Not too long ago, I inquired about a substitute for General Cement
"Strip-X", an old stand-by on quick removal of the enamel of "coil
wire." It was a smelly, blackish gel, came in a small bottle, and
wonderful for stripping off coil wire enamel in a minute or two.
It isn't made for the electronics hobby trade anymore, but there
IS a reasonable substitute: Jasco 0201 Premium Paint Stripper,
available at most Lowe's, Home Depot, OSH, True Value chain
stores, about $4.75 for a pint.

I have some toroid coils under construction, all using #32 and #34
AWG enameled coil wire. A #$%^!!! to strip those with either
single-edge razor blades or fine-grit finishing paper. With the
Jasco stripper gel, two dips and a WAIT of about 15 minutes will
allow a wiping cloth to remove the enamel without damaging the
wire. A lot longer wait than with Strip-X, but it is better than
nothing.

The same Jasco paint stripper will also loosen the lithographic
designs/labels on small tin cans. [see other post] The newer
can paints are tougher than those of 30+ years ago so it might
be necessary to use some steel wool to help remove the paint
(with the gel still on it). Doesn't appear to affect the steel
wool.

The product contains methylene chloride (said to be a toxic
substance, especially to Californians and their overly-strict
hazardous materials rules). Another brand and product at Do-It
Centers had that plus formic acid; didn't get that, a bigger
can and it cost about $18. Whatever was in old Strip-X must
have been stronger and nastier. [my last bottle dissolved the
bristles of the bottle cap brush after sitting for a few years]

So far, the hobby room's production line has been humming along
without breaking any fine coil wire in order to solder to the
toroid winding's ends.

Why bother with the stinky stuff at all? And, who wants to wait for 15
minutes before you can make the solder connection? I just tin my
soldering iron and leave the little solder blob on the iron and apply it
to the end of the wire. In a few seconds, the enamel coating melts off
and the solder blob tins the end of the wire at the same time.

Scott
N0EDV

wrote:

Not too long ago, I inquired about a substitute for General Cement
"Strip-X", an old stand-by on quick removal of the enamel of "coil
wire." It was a smelly, blackish gel, came in a small bottle, and
wonderful for stripping off coil wire enamel in a minute or two.
It isn't made for the electronics hobby trade anymore, but there
IS a reasonable substitute: Jasco 0201 Premium Paint Stripper,
available at most Lowe's, Home Depot, OSH, True Value chain
stores, about $4.75 for a pint.

I have some toroid coils under construction, all using #32 and #34
AWG enameled coil wire. A #$%^!!! to strip those with either
single-edge razor blades or fine-grit finishing paper. With the
Jasco stripper gel, two dips and a WAIT of about 15 minutes will
allow a wiping cloth to remove the enamel without damaging the
wire. A lot longer wait than with Strip-X, but it is better than
nothing.

The same Jasco paint stripper will also loosen the lithographic
designs/labels on small tin cans. [see other post] The newer
can paints are tougher than those of 30+ years ago so it might
be necessary to use some steel wool to help remove the paint
(with the gel still on it). Doesn't appear to affect the steel
wool.

The product contains methylene chloride (said to be a toxic
substance, especially to Californians and their overly-strict
hazardous materials rules). Another brand and product at Do-It
Centers had that plus formic acid; didn't get that, a bigger
can and it cost about $18. Whatever was in old Strip-X must
have been stronger and nastier. [my last bottle dissolved the
bristles of the bottle cap brush after sitting for a few years]

So far, the hobby room's production line has been humming along
without breaking any fine coil wire in order to solder to the
toroid winding's ends.

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

Scott wrote:

Why bother with the stinky stuff at all? And, who wants to wait for
15 minutes before you can make the solder connection? I just tin my
soldering iron and leave the little solder blob on the iron and apply
it to the end of the wire. In a few seconds, the enamel coating
melts off and the solder blob tins the end of the wire at the same
time.

Scott
N0EDV


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That procedure works only with certain types of coating. With the good
kind, you can let the soldering iron cook it till the cows come home
and the enamel is still there.

