Stripper: professional tips on how to choose the best tool (95 photos). Features of the structure of electrical wires

A protective layer is available on all wires and cables. It is called insulation, it separates the conductors from the surfaces with which they are in contact, as well as from each other.

If you need to connect or install equipment, you need to strip the wires from insulation in separate areas to ensure good contact in the contact groups.

How to perform stripping so as not to damage the current-carrying conductors, we will consider in this article.

When choosing a method for removing an insulating coating, it is necessary to take into account its features. Insulation is single plastic and multi-layer. Resins, fabrics, non-combustible dielectrics are used as the latter.

The procedure involves the use of sharp instruments. They can ruin the wire, damage the insulation where it is not needed, narrow the cross section. Ineptly using the tool, do not avoid injuries.

The weakest point of the wiring is the end of the cable, cleaned from insulation. If the core becomes less durable or its cross section decreases, its initial characteristics will deteriorate

In order to minimize all risks, special tools and methods for working with them were developed.

The difference between wire and cable

When wiring is described, the term “wire” or “cable” is often used as a current conductor. To an uninitiated person in the subtleties of electricians, it may seem that this is one product. In fact, they are different.

A wire in the traditional sense is a cord with a small cross section. Such a conductor is single or multi-core. He may not have isolation at all, and if he does, then it is light in the form of a tube. It’s not difficult to remove it.

A cable consists of a number of current carriers. They are connected into one whole, but do not touch each other and are enclosed in a shell of special material.

For a wire with one core, the cross-section defines one core, for a multicore - the cross-sectional area forms the sum of the cross-sections of all the cores. To increase the performance properties of the cable, a nylon thread is introduced into the middle.

Any conductor should be handled with care, especially with aluminum conductors. Compared to copper, they are more fragile. Bending loads reduce the already small margin of safety of aluminum cores.

Some characteristics for comparison:

• density of aluminum - 2.7, copper - 8.9 t / mᶾ;
• multi-wire version for aluminum is excluded, for copper - is possible;
• the resistivity of aluminum is 0.0294, of copper - 0.0175 Ohm x mm² / m.

Damage during stripping of aluminum conductors further reduces their characteristics.

For more information on the types of cables and wires can be found in.

Varieties of insulation materials

Distinguish single and double insulation.

For its production, various insulating materials are used:

1. Plastics based on organic compounds.  These are mainly thermal plastics, which soften when heated. When burned, these plastics emit various toxins into the environment.
2. Thermosetting plastics.  They become harder when heated. Insulation of them is used only in special cases, when the requirements for it are increased.
3. Natural or artificial rubber of various types.  It hardens upon heating and supports combustion.
4. Fabric based insulation.  Withstands a fairly high degree of heating (maximum 400⁰) while maintaining insulating properties.
5. Shielding braid.  This is not insulation in the literal sense, since the braid does not fulfill the role of insulation, but it is a protection against mechanical damage.
6. Armor braid.  Also serves as protection against damage.

The choice of tools for stripping depends on what material it is made from.

How to strip wires correctly?

There are some nuances in this process, without knowing which, mistakes can be made with irreversible consequences.

The stripped area must not protrude beyond the connection. If you leave the exposed wire open, a person may accidentally touch it and suffer electric shock.

Insulation from the core must be removed from all sides. Compression of residual insulation will reduce the reliability of fastening.

When a mistake is made in the wiring of the vehicle, then under the influence of vibration, as a result of loosening the fastening, the wire will fall out of the connection

Incorrect stripping will cause a short circuit and even ignition.

Popular Stripping Methods

Practical skills play a large role in stripping wire insulation. The main difficulties arise when working with thin wires, when every movement matters. Optimum pressure is only developed by practice.

The most commonly used methods for removing insulation are:

• with a knife;
• by means of side cutters;
• under the influence of high temperature;
• using a stripper.

Each of the options is preferred in specific circumstances.

Option number 1 - the use of a knife for cutting insulation

At home, most often use a knife. It is important, using this simple tool, to choose the right angle of the blade. The biggest mistake is trimming in a circle with holding the cutting part in a perpendicular position. In this case, it is difficult to avoid notching the core or breaking the secondary insulation.

