Insulation Stripper?

[HRTKD]

More than once I hacked my way past the insulation and removed a few strands of wire. A utility knife isn't the best tool.

I have an old Weidmuller Stripax that is excellent. But I don't think it will do 6 awg and certainly not 2/0. It did work on 10 awg PV wire. The insulation on my TEMCo 6, 1 and 2/0 cable is EPDM. Any recommendations on a stripper for larger gauge cables?

I saw the one that Will used in his videos, but the reviews on those types of strippers seem terrible. The Greenlee 1903 stripper has mixed reviews in one page and lousy in another. Their more expensive adjustable stripper has even worse reviews.

 

[chrisski]

I have purchased a Jokari Wire Stripper and will be using that for the first time in a couple of days. It has got to be better than a utility knife, which I have been using.

Amazon.com

I’d like feedback on that if someone has used one.

 

[HRTKD]

I looked at the Jokari before I posted. Based on the specs, 2/0 would be at the margin of it's range, if not completely outside it.

 

[Zil]

For any wire thicker than 8 awg I use a Fiskars by pass pruning shears. Something like these; https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Prof...eywords=fiskars+ea0914&qid=1600784165&sr=8-34

 

[chrisski]

For any wire thicker than 8 awg I use a Fiskars by pass pruning shears. Something like these;

Please tell me you’re joking. Getting decent information about working with thicker than 10 gauge is difficult. I’m sure it has lead to some very questionable DIY installations because of some of the bad info.

THere’s some “end of the internet things,” searches that google does just not review a lot of results easily. One is dealing with wires thicker than 10 gauge. I’ve yet to find what seems a proper tool, although the hydraulic crimpers I have seem a whole lot better idea than the hammer a crimp. I would think a list of proper crimping devices by lug type would be not too hard to find, but I can’t seem to find a list.

Same thing with wire strippers. At a job I used to work, we had proper tools for that, but did not deal with stripping and crimping those thick wires too much, and its been 26 years since I left that field.

I see many posts that crimping is better than soldering and that done correct, the copper strands in the wire fuse together. I read in one of Trojan’s white paper on batteries that the best way to make a battery connnector is to crimp and solder. They had an IR picture that showed the temps and the coolest connection was both soldered and crimped.

Throw this on top of what you get off the internet is not what’s advertised. One crimp tool I have is metric, not AWG, but the manufacturer relabaled the pieces 2/0, 1/0, etc.. without actually making the correct size, so I need to go one smaller when I use that set.

 

[No.15]

I use the jokari or the fiskar shears. Both work well if you take your time. I have a nice crimper so usually have no problems

 

[chrisski]

The fiskar shears that I use to prune my plants in my backyard can be used for a wire stripper?

 

[Ampster]

I use a utilty knife to strip insulation off anything bigger than #10. With fine wire welding cable i am careful to not cut the strands.

 

[Ampster]

The fiskar shears that I use to prune my plants in my backyard can be used for a wire stripper?

I can see using them in a pinch on bigger cable depending on the blade. I don't think scissor types would work as well as the blade type.

 

[John Frum]

I have purchased a Jokari Wire Stripper and will be using that for the first time in a couple of days. It has got to be better than a utility knife, which I have been using.

Amazon.com

I’d like feedback on that if someone has used one.

The Jokari works well on welding cable and ok on xhhw, not good for thhn.

 

[HRTKD]

The Jokari works well on welding cable and ok on xhhw, not good for thhn.

What size welding cable have you used the Jokari on?

 

[John Frum]

What size welding cable have you used the Jokari on?

2 awg.

 

[No.15]

The fiskar shears that I use to prune my plants in my backyard can be used for a wire stripper?

Yes the fiskar shears are great. Take your time with them and when they get dull replacement shears are cheap. Adapt and overcome ?

 

[chrisski]

The Jokari works well on welding cable and ok on xhhw, not good for thhn. If the joker doesn't work well, I will a utility knife.

I will be using it mostly for the welding cable, 2/0. For the thhn I will be cutting, it is 6 gauge and 7 strand, so pretty stout.

Yes the fiskar shears are great.

This just goes against everything I would think about using a proper tool. I really thing a utility knife would be better than pruning shears. Who would have known.

 

[Ampster]

This just goes against everything I would think about using a proper tool.

It does go against everything i have been taught as well. However it is consistent with, necessity is the mother of invention. Or, don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

My toolbox is littered with redundant tools I bought when I had only misplaced the missing tool.

 

[HRTKD]

I was on a quest yesterday and went spelunking into the far corners of the Internet for cable strippers. Either I entered just the right search terms or I have my browser locked down because I didn't get any porn results.

Some of the more interesting cable strippers that I found are listed below. All of them may need to be configured to your wire. The knives can be adjusted for the thickness of the insulation.

Dewalt DCE151TD1 20V MAX* XR® CORDLESS CABLE STRIPPER KIT
It's an all-in-one kit that can strip 6 AWG to 750 MCM CU and 900 MCM AL. The quick connect bushings in the kit are designed to fit different cable sizes. It's a slick kit in my opinion. With a depth gauge on the collar, it's easy to get consistent, predictable strip depths. A good portion of the time I spent stripping insulation is measuring the depth. This tool would have saved me a lot of time.

