automatic self-adjusting wire strippers

[spokewrench]

A couple of weeks ago I bought these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TS6KCXD

I'd always used the kind where you figure out what gauge wire you have, find the notch in the strippers, use one size bigger if the wire is stranded, clamp the wire with the sharp hole, turn the stripper to be sure the insulation is cut all the way around, and pull. A youtube presentation said this was obsolete because it was too easy to nick solid wire or cut strands of stranded wire.

These don't cut. They clamp the insulation on either side of where you want the end, then pull it apart. An instruction slip says to adjust it for different gauges by adjusting a spring with a screw. I didn't adjust it because it wasn't clear to me.

First I tried 12/2 Romex. It worked on the sheathing and each conductor. Then I found a 50-foot coil that looked like a power cord for a vacuum cleaner. It stripped the sheath nicely. Inside, I found a 20 gauge stranded ground and a foil shield. Inside the shield I found three 20-gauge stranded wires: red, white, and black. It stripped each of them nicely. It had stripped insulation from 6mm to 0.9mm with no adjustment and no nicking. Have you used strippers like these?

At first I thought it was shielded telephone cable, but telephone cables use twisted pairs to avoid crosstalk. It must be 600 ohm stereo audio cable. I don't remember when or why I bought it.

 

[PCeBiker]

, . Then I found a 50-foot coil that looked like a power cord for a vacuum cleaner.

I'm thinking control cable for an electric rotating antenna.

All you need is one of these and a Flux capacitor, and you can watch live TV from 1985...

 

[PCeBiker]

. Have you used strippers like these?

I've got a pair and I find that some wire is easier to strip than others and some wire wouldn't strip worth a crap.

The old-school ones are slow and take practice.

I find that a simple lighter works the best.
I Never cut any strands or nick the wire.

If you your fingers when you pull it off then you overcooked it anyway and the insulation starts to melt into the strands.

 

[PCeBiker]

I had an automatic wire stripper that a mechanic gave me in the 80's that finally got replaced with the Mastercraft strippers 5-10 years ago.

The old ones worked better.
They were a quality brand name of some sort.

I'm willing to bet that Klein would be a better quality better working stripper, and they have a solar powered version too.

And they're made in the USA,..

Or for a top tier tool Knipex makes pretty damn good tools,..

 

[spokewrench]

I'm thinking control cable for an electric rotating antenna.

All you need is one of these and a Flux capacitor, and you can watch live TV from 1985...

Back then I installed rotators at couple of houses because it was the only way to get UHF. A 2 or 4 -bay bowtie antenna on a rotator shaft on a mast on the roof. RG-6 coax because the UHF attenuation was much less than RG-59. A UHF amp on the antenna. The cable would carry DC from the power supply to the amp and RF from the amp to the TV.

I didn't know they made round rotator cable. I used 3-conductor ribbon cable. Anyway, the round rotator cable isn't shielded, and it uses a different color code from the coil I found. Red-white-black is the color code for stereo headphone cables, but a headphone cable wouldn't be shielded. It's a mystery....

 

[spokewrench]

I've got a pair and I find that some wire is easier to strip than others and some wire wouldn't strip worth a crap.

The old-school ones are slow and take practice.

I find that a simple lighter works the best.
I Never cut any strands or nick the wire.

If you your fingers when you pull it off then you overcooked it anyway and the insulation starts to melt into the strands.

A lighter might help old school strippers. Squeeze the strippers, heat the insulation a little with the lighter, and maybe the strippers can more easily slide the end piece away.

With my automatic strippers, I see that the clamp on the side being pulled away has to be within a range. Too loose and it will slide without moving the insulation. Too tight and the insulation won't slide against the conductor.

It also occurred to me that if someday the automatic strippers don't work, I could use a knife to knick the insulation where I want it pulled apart. That should make it easier for the strippers.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. Inside, I found a 20 gauge stranded ground and a foil shield. Inside the shield I found three 20-gauge stranded wires: red, white, and black.

It's been more than 40 years since I've seen one, but I'm thinking a separate control cable for just the motor (common ground and swap the two positives to reverse the motor), and a ground for lighting, and static?

The antenna wouldn't spin around in circles. It would get to a certain point, then you'd have to reverse it all the way back.