The correct position of the knife is when the tool and the axis of the wire are in the same plane. First, cut the braid along the conductor. Then the insulation is separated, it is taken to the side and finally cut off at the base.

It is better to use a special electrician knife with a straight or curved blade to remove hard insulation from the wires. The main thing is that there are no barbs on it. If the knife is folding, it must be equipped with a lock so that it does not fold spontaneously.

In a good blade there is a double-sided sharpening at a small angle, an internal rounding of the cutting edge. Some versions of construction knives have a special blade design - it is short and rounded inward, and at the end there is a “heel”. It limits the depth of cut, which is important if it is necessary to remove the top layer of insulation without damaging the shell of individual cores.

Option No. 2 - side cutters for stripping insulation

Side cutters are a convenient and safe tool, but only if used correctly. What you should pay attention to is the direction of the cutting edges and the applied force.

The tool is used in two ways:

1. The shell is cut from different sides, and then removed from the conductor. Such a method is suitable for working with a wire having a significant cross-section.
2. The braid is fixed and cut with the cutting edges of the side cutter, and then pulled to the side, making axial movements.

In any case, you need to act very carefully, otherwise the conductor will either be damaged or bitten off.

When working with a side cutter, you need to take into account that the sharpened side of the tool jaws must be oriented in the direction opposite to the braid retraction vector

There are also side cutters with notches for conductors of a certain diameter. This simplifies the use of the tool at home.

Option No. 3 - thermochemical method of removal

With very thin conductors with a cross section of less than 0.2 mm, removing the insulation from an enamel wire or PVC wire mechanically is a big risk. The thermochemical method is more suitable here.

In the first case, the technology is as follows:

1. The wire is conveniently laid on a flat surface. Chlorovinyl insulation is placed under it.
2. Heat the tip of the soldering iron and carefully guide it over the shell. When heated, it will disappear under the influence of released chlorine.

There is another option for removing enameled insulation from the cable. A tablet of aspirin is placed on the wire, it is heated with a soldering iron and distributed along the entire length. Not only removal of insulation will occur, but also wire tinning.

Braid removal by reflow guarantees the integrity of the conductor. The method works well on old wiring, since the winding here is hard and brittle.

Stripping the insulation of a thin enameled conductor can be done with fine sandpaper. Before removing the insulation layer from the wire, the sheet is bent in half so that the emery is inside. A wire is brought into the middle, slightly pressed with its fingers and pulled. Repeat the action until the enamel is completely cleansed.

Option number 4 - stripper stripping

If the considered methods of stripping are classified as manual, then some types of strippers allow to partially mechanize this work. The tool most often is a special pliers that work with a certain size of wires and cables.

Conventionally strippers are divided into categories:

• miniature hand;
• large rack and pinion;
• lever.

The first have the appearance of clothespins. In the spring-loaded jaws, it has holes - one or more. There are small multifunctional strippers and in the form of a similar case. Holes with knives were made in the drop-down housing for different cross-sections of the cores.

In addition, the device has a knife that cuts the braid in the longitudinal direction, a knife working in the transverse direction or cutting circularly. Equip them with a retractable knife for stripping the wire.

The next design is a stripper with levers. Visually, the tool is similar to scissors and includes:

• Knives with a wedge-shaped cut;
• The adjusting screw, with its help, set the desired section.

Clips fix the cable, then reduce the levers and the insulation is removed instantly. The length of the removal is set manually. The main minus is the need for tuning in the case when the insulation is removed from wires of different sections.

If you mistakenly insert a thick wire when setting the jaws to a smaller cross section, the conductive core will be damaged.

In addition to the basic functions, most of these hand tools are used for crimping the tips of multi-wire cores, cutting wires, cutting bolts. Sometimes they are used as simple pliers.

The tool with sockets in the blades, like the previous one, is universal. When working with it, you must not weaken your attention so as not to place the current conductor in the hole that does not correspond to its cross section.

These flaws are uncharacteristic of automatic link strippers. The wire size here is set automatically. The spring-loaded working element begins to act when the grips are compressed. You can remove not only the insulation from the core, but also the outer braid from the wire round or flat.

Many models are equipped with a length limiter that allows you to remove the braid to a specified length. The required limit is set once, and further withdrawal occurs at the set limit.

Automatic models, as well as manual ones, may have additional functionality - crimping tips, cutting and more.