At $326 on Amazon, this is a very expensive cable stripper. But it sure is cool!

Ripley Tools WS 68 & WS 68 SNAP Series
This is the same tool in the Dewalt kit, but without the drill part. Purchase the collar and then the specific bushings you need for the wires to be stripped. Ripley offers straight cut and chamfer cut bushings, while Dewalt only provides straight cut. The Ripley bushings should fit the Dewalt.

Pricing is challenging. There aren't many retail sites that sell this. On TechToolSupply.com, the collar tool is $240, then you have to purchase individual bushings for around $90 each. However, their selection is limited to only two bushings! 3/0 and 4/0. At that price, the Dewalt kit is a bargain.


Ripley 4x4 Plus Series
Ripley sells a manual tool that uses the same bushings. It holds four bushings. $157 at J Harlen.

Klein Large Cable Stripper 21051
Klein makes a tool similar to the Ripley 4x4. I haven't found the bushings for it. I read that they are not fixed (they're interchangeable). A bargain at $55.

Jonard Tools CST-1900 Round Cable Stripper
Strips cable 3/16” to 1 1/8” (4.5 mm to 29 mm) in diameter. That covers the size of cable I was looking to strip. It says it can strip rubber insulation which was what brought this tool up on my radar. It looked promising and I almost bought it. But the reviews prevented me from going through with it. There were a lot of positive reviews, but the very pointed negative reviews held me back. $41 on Amazon. The CST-4000 works on even larger cable.

 

[HRTKD]

This just goes against everything I would think about using a proper tool. I really thing a utility knife would be better than pruning shears. Who would have known.

The way I use the utility knife is to roll the wire across the blade. I try to avoid cutting with the blade so that I don't cut into the strands. This works well, but is time consuming. I do end up with some ragged ends.

 

[John Frum]

I just tried my jokari against some xhhw 250 mcm.
Worked surprisingly well.

 

[Hedges]

On the bright side, it hardly matters how many strands you lose stripping insulation.
The ampacity of copper is far higher than the tables list - those are just for heat dissipation and temperature rise from a long wire with insulation.
If your copper wire necked down to 1/2 or 1/4 its cross-sectional area where it entered the terminal, that section would dissipate more watts per inch, but the heat escapes into the long wire and then out through insulation. So long as the twisted strands have electrical contact, current will spread out as soon as it can.

A 1 mil wirebond can carry up to about 1A at room temperature; that is about where it burns out, depending on how long it is.
2/0 wire has 130,000 times the cross section of that wirebond, but we normally only put 200A or so through it.
(I guess that means no concern at about my utility drop carrying 100,000A fault current so long as I use a class-T fuse and not just my 200A main breaker which is rated 22 kA interrupting.)

 

[HRTKD]

I just tried my jokari against some xhhw 250 mcm.
Worked surprisingly well.
View attachment 23433

250 mcm is roughly equivalent to 4/0?

It's hard to tell but it looks like the blade slightly scored the strands. Correct?

 

[Hedges]

I grew up using dikes to cut and strip:

IIT 8" Diagonal Cutting Plier Side Cutter Cuts Wires Cable Zip Ties Pliers 45510 for sale online | eBay

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Now I usually use something like this, my small to medium wire/cable cutter:

Wiss Flip Joint 3-in-1 Cable Cutter 0890CSFW Fast Ship for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Wiss Flip Joint 3-in-1 Cable Cutter 0890CSFW Fast Ship at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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I score the insulation. Bend to stretch and break if I'm trying not to nick fine strand wire.
If stiff insulation like on 2/0 house wiring, or to remove insulation in the middle (like for a split bolt), then I split it lengthwise with a razor or X-acto knife.

Using that to cut larger cables I have to nip through, so I got this one:

High Quality | eBay

Due to its excellent ergonomic design, the handle is comfortable for easy gripping. Would you like to carry this compact-sized tool kit along with you?. Color: Black & Yellow. 11 x Pair of Dies. 4 x Seal Rings.

www.ebay.com

 

[John Frum]

250 mcm is roughly equivalent to 4/0?

It's hard to tell but it looks like the blade slightly scored the strands. Correct?

A bit bigger than 4/0
I think the blade did touch the wires but I went another couple of rounds at least past that point.
Those strands are pretty robust.

 

[John Frum]

these work more than adequate to my requirements.

Amazon.ca

 

[HRTKD]

these work more than adequate to my requirements.

Amazon.ca

Those look similar to the Klein cutters that I bought at Home Depot. I knew they were going to be tough to use when I saw that 2/0 was the largest wire they were rated to cut. I really have to muscle them to do 2/0. Getting a straight cut when struggling is tough. A ratcheting cutter might have worked better.

 

[Hedges]

Something the size of bolt cutters would be the way to go, but I was cheap (and get tired of lugging heavy 3' long tools), so I got that $25 ratcheting cutter.

I have the same strength problem with my ratcheting crimper set. But at least it has two dozen die; have only used a few.
I got the el-cheapo HF hydraulic hex die one for cables. Would be nice to have one with correct die sizes.