The antenna signal output was completely separate and used that 300 ohm twin lead stuff.

I briefly glanced at a neighbors stuff about ten years ago, and it had the signal amplifier up on the antenna so it had to send power up to the amplifier.
I'm pretty sure it had two separate cables coming to and from the antenna?

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I had an automatic wire stripper that a mechanic gave me in the 80's that finally got replaced with the Mastercraft strippers 5-10 years ago.

The old ones worked better.
They were a quality brand name of some sort.

I'm willing to bet that Klein would be a better quality better working stripper, and they have a solar powered version too.

View attachment 190340


And they're made in the USA,..

View attachment 190341


Or for a top tier tool Knipex makes pretty damn good tools,..


View attachment 190342

Thank goodness someone found a topic that needed over-illustration.

 

[spokewrench]

It's been more than 40 years since I've seen one, but I'm thinking a separate control cable for just the motor (common ground and swap the two positives to reverse the motor), and a ground for lighting, and static?

The antenna wouldn't spin around in circles. It would get to a certain point, then you'd have to reverse it all the way back.

The antenna signal output was completely separate and used that 300 ohm twin lead stuff.

I briefly glanced at a neighbors stuff about ten years ago, and it had the signal amplifier up on the antenna so it had to send power up to the amplifier.
I'm pretty sure it had two separate cables coming to and from the antenna?

Yes, my control cables were flat like lamp cord. No need for a shield. Like 300 ohm vhf cable but with 3 conductors. RG-6 coax was much better than 300 ohm ribbon cable for UHF.

The shielded audio cable would probably have been efficient for carrying line-level stereo over a distance. I wonder if I bought the roll for some other purpose where I needed 3 conductors and a shield.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Those tools are for factory workers.

No self respecting electrician/mechanic would use anything other than his do it all 9" Linesman pliers.

If you were doing it on any repetitive scale... then you'd break out the fancy strippers!

If you're not smarter than the tools you own... Then by all means get the ridiculously complicated tool to complete a most simple of tasks.

 

[mschwett]

i have some of those “automatic” type but usually am working on fussy little wires in tight quarters that require either the notched kind or some careful work with small cutting pliers.

i’ve only electrocuted myself once, so ….

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. usually am working on fussy little wires in tight quarters that require either the notched kind or some careful work with small cutting pliers.

That happens to me most of the time.
I usually don't have enough wire length to cut off a mistake and start over.

Those tools are for factory workers.

No self respecting electrician/mechanic would use anything other than his do it all 9" Linesman pliers.

View attachment 190347

I've got two "identical" Linesman pliers with the same part numbers, but they're not the same.
The pair from the 70's just simply works better.
The cutters especially are way more effective.

I never seem to be able to use them for more than 10 minutes without pinching my thumb or index finger here though,..
I've had dozens of blood blisters over the years from getting bit by my pliers.

The handle Grips on your version look like they would prevent my hand from sliding down the handle and into the finger pincher??

If you're not smarter than the tools you own... Then by all means get the ridiculously complicated tool to complete a most simple of tasks.

You're only as good as your tools though, and better tools can make you a better mechanic.

I bought this pair of Vise Grip snips and ended up throwing them in the garbage,..

They were complete crap that couldn't even cut through a tin can without binding.

This $4 pair of "Pruning Shears" from the Dollar Store work WAY Better,..

It's my go-to cutters when a regular scissors isn't good enough and the angle grinder is more than necessary.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Funny story about Klein Linesman pliers.
My first job as an apprentice electrician the owner of the company gave me his old tools to start with and would buy me a new tool once a week when we went to the supply house. So when I wanted to replace the Linesman pliers he gave me I told the clerk I wanted the ones with the built in stripper. He brought out a pair with the built in crimper.. I said no, the one with the strippers. He was like... "kid... No such thing, are you sure they're Klein. I said," positive. Let me go out to the van and get them"
When I came back in the entire counter couldn't stop laughing. The pair I had was blown out at the base of the cutting jaw from cutting/shorting a live wire. The arch had cut a perfect circle at the base of the cutting section that worked great for striping insulation.


Something similar to this....

 

[PCeBiker]

A couple of weeks ago I bought these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TS6KCXD

,.. Have you used strippers like these?

Actually, I just used my automatic strippers a couple months ago to rewire my grow closet,..