Choosing a stripper model, you need to proceed from where it is planned to be used. For ordinary work at home, a simple hand tool is suitable.

There is a special stripper designed to remove insulation from the television cable. Its feature is the presence of two cutting edges placed at a certain distance. This provides a convenient installation of the F-connector subsequently

When working with a mass of wires and cables, it is better to arm yourself with a semi-automatic or automatic device. This tool is necessary for professional electricians.

There is an article on our website where we talked in detail about strippers for stripping wires. Go to to familiarize yourself with the material.

New stripping tools

More recently, the assortment was replenished with four new products:

• a plow knife for removing hard insulation;
• stripper for cutting insulation 2.9 - 6.6 mm² in the longitudinal direction;
• tool for working with wire insulation 0.05 - 2.5 mm²;
• wire cutting tool 0.25 - 6 mm².

All of them are released by the US company Jonard Tools.

The new case-type stripper is equipped with five grooves with a diameter of 2.9 - 6.8 mm. Blades are available both above and below. Cuts longitudinally wires, optical modules, protective tubes.

The plow knife is used when it is necessary to remove the cable braid from rubber, PVC, PE. A knife with a double-sided blade cuts longitudinal and transverse to a depth of 5 mm

Stripper for removing PVC insulating layer from cables with a diameter of 0.05 - 2.5 mm² is automatically adjusted to the required cross-section. When pressure is applied to the handle, the conductor is captured, the blades enter the insulation and tighten it.

The latter model is similar to the previous one, but works with wires of other sections.

There are non-standard situations, from which it is difficult even for a specialist to get out. At the same time, you have to make creative decisions and use improvised tools. Let's look at a couple of examples.

Example 1 - Damage to the wires leading to the plug

The method is applied if, during a visual inspection, it is found that the charger has defective thin wires leading to the plug. The main difficulty of the situation is not only in the small cross section, but also in the multicore cable. The fact that the wires are enclosed in a continuous braid is also problematic, so the insulation serves not just as protection, but as a two or three-chamber collector.

In order to remove the insulation quickly in this case, specialists use a thin blade removed from the cassette from the razor. The cable is fixed by means of a clamp from a table lamp or vice. The cable is divided into cores, with a blade, they carefully cut an incision in the right place not too deep. Next, part of the layer is pinned with a fingernail and carefully removed.

The protective layer can be in the form of a rigid external insulation, an inner filler layer, fabric, resin-impregnated insulation, individual insulation of each core

First, using the tool, they get rid of the outer shell by cutting it along the cable. Then, using pliers, one vein is removed. The remaining insulating layer is simply cut off.

The work associated with electric current is not easy. Therefore, even with certain knowledge, one must not forget that a damaged core will eventually fail.

For safety reasons, when stripping the insulation a little longer than required, the length should be cut off. Too dangerous are exposed veins.

It is not advisable for a home foreman to purchase expensive tools in order to use them several times, removing insulation. In most cases, simple tools at hand are quite suitable.

It is not always advisable to remove the insulation if the cable consists of thin cores. It is possible, without removing the insulating layer, to separate the conductors, and to create a contact, use a special clamp with teeth

Contact in the case of installing a piercing clamp will provide a puncture insulation. Sometimes this is enough.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

An overview of stripping tools - from the cheapest to the most expensive:

Whatever method you use to strip insulation, you need to remember that this work is dangerous. Attentive and competent attitude to the used tool will help to avoid problems. Each product must be used in accordance with its intended use, with utmost care.

And what method do you use to remove the insulation from the wires? Please share your own experience with people who first encountered such a task. Leave your comments, share experiences, ask questions in the block under the article.

Engaged in minor repairs in the house, you often have to deal not only with wires, but also with cables. Therefore, the question arises: how to properly strip the wire from insulation? There are differences between a wire and a cable, for example, a wire is one conductor that may not even provide for the possibility of stripping insulation (bare wire), while a cable is a whole network of current carriers that are not in contact with each other and are covered by a common layer - an insulating sheath. In fact, there are always several wires inside the cable. Strippers sometimes require both individual conductors and all conductors in a cable. Often you have to shoot a long section of the upper shell (insulation). Therefore, you can’t get by with your hands alone.

