Pete 75C Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 ...I'm sure you know the kind of wire - those spit-thin insulated (laminated) wires that are way way thinner than, say point motor or DCC bus wires. I have some rather realistic (imho) 3V LED street lights, each with a pair of these wires sprouting out of the base. When trying to expose the core by stripping the lamination back with a razor blade, nine times out of ten, the blade just cuts the wire. Now I could just be ham-fisted, but is there a knack or a trick to this? Someone once told me that by bunching a few of these wires together and inserted them into a choc-box connector, the metal pin will pierce the lamination and make the connection. Well, that just didn't work for me. The lamination would appear to have to be scraped off. Any advice welcome, as the wire is getting shorter and shorter as I manage to cut more and more off by accident! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetheroad Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 The insulation is plastic? What I do is use my hot soldering iron to strip the insulation off. I hold the wire against the top of my glass gas cooker cover (other surfaces may be available) and use the edge of the iron bit to melt and slide the insulation off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffy Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 For the very thin stuff, I have always used my teeth, or on occasion, the flame form a pocket lighter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 I didn't think of heat. Duh. Thanks guys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted October 11, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 11, 2016 I didn't think of heat. Duh. Thanks guys. treat yourself to a pair of these https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/rolson-2-in-1-cutter-stripper/?da=1&TC=GS-040218512&gclid=CMqZq-650s8CFcsK0wodSVcNIQ NIck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 Nice strippers Nick (I haven't said that since I last went to a stag do)... Would they really go down all the way to "next-to-nothing" wire thickness? A moot point actually, because the flame from a lighter worked a treat. Thanks again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted October 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 12, 2016 Nice strippers Nick (I haven't said that since I last went to a stag do)... Would they really go down all the way to "next-to-nothing" wire thickness? A moot point actually, because the flame from a lighter worked a treat. Thanks again. I use them on DCC decoder wires although original purchased to make some bespoke POS cables Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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