Stripping Enamel Wire(Toroids)

[Andrew O. Ojwang]

Hello,

Use a lighted match stick or cigarette lighter to burn away the
enamel(carefully), then use fine sand paper, and Surgical Spirit on a
cloth to clean away the dirt.

Solder wire should have special flux to capture the rest of the dirt
to make tinning easier.

You will find that the wires will be easier to tin, after this.

Andrew(KI4LTH/5Z4FT)
K1, T1, Hopeful
http://www.qsl.net/5z4ft/index.html


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[David Cutter]

The wire used for these toroids is I believe in the category of "self fluxing" meaning it is designed to dissolve in the presence of the "high" temperature of molten solder.  It is microscopically thin and the quantity that we work on per hour is very small compared to an industrial set up where all the right fume extraction is installed.  

Scraping is what we used to do before this was available and I believe weakens the wire leading to unreliability.

David
G3UNA
 

>
> From: "Andrew O. Ojwang" <[hidden email]>
> Date: 2007/03/07 Wed AM 09:32:46 GMT
> To: [hidden email]
> CC: Al & Dianne Bruce <[hidden email]>
> Subject: [Elecraft] Stripping Enamel Wire(Toroids)
>
> Hello,
>
> Use a lighted match stick or cigarette lighter to burn away the
> enamel(carefully), then use fine sand paper, and Surgical Spirit on a
> cloth to clean away the dirt.
>
> Solder wire should have special flux to capture the rest of the dirt
> to make tinning easier.
>
> You will find that the wires will be easier to tin, after this.
>
> Andrew(KI4LTH/5Z4FT)
> K1, T1, Hopeful
> http://www.qsl.net/5z4ft/index.html
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>

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[Andrew O. Ojwang]

David,

Oh yes this is the 21st Century of course.

Andrew(5Z4FT/KI4LTH)

At 13:30 3/7/2007, you wrote:

>The wire used for these toroids is I believe in the category of
>"self fluxing" meaning it is designed to dissolve in the presence of
>the "high" temperature of molten solder.  It is microscopically thin
>and the quantity that we work on per hour is very small compared to
>an industrial set up where all the right fume extraction is installed.
>
>Scraping is what we used to do before this was available and I
>believe weakens the wire leading to unreliability.
>
>David
>G3UNA
>
> >
> > From: "Andrew O. Ojwang" <[hidden email]>
> > Date: 2007/03/07 Wed AM 09:32:46 GMT
> > To: [hidden email]
> > CC: Al & Dianne Bruce <[hidden email]>
> > Subject: [Elecraft] Stripping Enamel Wire(Toroids)
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > Use a lighted match stick or cigarette lighter to burn away the
> > enamel(carefully), then use fine sand paper, and Surgical Spirit on a
> > cloth to clean away the dirt.
> >
> > Solder wire should have special flux to capture the rest of the dirt
> > to make tinning easier.
> >
> > You will find that the wires will be easier to tin, after this.
> >
> > Andrew(KI4LTH/5Z4FT)
> > K1, T1, Hopeful
> > http://www.qsl.net/5z4ft/index.html
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Elecraft mailing list
> > Post to: [hidden email]
> > You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> >  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> >
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
> >
>
>-----------------------------------------
>Email sent from www.virginmedia.com/email
>Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software and scanned for spam

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I found the "blob" method worked very well for me.  After awhile, it was just natural.  The key is to have a clean solder tip in the beginning....and make sure you clean it afterwards once the "blob" has done it's job.  Another key is to turn the heat up on the solder pencil to make sure you have enough heat to burn away the enamel.

I cannot repeat this enough.  Cleaning is very-very-very important.  

I could tin the leads in less than a minute.  No pots, no scrapping, no chemicals

Oh yea...the rig works too.

Lee - K0WA



In our day and age it seems that Common Sense is in short supply.  If you don't have any Common Sense - get some Common Sense and use it.  If you can't find any Common Sense, ask for help from somebody who has some Common Sense.  Is Common Sense devine?
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[Bob Nielsen]

Back in the mid-20th century there were chemical strippers for the  
enamel on wire.  They were probably not too good for the environment  
(or even the health of the user) and are no longer being sold, but  
they did the job intended.  You just dipped the end of the wire into  
the "stuff" and wiped the enamel away.

Bob, N7XY

On Mar 7, 2007, at 2:38 AM, Andrew O. Ojwang wrote:

> David,
>
> Oh yes this is the 21st Century of course.
>
> Andrew(5Z4FT/KI4LTH)
>
> At 13:30 3/7/2007, you wrote:
>
>> The wire used for these toroids is I believe in the category of  
>> "self fluxing" meaning it is designed to dissolve in the presence  
>> of the "high" temperature of molten solder.  It is microscopically  
>> thin and the quantity that we work on per hour is very small  
>> compared to an industrial set up where all the right fume  
>> extraction is installed.
>>
>> Scraping is what we used to do before this was available and I  
>> believe weakens the wire leading to unreliability.
>>
>> David
>> G3UNA
>>
>> >
>> > From: "Andrew O. Ojwang" <[hidden email]>
>> > Date: 2007/03/07 Wed AM 09:32:46 GMT
>> > To: [hidden email]
>> > CC: Al & Dianne Bruce <[hidden email]>
>> > Subject: [Elecraft] Stripping Enamel Wire(Toroids)
>> >
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > Use a lighted match stick or cigarette lighter to burn away the
>> > enamel(carefully), then use fine sand paper, and Surgical Spirit  
>> on a
>> > cloth to clean away the dirt.
>> >
>> > Solder wire should have special flux to capture the rest of the  
>> dirt
>> > to make tinning easier.
>> >
>> > You will find that the wires will be easier to tin, after this.
>> >
>> > Andrew(KI4LTH/5Z4FT)
>> > K1, T1, Hopeful
>> > http://www.qsl.net/5z4ft/index.html
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Elecraft mailing list
>> > Post to: [hidden email]
>> > You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
>> > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>> >  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> >
>> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
>> > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>> >
>>
>> -----------------------------------------
>> Email sent from www.virginmedia.com/email
>> Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software and scanned for spam
>
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[Jack Smith-6]