Varieties and arrangement of wires and cables have been repeatedly considered in articles on this topic. For example: "", "", "", etc.
  As a rule, a wire is a conductor (rigid or flexible) coated with insulation from PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or rubber. Insulation is one layer, or maybe several. Sometimes silk braiding acts as additional insulation, sometimes the conductor part is covered with an insulating varnish.
  How the cable is arranged is already written just above. What is technically considered a cable is often popularly called a wire, and a stranded wire can be called a cable. Polyvinyl chloride, rubber and other non-flammable dielectrics are used as insulation for wires and cables. They protect the wires from short circuits, contact with people and from fire.
  Sometimes the conductors of a stranded wire are enveloped with a rather dense layer of insulation, which can cause difficulties during stripping.
  According to the type of conductor section, wires are divided into two types:

1. Single wire (rigid). They are a conductor consisting of one solid conductor.
2. Multiwire (flexible). They consist of several very thin wires woven together.

For successful stripping, it is necessary to use a high-quality tool and observe the norms and sequence of work, otherwise, the wiring will quickly fail.

Tools for stripping wires

To correctly and safely strip the current-carrying part of the wire from insulation, the following tools may come in handy:

• Side cutters.
• Assembly, construction, clerical or household knife.
• Electric burner.
• Pliers.
• Special cutters for thick cables or metal shears.
• Vise or other locking device.

Stripper: its purpose and model variations

Stripper is a special tool for stripping wires. Simple models of this tool are similar in principle to conventional side cutters in principle. The blades are equipped with recesses of different radius, designed for veins of different sections.
  The semi-automatic manual stripper is equipped with two pairs of jaw blades. When using it, the end of the cable must be placed in the working area, close the handle of the blade and cut the insulation. Sponges at the same time remove it from the core. The stripper of this model is equipped with an adjustable emphasis, which allows you to accurately adjust the portion of the placed wire. In Russia, this tool is called KSI (pliers for removing insulation).


  Some types of strippers perform several functions simultaneously:

• Crop
• Stripping
• Veins are twisted

A twisted pair stripper is a clip with a built-in blade that looks like a clerical knife blade.

After repairing equipment or the electrical network, make sure that there is not a single bare area left.

Firm "Knipex"

The tool for stripping and trimming wires must be of high quality, in accordance with the requirements of state standard. The German company Knipex produces time-tested reliable tools for stripping wires. Some of them are tested at 10,000 volts at a temperature of +70 and -25 degrees. Therefore, there is no doubt in the reliability of the products of this company. Among other tools with which the wires are cut, the main ones can be distinguished:

• Combined Pliers
• Knitting mites
• Clamp pliers
• Nippers
• Tweezers
• Forceps
• Cable knives

Founded back in 1882, Knipex is today one of the most famous manufacturers of electrical tools. Every day 45 thousand units of products of this company are sold. About a hundred countries of the world collaborate with her. And in our region, getting a Knipex tool is not difficult.

Wire or cable stripping process

Most often, wire stripping is carried out using side cutters. Sometimes the cutting of wires is accompanied by the improper use of side cutters, which complicates the work and leads to damage to the live part of the wire. To remove the insulation, it is important that the cutting parts are directed away from the tool. Thus, the knives can crash into the insulation even with a slight pressure.

  If you don’t have side cutters or other special devices at your fingertips, you can take a knife, do not press the insulation of the wire tightly with the cutting part of the knife and circle it in a circle. If necessary, repeat until the protective layer of insulation is cut through and the tip reaches the core. You can make an incision not across. and along the wire, then stretch the edges to the sides and cut off the sheath. Many even consider this method to be better and safer.


  When cutting, you can easily cut your hands, so be extremely careful.

How to cut the outer insulation with a knife with a heel video

  When removing the outer layer of insulation, try not to cut it with translational movements (resembling sawing). You just need to push it with the sharp side of the knife and slowly turn it. Do not use force. When doing the work, inspect the stripped ends of the conductor. There may be cuts or breaks in the live part of the wire. This end of the wire is not suitable for further operation. It must be cut off and the work done again. If this is not given due importance, a dangerous situation may arise over time. As a rule, the damaged part of the wire core is subsequently broken off during operation. In the future, it will be necessary to look for the place of damage to the cable, and this place, as a rule, will be hidden by an insulating tape.
  Sometimes it’s not clear how to strip the wire, especially when it is too thin, and even stranded. There is one trick.

