by touch UI and USB stuff.

I miss a HP34401a on my bench like my old and trusty dog.

PS: also dreaming about a chepo HP34410a, one day...

I stopped dreaming about the 34410 after working with one for a few days. The high-pitched noise of the little fan annoyed me to no end.

Why can they no longer dissipate the small amount of heat created in them passively?

Fans are cheaper than a good thermal design.

Barring that... why is it that 50 years later half of them haven't learned the simple lesson that took PC case modders less than a decade (once we put our minds to it) to figure out by trial & error: That big slow fans do the job better and quieter...?

mnem
 

some of the TEK devices also have huge fans (and vans) but if they are quiet i would not know

[bd139]

Another ebay win. I'm definitely going back to my old habits 



Looks like it needs a bit of TLC this one.

[tonyalbus]

Another ebay win. I'm definitely going back to my old habits 



Looks like it needs a bit of TLC this one.

nice catch!

[Ero-Shan]

Anyway HP34401a is still a very sexy machine.
I had four of those puppies back in those days, now I got fooled by touch UI and USB stuff.

I miss a HP34401a on my bench like my old and trusty dog.

PS: also dreaming about a chepo HP34410a, one day...

I stopped dreaming about the 34410 after working with one for a few days. The high-pitched noise of the little fan annoyed me to no end.

Why can they no longer dissipate the small amount of heat created in them passively?

Fans are cheaper than a good thermal design.

Barring that... why is it that 50 years later half of them haven't learned the simple lesson that took PC case modders less than a decade (once we put our minds to it) to figure out by trial & error: That big slow fans do the job better and quieter...?

mnem
 

Because a 10 cm fan is not easy to fit inside a case with 5 cm height?
Putting it on bottom or top would be detrimental to stacking.

Why is it that after seeing your posts I often feel the urge to visit my kitchen and get something to eat? 

[Ero-Shan]

Another ebay win. I'm definitely going back to my old habits 



Looks like it needs a bit of TLC this one.

I would like one of those, too. But they tend to be too expensive for a miser like me.

[mnementh]

Guys, can ask your opinions on what is the best kind of wire stripper? I have a couple very similar to the one shown as some of you will know I have to replace a 8PDT push button switch on a Solartron 7150 plus DMM and I'm struggling with these strippers to make a decent strip on the wires of this meter. It uses a cable, the likes of which I have never come across before. They are single solid cores and very stiff, they oppose almost any attempt to bend them and the insulation sticks to the cores like shit to a blanket. The cores themselves have veins like a leaf embossed in them and the insulation does not want to let go of the core.

I have extremely little room to work as the cables don't have any real slack available and as you can see, they are so stiff, they have to be physically anchored at each end and the main outer sheath is like an insulted armoured cable between the two boards, and there are 2 such cables, the switch itself has 3 of these cables connected to it.

I have been considering rewiring these with a more workable and friendly cable, but if I did, what type of cable should it be or is the cable on these meters dependant on the that type of cable for some reason that I'm not aware of?

So the question is what is the best kind of cable stripper to use and also what are thoughts on the type of cable used in these meters, could another be used without any detriment to meter itself and if so, what cable would you guys use?

   

This is a problem I run into very often. As with anything, the solution is usually to try and work with the characteristics of the wire instead of fighting it. 

IME, most of the time, when working with a wire with jacket that sticks to the conductor, you'll find the jacket also tends to shrink away when tinning the wire. You can use this to your advantage; dip the end of a fresh cut wire in flux paste, then bring a well-tinned hot iron right to the end of the wire. If you feed a little solder at the same time and just let it cook for half a second or so, the jacket will pull away (it may do the "bell-bottom jeans" thing, so you'll have to plan on covering that with heat-shrink) with 1-2mm of the conductor nicely tinned. This is perfect to solder at 90° angle into eyelet-style solder pads. 

If it doesn't want to behave this way at the normal 320ish°C, crank heat up up to BOOST or ~370°C for the tinning process, but go back to ~320°C for soldering.

Good luck,

mnem
 

[mnementh]

This, by a mile: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/wire-strippers/0243112/

I've had every stripper under the sun and that's the only one that isn't a complete piece of shit. It also stays not a complete piece of shit unlike some of the ones that work nicely for the first 50-100 strips. I get 5 years out of each one at average.

Second  on the Ideal strippers. I also have a couple pairs made by Gardner-Bender that could be their twin brother. The trick is to get the right one; there are two or three different models for different ranges of wire gauge. There's also a German automatic stripper with similarly CNC machined stripping dies that is also not a POS, but it takes some fiddling to get the dies/gripping fingers adjusted for a perfect strip. Once you do tho... utterly painless instant strip EVERY TIME.

mnem
 

[syau]

Ideal Stripmaster or clone  Go on Google it but becareful what sites you click on 

My vote for stripmaster, especially on PTFE insulated wire.

[Mr. Scram]

Weidmüller Stripax. I've got two old ones, that I'm nursing through their retirement, but they work for me.

I've also got one of these and one of these. They both work, but obviously not so good for electronics.

The cable you're trying to work with looks very much screened to me.

"Honey, what's that charge on our account?" "Oh nothing to worry about dear, just a German stripper I threw some money at."