Stripping enamel from copper wire with a "groove" solder tip? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 10:48:17 am
content: Hi,Spent hours reading all previous threads on this...nothing looks good for this particular "nub end" case....https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/tool-to-strip-enamel-from-the-end-of-enamelled-copper-wire/We need to strip enamel from 7/0.3mm TEX-ELZ wire, as well as 1.25mm enamelled copper wire.This has to be done with the inductor/transformer mounted to its PTH's, and with the cut "nub end" of TEX-ELZ or ECW sticking out the bottom of the PCB.As such, a solder pot is not practical...can't take it to the nub end.The Abisofix enamel wire stripper doesnt look like it can be "nubbed up" to a small "sticky out" wire end out of a PTH on the back of a PCB. Also, it is not priced anywhere even on ebay.....i emailed for it but no reply.Sandpaper or knife scraping is not practical as each of the seven enamelled wires of the Litz needs to be scraped/rotated/scraped/rotated/etc/etc......this takes too long....and its difficult to knife scrape a nub end just peeking out of a PTH.Chemical methods are too dangerous, and again, awkward to take to a "nub end".Whats needed is a 100W soldering iron with a "groove tip"......eg like in the attached.........this could be hugged up to the "nub end", and "jizzled" up and down the "nub end" a bit, so as to heat and scrape the enamel off.Do you know if such a solder tip exists?Somebody would make a fortune making such a thing.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 03:14:20 pm
content: Not as a tip, but you can buy hand held thermal wire strippers. These should work.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 03:44:04 pm
content: Is it not easier to do this to the wires before they go into the PTH's when this means plated-through holes at least.Might even make a better connection after soldering, because the solder can then also travel up into the hole.So get a solder/tin pot and dip the wires in before mounting the transformer onto the board. It might be more time consuming, but trouble shouting a board that has strange behavior might be even more time consuming.When I use enamal wires for prototyping this is more or less what I do. I don't have a solder/tin pot, but I just use a bigger tip on my soldering iron and a big blob of solder to stick the wire in for a while. Then do a visual check to see if the tinning is proper enough.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 04:24:38 pm
content: Are you 100% sure the enameled wire(s) you are dealing with are "solderable." I suspect the Litz wire is, but for the other device, that is less certain, unless it is stated in the datasheet.A soldering iron tip doesn't not need to be iron plated. That is done to preserve tip life. Just take a suitable tip and file a groove in it. Then clean and tin with solder as usual. A triangular file will give a nice 60° included angle.Why do you need a 100W iron for that purpose? Seems excessive.I second the idea of stripping before mounting. Your reasoning on that is not clear.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 08:02:15 pm
content: Just don't expect the tip to last afterwards, the copper will dissolve and undermine the surrounding plating.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 08:14:28 pm
content: I believe he is talking about assembling a small number of prototypes. Plumbers and tinners used plain copper soldering irons (huge ones heated in blow torches) with well tinned tips for years. The term, DFM comes to mind when this prototype hopefully moves to mass production.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 08:22:34 pm
content: I'm sure he will have had the foresight to have purchased a spare tip anyway.

author: mc172
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 09:08:48 pm
content: I usually just crank the iron up to 450 and hold my breath for a bit. The key is to apply (lead, flux-cored) solder very liberally to the point where it drips off the iron by the time you've tinned one end. I once had to tin a batch of about 600 hand-wound coils for some RF filters that I had to build. I learned that those activated charcoal filters don't work as well as they'd like you to believe. So, I ended up connecting a shower fan to a long piece of tumble dryer exhaust hose and poking it through a letterbox to get rid of the fumes to get the job done.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 27, 2022, 10:54:31 pm
content: Quote from: mc172 on July 27, 2022, 09:08:48 pm