1. Take the old razor blade.
2. We break it and take one half of the blade.
3. We fix the wire using a vice or clamps. You can use the table lamp clip.
4. Cut the insulation along the conductor.
5. We make accurate cuts across the section, trying not to touch the blade of the conductor.
6. We bend the cable so that the incised edges slightly diverge.
7. We catch an incision with a fingernail and pull off the insulation from the core.

Stripping wires is a painstaking job that requires patience.
  When stripping wires, errors often occur. Typical errors of stripped wires are visible in the figure:

Thin wires break very easily. Therefore, it is necessary to clean the insulation from them very carefully.

Stripping insulation of thin or winding wires

When the thickness of the conductor is 0.2 mm, the best way to clean is a mechanical option. To do this, we need a knife or sandpaper, preferably a fine grain section.
  You need to bend the paper with an abrasive inward and insert a wire into the bent sheet, gently pulling it and pressing it with your fingers. The procedure must be repeated until the enamel is completely peeled off.
  When using a knife, it is necessary to put part of the cable on a solid surface and scrape off the varnish by rolling the wire in a circle until the enamel is scraped off the conductor. So, wire cutting is not a complicated process and does not require an electrician's diploma.
  If the cross section is thinner than 0.2 mm, another method will be required, since mechanical results will not give, it will only damage the wire. In this case, it is worth mastering the thermochemical method of stripping. We will need a soldering iron and vinyl insulation.
  We put vinyl chloride on the table and heat the soldering iron. In the hot state we drive them in isolation. When heated, chlorine will be generated to separate the enamel.
  To tin wire during thermochemical processing, you can take an aspirin tablet, lay the wire on it and drive it with a soldering iron in the same way.
  In addition to the fact that the cross section of the wire is so thin, inside it has many veins, twisted into one conductor. Therefore, the use of this method requires accuracy and skill.

Stripping the insulation of the power cable

Power cables are used mainly for laying the conductor to powerful equipment and to distribution panels. How to remove the outer layer of cable insulation?

1. Slowly we cut an insulating layer from the end along the cable, but not very deeply.
2. With the help of pliers we pull out one core located inside.
3. Cut off the remaining piece from the outer insulation.
4. We cut the wires.

Before you begin this work, carefully consider how much insulation you need to remove. Better cut with a small margin. By exposing a piece too long, the excess can always be cut off. Use the cambric to properly position the cable inside the device.

When working with electricity, never neglect the need to exercise caution. Even if you have stripped the wires many times, remember that any incision in the insulation layer is a potential threat to the cable and wire.

And finally. A different tool for stripping wire insulation and how to use it video.

Stripping wires is a routine but laborious and demanding operation. There are many tools that facilitate this work, but you need to know some of the nuances of their application and take into account many years of experience in order to avoid mistakes that can lead to big problems in the future.

Stripping insulation: harder than it sounds

Inaccurate stripping of the electrical wire with a knife or an improper tool will damage the metal conductors. The cross section of the wire in the damaged area decreases, the resistance increases, which can lead to an increase in temperature with ignition of the insulation. At the bend points, the notched wire may simply break. In high-frequency wires with alternating current, the problem is exacerbated by the so-called skin effect: current tends to flow in the surface layer of the conductor (the current density pattern looks like a hollow tube). In such wires, even slight damage to the surface of the conductor can interfere with the operation of the equipment.

That is why the knife today is not the main tool for stripping insulation. Of course, using a knife, you can carefully remove the insulation. To do this, hold the blade almost parallel to the wire and carefully rotate the wire or knife 360 \u200b\u200bdegrees around the conductor. However, when it is necessary to strip a lot of wires, the knife will inevitably damage part of the conductive wires, because even a talented neurosurgeon cannot perform hundreds of identical high-precision incisions in a day.

According to surveys of electricians in professional forums, you can not use a knife and improvised tools, such as pliers or side cutters, when it comes to large volumes of work. In such cases, only strippers are used, that is, specialized stripping tools.

Simple, versatile and high quality.

