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Wire stripping frustrations

gotyoke

Well Known Member
I'm getting frustrated with this Ideal Stripmaster, which is supposed to be a great quality tool. Or maybe I should be mad at the wires. All wire is Tefzel (22759), which I assumed was all identical, but obviously it's not, and I triple-checked the wire gauge stamped on the wires and in online references.

  • 26 AWG in Van's supplied elevator trim tab wiring harness - clean strip
  • 24 AWG in Van's supplied Ray Allen T3-12A elevator trim tab servo wires - 50% chance of clean strip (see second and third pics)
  • 22 AWG SteinAir supplied single conductor - clean strip
  • 22 AWG inside FlyLEDs supplied shielded multi-conductor for "The Original" kit - 0% chance of clean strip
  • 20 AWG FlyLEDs supplied single conductor in wiring harness for "The Original" kit - 0% chance of clean strip (Paul, what's going on here?)

9DD96E21-7658-4A0D-A20D-99AFE9C77861.jpg

10AC0F9E-EA35-4432-8AA8-AA635801A9E6.jpeg

5BE6C4CB-F457-449A-AD07-62E39E5ED9B3.jpg

Using the next smaller slot in the tool creates the obvious problem of possibly damaging the conductor wires.

Is there something wrong with my wire stripper? In your experience, does the source of Tefzel matter THIS MUCH? Is it common for the wire stripper to leave a tag of insulation like the second picture, and if so, what is your advice for dealing with it?
 
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Proper Tefzel and Teflon stripping blades "pinch" the insulation rather than "knife" it. As you've seen, the knife blades will just extrude some of the insulation. The Ideal Stripmaster blades are 45-1987. See if you can find a set on ebay or somewhere. I sold a bunch here, but I'm out.
As others said, you can strip the jacket on shielded cable with a razor blade or thermal stripper. Just lightly run a ring around the jacket and bend slightly. The jacket will separate and you can pull it off.
 
Nothing wrong with the stripper. I think it’s the wire that is variable. I seldom find 24 awg wire that strips easily, and for that reason (and others) I prefer not to use it if possible. If I was building a Boeing, maybe the smaller gauge would make a difference, but on an RV, I don’t see any logical reason to ever use anything smaller than 22 awg. I know it’s not needed for the small amount of current being carried, but 24 & 26 awg wire is a pain to work with. Trying to be careful with an alternate type of stripping can be a problem, because it’s not hard to end up cutting a couple strands of the wire.
 
Using the next smaller slot in the tool creates the obvious problem of possibly damaging the conductor wires.

FWIW, I almost always had to go one size smaller, or the insulation would just mangle up, and I never had any problems with nicked or cut wires (and I inspected *carefully* when first doing this). I should have gotten the "proper" jaws for Tefzel, but just never did because using one size smaller worked just fine.

Maybe just to continue adding to my collection of tools, I will now :).

See other posts re: shielded wire.
 
Listen to fi-mike

Proper Tefzel and Teflon stripping blades "pinch" the insulation rather than "knife" it. As you've seen, the knife blades will just extrude some of the insulation. The Ideal Stripmaster blades are 45-1987. See if you can find a set on ebay or somewhere. I sold a bunch here, but I'm out.
As others said, you can strip the jacket on shielded cable with a razor blade or thermal stripper. Just lightly run a ring around the jacket and bend slightly. The jacket will separate and you can pull it off.

The die type strip master blades mentioned work perfectly on Teflon and Tefzel wire. The knife type that seem to be most common not so much
 
Proper Tefzel and Teflon stripping blades "pinch" the insulation rather than "knife" it. As you've seen, the knife blades will just extrude some of the insulation. The Ideal Stripmaster blades are 45-1987. See if you can find a set on ebay or somewhere. I sold a bunch here, but I'm out.
As others said, you can strip the jacket on shielded cable with a razor blade or thermal stripper. Just lightly run a ring around the jacket and bend slightly. The jacket will separate and you can pull it off.

Yikes! Four times the cost of the knife blade ones. I'll have to think about that.

Also, my post wasn't clear that I was trying to strip one of the unshielded conductors inside an already-stripped shielded multiconductor, so I edited the original post to clarify.
 