73, Bill W6WRT

Bill Turner wrote:

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

Scott wrote:


Why bother with the stinky stuff at all? And, who wants to wait for
15 minutes before you can make the solder connection? I just tin my
soldering iron and leave the little solder blob on the iron and apply
it to the end of the wire. In a few seconds, the enamel coating
melts off and the solder blob tins the end of the wire at the same
time.

Scott
N0EDV



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That procedure works only with certain types of coating. With the good
kind, you can let the soldering iron cook it till the cows come home
and the enamel is still there.

73, Bill W6WRT

You can buy your wire specifically to be solder-stripable. I often
strip the temperature resistant stuff by scraping carefully with an
Exacto knife, then peeling the residue off with a soldering iron -- it
may not melt with the iron, but it'll come unstuck once it's thoroughly
scarified.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google? See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/

Bill Turner wrote:
Scott wrote:
(snip)
I just tin my
soldering iron and leave the little solder blob on the iron and apply
it to the end of the wire. In a few seconds, the enamel coating
melts off and the solder blob tins the end of the wire at the same
time.

Yeah. I am winding coils with some of the good stuff made for
continuous use at 200C. I heat the ends of the wire to a rosy glow
with a propane torch, and the enamel just turns dark and a little
bumpy. But at least this makes the coating brittle enough to sand
off. It just laughs at solder.

Bill Turner wrote:

That procedure works only with certain types of coating. With the good
kind, you can let the soldering iron cook it till the cows come home
and the enamel is still there.

Any idea who sells the easily solder-stripped stuff in 30 guage or
smaller (would really like some 34 guage) ?

wrote:

From: Tim Wescott on Wed, Feb 22 2006 7:58 am

-snip-

When winding toroids by hand without a toroid-winder or
its fancy winding bobbin, there's lots of flexure on the
ends of the fine copper wire from all the threading-through
the hole. Copper is maleable, but there are metal-fatigue
limits even with copper. Using something that scars the
surface, plus the metal-fatigue phenomenon from dozens of
threading movements, makes it easy to damage the ends.

Yes, I've tried fine steel wool in removing enamel from #32
and it is as inferior as perpendicular knife-edge scraping.
Such works okay on #26 or larger where one can afford to
lose some copper in the process.



You can predict wire length well enough to strip it before you wind the
coil? Wow. I always have to wind the coil, cut off the 0 to 4 inch
miscalculation (I always shade it high), then strip.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google? See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/

You can predict wire length well enough to strip it before you wind the
coil? Wow. I always have to wind the coil, cut off the 0 to 4 inch
miscalculation (I always shade it high), then strip.

If the toroid calculator calls out about 30 turns or less (on a
half-inch OD core), yes, then I use the program's wire length
call-out. More turns and the manual winding isn't ideal and
the stripping has to be done after the winding is complete.

I was thinking of a 100+ turns on a toroidal core where the coil
(I should say magnet wire to be modern) lay can't be as perfect
as a toroid winder. Then there's no good, practical accounting
of the wire length ahead of time.

When faced with lots of turns like the above, and using very
small wire, there's a bit more anxiety and care needed when
trying to take off the enamel for close-to-the-core stripping.

Just look for "heat-strippable" wire, or wire with solderable
polyurethane insulation. I've seen "polythermaleze" as one brand name.
And as for the "better" insulations that are not heat strippable with
a low-temperature/controlled-temperature iron, simply use more heat. I
suppose Teflon or polyimide coated wire would be a problem, but I'm
sure there aren't many amateurs winding with those, and in any event,
both would be a problem for paint strippers. I doubt very many ham
applications require better wire than you can get in solderable
polyurethanes.

http://www.bulkwire.com/ is one source of magnet wire. I'm not sure if
they have a minimum order. I've also gotten odd-number sizes from
Amidon Associates. Also, if you have a local motor rewind shop, they
may just give you a small amount--though they may not have #34AWG.

http://www.essexgroup.com/News_Media...ermalclass.pdf may
be of interest to the curious.

Or see
http://eraser.com/catpdf.cgi/magnet....d&catpdf_id=11 for
a supplier of strippers and stripping equipment (no, no--just for
stripping WIRES!).

Cheers,
Tom