Stripping nippers such as Stanley ST-0-84-010 have a very simple design. But don't underestimate this tool. High-quality nippers are made of high-strength steel and have a screw with a fine thread to adjust the depth of cut of the insulation. It is enough to use the adjusting screw to set the cutting depth of the insulation, grasp the wire with the cutting edge, turn the wire cutters and pull off the cut piece of insulation. With the help of such nippers, it is possible to strip wires of different diameters, up to wires with a cross section of up to 1 mm. In addition, unlike most other tools, it is convenient to use wire cutters in cramped conditions, for example, inside shields.

In extreme cases, when the wire is energized due to an error, such wire cutters are safer, since a high-quality tool of this kind has handles isolated up to 1000 V and allows you to work with one hand.

The simplicity of the tool has a downside:

• there is no possibility to adjust the length of stripping;
• wire cutters do worse with wires in a flat sheath, with fabric, or vice versa, very rigid insulation.

Nippers are indispensable in cases where you need to strip a lot of wires of the same diameter. To work with a large number of different wires, universal strippers are used.

Automatic cable stripper: say no to fatigue

Automatic strippers, such as Stanley FMHT0-96230, do not need to be configured, just select the length of the strip to be cleaned and the tool is ready for quick stripping of wires with diameters from tenths of a millimeter to several millimeters. It is especially convenient to remove insulation from flat wires with it, which are widely used in household appliances. An automatic stripper can simultaneously strip two or three strands of a flat wire. If you need to strip a lot of wires at the workplace, then an automatic stripper is the best choice, but you need to choose a quality tool that requires a minimum of physical effort to remove the insulation.

Stanley FMHT0-96230 automatic stripper can strip wires with diameters from 0.8 to 2.6 mm

When choosing a tool for long-term work, it should be noted that automatic strippers weigh about 350 grams. The solution is simpler and lighter universal strippers, like the Paladin Tools PT-1117. The stripper has several holes of different diameters and allows you to strip wires with a cross section of 0.34-0.6 mm2. Typically, such strippers have a number of additional functions, such as wire cutters and crimpers (crimping tools) - in some cases this eliminates the need to carry extra weight.

Universal strippers are the most common stripping devices and often come in even simple tool kits like.

Universal Strippers Paladin Tools PT-1117 and

In professional forums, one can often find the opinion of electricians that when using a stripper, it is sometimes difficult to get a wire into the hole of the desired diameter. Therefore, experienced electricians lay the wire first in a hole of a deliberately larger diameter, notching the top of the insulation. If the insulation is soft, it can be easily removed, even cut halfway, and if it is more rigid, the wire is inserted into the next hole of a smaller diameter.

With proper use, universal strippers can last 10 years or more without sacrificing efficiency. But they are not suitable for removing insulation with a metal, Kevlar braid, as well as hardened old insulation.

Rigid Insulation Cable Strippers

For stiff insulation it is better to purchase a special stripper, for example Jonard JIC-4366, which has two blades at once: for removing the outer sheath of cables with a diameter of 4.5-7.9 mm and for removing insulation from PVC. The blades are interchangeable, which is important for a tool working with hard materials.

  Jonard stripper JIC-4366 is suitable for work with rigid insulation

In some cases, specialized strippers are used. For example, thermal strippers are used to remove old hardened insulation or to strip very thin wires. For thin wires - precision strippers, like OK ST-500ESD, capable of stripping wires with a diameter of 0.25 - 0.8 mm. Such devices are not universal. In particular, a thermal stripper requires a power source and hood to remove toxic combustion products of insulation. Precision strippers are more expensive than conventional strippers and inconvenient for ordinary work, for example stripping flat or rigid cables.

Mandatory in the toolbox

It can be stated that devices for the safe removal of insulation should be in the tool kit of an electrician who has to work with wiring. You can often do with a knife, but this is an extra waste of time on operations that are done with the stripper in seconds. In the USA, only strippers are usually used in training: beginners are taught to use the right tool and minimize the human factor, which can lead to malfunctioning of wiring and equipment with subsequent insurance claims.

As a result, strippers are available in almost all professional tool sets: in, as well as specialized ones. In some sets, for example, SK-17, there are two strippers for stripping wires from 0.4 mm to 25 mm. This is enough to do most work.

17 piece cableman set

findings

Choosing the right tool for stripping wires has advantages for both the contractor (electrician) and the customer. Thanks to the stripper, an electrician can perform work much faster and with less effort, and the customer receives high quality work and a guarantee of reliable operation of the cable system in the future.