Bob Nielsen wrote:
> Back in the mid-20th century there were chemical strippers for the
> enamel on wire.  They were probably not too good for the environment
> (or even the health of the user) and are no longer being sold, but
> they did the job intended.  You just dipped the end of the wire into
> the "stuff" and wiped the enamel away.
>
> Bob, N7XY
>
Yes, the late, lamented StripX from General Cement. It seems to have
vanished from their product offering.

However, a visit to a good hardware store should turn up Klean-Strip
KS-3 Premium Stripper. It seems to be the same stuff that GC sold, and
it does a good job on enameled magnet wire.

I think I paid about $6 or $7 for a quart. It's thick, almost gell-like,
product and will cling to the wire. Dip it in, swishing around to get a
good coating on the wire. Remove and let it sit for 10 minutes or so and
the insulation sloughs off.

On the solder pot technique, I have an adjustable temperature solder pot
that I purchased to strip a 150 or so toroids that I wound last fall. I
found that the enamel works as a thermal insulator as well and you need
to mechanically or chemically remove a bit of the insulation in order to
get a good thermal contact between the molten solder and the copper.
Once the thermal contact is made, even through just a few scrape marks,
the heat transfers rapidly and the rest of the insulation melts off. Of
course, the removed insulation floats to the top of the molten solder
and requires skimming off.

I wound up using the KS-3 stripper to get the insulation mostly removed
and then finished it up (and tinned the leads) in the solder pot. Before
inserting into the solder pot, wiping the leads with cake type rosin
helps as well.

Jack


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[dave.wilburn]

After having re-done many toroids, I have to agree with Lee.  I was my
own worse enemy.  The more you do it the easier it gets.  It is
important to have a flat (chisel) bit on the soldering iron, as it holds
the blob better.  I have 12 more toroids left to do to finish up my K2.
  I'm not really looking forward to it, but I am also not dreading it.
I am much more confident with what has to happen now to get it correct.
  The more you do it, the easier it will get.  Beyond that, and very hot
chisel bit iron will help a great deal.

David Wilburn
[hidden email]
K4DGW
K2 #5982


Lee Buller wrote:

> I found the "blob" method worked very well for me.  After awhile, it was just natural.  The key is to have a clean solder tip in the beginning....and make sure you clean it afterwards once the "blob" has done it's job.  Another key is to turn the heat up on the solder pencil to make sure you have enough heat to burn away the enamel.
>
> I cannot repeat this enough.  Cleaning is very-very-very important.  
>
> I could tin the leads in less than a minute.  No pots, no scrapping, no chemicals
>
> Oh yea...the rig works too.
>
> Lee - K0WA
>
>
>
> In our day and age it seems that Common Sense is in short supply.  If you don't have any Common Sense - get some Common Sense and use it.  If you can't find any Common Sense, ask for help from somebody who has some Common Sense.  Is Common Sense devine?
> _______________________________________________
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> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
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>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>

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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

This was passed along by someone a couple of years ago, but with the current
interest it seems worth repeating.

Emtech has a nice little video demonstrating how to heat-strip enamel wire
with a 700F soldering iron at:

http://emtech.steadynet.com/rm/tinning_200_l.ram

Or, if you're using a dialup this will run better (with a little lower image
quality).

http://emtech.steadynet.com/rm/tinning_56_l.ram

These are files intended to run in RealAudio's viewer.

Nicely done in spite of Emtech's inability to spell 'toroid' on their web
site! It seems they have LOTS of company, but perhaps "torrid" fits with the
use of a hot soldering iron better, Hi!

Ron AC7AC

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[David Cutter]

Brilliant video.  Perhaps Elecraft could have a small library of these for
all those tricky little manoeuvres that would help builders.

David
G3UNA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[hidden email]>
To: "'Elecraft Reflector'" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 12:08 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Toroid Wire Stripping Video


This was passed along by someone a couple of years ago, but with the current
interest it seems worth repeating.

Emtech has a nice little video demonstrating how to heat-strip enamel wire
with a 700F soldering iron at:

http://emtech.steadynet.com/rm/tinning_200_l.ram

Or, if you're using a dialup this will run better (with a little lower image
quality).

http://emtech.steadynet.com/rm/tinning_56_l.ram

These are files intended to run in RealAudio's viewer.

Nicely done in spite of Emtech's inability to spell 'toroid' on their web
site! It seems they have LOTS of company, but perhaps "torrid" fits with the
use of a hot soldering iron better, Hi!

Ron AC7AC

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