I have an issue with my stripper which I think is an ideal. I can strip single conductor 22ga wire just fine but the individual conductors on 22ga 2 conductor shielded seem to have slightly less insulation any they won’t strip well at all. I will have to look into the correct “blade” set.
 
22 AWG inside FlyLEDs supplied shielded multi-conductor for "The Original" kit - 0% chance of clean strip
20 AWG FlyLEDs supplied single conductor in wiring harness for "The Original" kit - 0% chance of clean strip (Paul, what's going on here?)
Hi Eric

We source rolls of wire from ProwireUSA.com.

I have the same Ideal Stripmaster tool bought from B&C a few years ago, and I too find exactly the same issues as you!

I'm satisfied that my tool is not damaging the wire when I use the next slot down in size to strip the wires. It's easy to test this by stripping the wire further up again and looking for any damage to the individual strands from the first strip.
I find that the sizing works appropriately when using anything other than Tefzel, where the (typically PVC) insulation happily tears away after being almost cut through by the strippers.

If you choose to go down that rabbit hole you'll find there are many variations of "standard" M22759 wire, and shielded cable then also has those variations of wire contained within them!

 
I've had a really good experience with this wire stripper tool:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01018CVM0/

And this set of 14-26AWG blades for it:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RH6R57C/

Total cost $40 plus shipping/tax.

It's the "knife" vs "pinch" blades but careful inspection shows no conductor damage as long as I use the correct hole, and it's worked well even on 24-26 gauge wires (e.g. the Garmin config module, Ray Allen trim cable assy, LEMO jack wires, etc.).
 
22 AWG inside FlyLEDs supplied shielded multi-conductor for "The Original" kit - 0% chance of clean strip
20 AWG FlyLEDs supplied single conductor in wiring harness for "The Original" kit - 0% chance of clean strip (Paul, what's going on here?)

The insulation on the single wires inside of the typical shielded, multi wire Mil spec cable we use is quite a bit thinner than that on the single conductor wire. The stripper must get closer to the strands to make a clean strip because of this. Have not used your tool, so can't offer tips. Only explaining why it is happening.
 
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I just got done stripping a ton of wire with my brand new "ideal stripmaster" stripper. All the same wire you're stripping. 18awg to 26awg from Stein, FlyLED, Wiremaster and Vans. I had no problems. I did have problems with my old Harbor Freight stripper but that's another story...

It sounds like you got a dud.

edit: I'm stripping single conductor unshielded and the individual wires of multiconductor shielded. All with no issues.
 
Hi Eric

I'm satisfied that my tool is not damaging the wire when I use the next slot down in size to strip the wires. It's easy to test this by stripping the wire further up again and looking for any damage to the individual strands from the first strip.

When I built the harness I went one size down too and was happy with the results. Thanks for confirming that I'm not crazy :)
 
ditto

As has been posted several times, the standard dies do not work well on Tefzel; the proper dies give a clean strip every time.
 
If anyone has a set of blades for a reasonable price please let me know. Starting avionics wiring shortly.
 
Let me check my box again. Maybe I can scare up a set.

Sorry, nothing left in that AWG range. I do have a few of the 14,12,10 gauge blades. Like I said, check ebay. Only the big guys pay list price! The right blades make a big difference.

I literally pulled handfuls of new-on-card replacement blades out of the trash bin when they moved our production line.
 
I just returned an Ideal Stripmaster that mechanically didn't work like it should. It wouldn't pinch the shielding tight enough to pull and the pinch area dropped low pulling at a sharp angle. Exchanged for another set that work perfectly.
 
Nothing wrong with the stripper. I think it’s the wire that is variable. I seldom find 24 awg wire that strips easily, and for that reason (and others) I prefer not to use it if possible. If I was building a Boeing, maybe the smaller gauge would make a difference, but on an RV, I don’t see any logical reason to ever use anything smaller than 22 awg. I know it’s not needed for the small amount of current being carried, but 24 & 26 awg wire is a pain to work with. Trying to be careful with an alternate type of stripping can be a problem, because it’s not hard to end up cutting a couple strands of the wire.

Dito, just what Levi says in the AEA class. No need for 24 & 26 unless it's a boeing.
 
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