In the arsenal of a professional electrician, there is always a tool for stripping wires, which is necessary for stripping wires when connecting sockets, switches, cutting wires, etc. Such a device will also be useful to the home master, who has started repairs in an apartment or house.

We will figure out what tools exist to remove the sheath from the wires, what are the specifics of their application and indicate what you should pay attention to when buying such devices.

To connect one socket or switch in the apartment, it is not necessary to buy professional equipment. Strip a piece of wire will get a normal kitchen knife. However, if there is a large-scale repair with a complete upgrade of the wiring system, then specialized devices cannot be dispensed with.

The number of contacts to be cleaned during the repair of a house with an area of \u200b\u200b100 square meters. m can reach thousands. To perform such work without specialized devices is an unreasonable waste of time and energy.

In addition, stripping without professional wire strippers is fraught with negative consequences:

• high risk of cable damage, which reduces the safety of electrical wiring;
• an incision in the conductive core leads to a decrease in the cross section of the wire, as a result of which an open or burning occurs at the junction;
• if not cut carefully, the damaged wire may break when bent.

In high-frequency systems with alternating current, the situation is complicated by the appearance of the skin effect - the current is distributed unevenly, and mainly in the surface layer of the conductor. In such wires, any most insignificant defect in the core can damage the equipment.

With a knife, you can carefully clean the insulation, but the work will take a lot of time. And if you need to prepare a lot of cables, then mistakes are inevitable - quickly, a large number of high-precision cuts cannot be made

When it comes to significant amounts of work, it is better not to take risks and use special devices. Damage to the conductor can cause a fire, damage equipment or cause electric shock.

Types of wiring accessories

The variety of tools can be classified according to the following criteria:

• volumes of work performed;
• process automation.

The insulation shell can be removed in two ways: thermal and mechanical.

The first option is valid only for thin, low-power conductors used in communication devices, audio equipment and electronics operating on a voltage of about 5 volts.

Alternative options: side cutters and pliers

Using some tools not for their intended purpose, it is quite possible to remove the insulation wrapper. Popular alternatives to professional tools: side cutters and pliers.

Cutting edges should be directed in the opposite direction to the movement of the tool. The shell is carefully removed by a tube without injuring the conductor.

For processing wires, pliers with precision holes of various diameters are suitable. Universal tool in demand for wiring.

Such pliers allow you to:

• grab and bend the wire;
• cut the wire of medium hardness;
• crimping contact sleeves;
• remove insulation.

The number of holes determines the functionality of the tool, usually the pliers are designed for processing wires of 3-6 sizes.

Work with pliers carefully. If you do not calculate the force of the clamp, then you can easily damage the core.

The choice of stripping method for different wires

The complexity of stripping is largely determined by the type of wire. When choosing a tool, you should consider the features of the cable:

1. Coaxial wire.  When removing double insulation, work is carried out in two stages. The top layer can be removed thermally, and the bottom with a stripper. The cores of this cable are very fragile and thin, so they are easy to damage.
2. PTFE cable.  Heat-resistant insulation that can only be removed mechanically. An electrician's knife or a stripper will do.
3. Enameled wire.  If the cross section is less than 0.2 square meters. mm, then we must resort to the thermochemical method using a soldering iron and vinyl chloride tape. The wire is put on a tape, it is carried out via a cable with a soldering iron - the released chlorine contributes to the "departure" of the enameled sheath from the wire.

When choosing a tool, one must take into account the diameter of the wire the device is designed for, as well as the material for manufacturing the handle.

If it is necessary to process electric cables, strippers with a handle of dielectric material must be selected.

The coating protects against voltage within 1000 watts.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

A variety of tools for stripping wires and cables, comparison strippers:

The choice of the tool should be based on the upcoming conditions for its use, the need for additional functionality. The main thing is that the device ensures compliance with two main requirements: stripping insulation without damage to conductive conductors and in accordance with the declared dielectric characteristics.

If there are doubts regarding the second, then all work is carried out exclusively with the voltage removed.

And what wire stripping tools do you use? Please share your own experience with visitors to our site. Leave your comments in the box below. There you can ask questions about the topic of the article.

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