I used an old extension cord from the 70's to make all the connections.
It's got the old-school Butyl rubber insulation and I managed to get the wire strippers set up just right, and my technique figured out that I stripped about 100 wires without spending the whole damn day getting it done.


I had only been able to connect the LED strips with solid core wire before because I couldn't get stranded wire plugged in without the wire folding over or strands popping out,..

I finally figured out that I needed to push the little button in to install the wire as well as release it.
Once I figured that out, I got the whole closet wired up in no time.


For tiny wires, especially stranded wire, a lighter really is the fastest easiest way to strip them, and you never break any of the strands.

The lighter did work on the butyl rubber insulation too.
The rubber burns instead of melting like vinyl, but it did still work.
The automatic strippers ended up being the easiest way to do it though, and I didn't notice any strands getting ripped out.

 

[PCeBiker]

Thank goodness someone found a topic that needed over-illustration.

I don't usually bother reading @spokewrench 's posts if they're more than a couple of paragraphs.

I like to post full size pictures to make it more difficult for people to scroll past my nonsense.

 

[PCeBiker]

I just happen to have a new tool arriving today,..

It's got the Ergonomically Enhanced raised gription touch points so you can easily twist and squeeze at the same time.

A lot of money for a tool that I can't even use on my e-bike (except for my pedals and maybe axle nuts?) But I've always wanted one since I saw @fooferdoggie 's post a couple years ago,..

I hadn't seen anything like it before.

@fooferdoggie 's tool was broken, so I fixed it for him.

Show Us a Tool

This tread is where to show others a tool and to talk about its use. What do you like about this tool? What is not so great. How do you use it? I like that it is heavy duty and has a padded grip. I use this extendable ratchet to remove and install bottom brackets. Having extra leverage is very...

forums.electricbikereview.com

Actually, it was @Mr. Coffee 's post in the thread where I saw it first,..

Show Us a Tool

Here's a tool, a Kool Stop Bead Jack. It unfortunately doesn't work for my purposes. I think it would work on thinner tires, but I couldn't make it work with 2.6" MTB tires. Minor investment from Amazon that I gave away to a "roadie" buddy who rides bikes with slimmer tires. Others have...

forums.electricbikereview.com

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I like to post full size pictures to make it more difficult for people to scroll past my nonsense.

Huh? No pictures. I don't understand.

I'm sure the forum owners are thrilled with your philosophy every time they have to upgrade their storage. But then, how would we all function without a screenshot of what your paid and when your new tool is being delivered by Amazon?!

Plus, other than also being a tool, your post has nothing to with this thread, which has very little if anything to do with bikes.

 

[spokewrench]

I just happen to have a new tool arriving today,..


It's got the Ergonomically Enhanced raised gription touch points so you can easily twist and squeeze at the same time.


A lot of money for a tool that I can't even use on my e-bike (except for my pedals and maybe axle nuts?) But I've always wanted one since I saw @fooferdoggie 's post a couple years ago,..

We don't seem to be at all observant. If you liked @Mr. Coffee 's, why didn't you buy a little one like his? @fooferdoggie 's is a different tool. It's likely to damage what you grab.
Two days ago, @Cliffy recommended twisting an axle with an open-end wrench to get it loose. He said it was probably 10mm and you should take care not to damage the threads. You took over, first posting 4 paragraphs with 3 photos, then posting 5 paragraphs with one photo.

It seems I was the only one with anything constructive to add. I said I'd used this very tool when I needed to twist an axle. I said it had two advantages, that it would fit a wide range of sizes and that, unlike a spanner, it would fit too tightly to damage the flats it turned. I use mine often on e-bike nuts.

 

[PCeBiker]

Yeah, I got the tools and posts mixed up.
This is what I bought.
And adjustable pliers wrench,..

I used @Tars Tarkas method of reducing my picture size this time.
I'm still used to taking screenshots and cropping them,..

 

[Mr. Coffee]

The Knipex Mini-Pliers are great but have some pretty specific narrow situations where you really need them. In particular on my Rohloff-equipped R&M Charger they are indispensable. I have a couple of other cases where they are helpful but not strictly necessary (one is a couple of very difficult-to-access rack bolts on a rando front rack).

So it is in the Every Ride Carry for the Charger but not for the Siskiyou.