Strip a section in the middle of a wire?

Thread Starter

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,343
I want to be able to strip the insulation from a short section in the middle of a wire. The wire might be 16 or 18 gauge pvc insulated. Do you know of any tool that will do this?
I know I could cut the wire and strip and rejoin the ends - kinda messy.
I know I could (attempt) to remove a section with a knife - easy to cut some strands.
Also possibly use insulation displacement connectors.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,706
Depends on how much of the bare wire you want exposed.

For a short section, ¼" or 6mm, I would just cut the insulation with wire stripper and tug the insulation to create the gap.

For a longer section, I would make two cuts and slice the insulation length-wise with box cutter or utility knife.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
If you have a wire stripping tool, the insulation may be flexible enough to open up a gap. Then you can solder on a feeder in a Y tap splice. The insulation creeps back until stopped by the splice.
 

drjohsmith

Joined Dec 13, 2021
852
Thanks to @MrChips and @djsfantasi both provide good methods. It is Y splices I need to do so will try this with the wire I have.
Not to be used in production
but a cigarette lighter can make a simple job

( As seen in all the best / worst movies to hack into an alarm system )

Obviously , you could set fire to that you dont want,
and it could be that its "fire proof" insulation.

but an idea


Ive seen it done a bit more scientific with a hot air gun and some shielding,
insulation just scrapes off,
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
Thermal strippers would likely be a good approach. However, in the absence of a set of thermal's you COULD take a piece of 12 gauge copper wire and fashion a tip for one of those Weller soldering guns. Then at the tip - flatten it into a wafer, then file it to a knife shape, sharpen a leading edge, then you can melt through the insulation without damaging the strands. Once you've cut both ends of the area to be stripped you can then cut lengthwise and unfold a clamshell piece of insulation. Give me five and I'll bang out a picture of what I mean.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
View attachment 259556
Can also be used to weld plastics together.

The shorter the 12 gauge wire the hotter the tip will get. Also, will be stronger when shorter.
Years ago Weller made tips like that, they still may. But all of the heat solutions may bring other problems if the connection needs to be soldered. The plastic melting on the conductor won't accept solder too well.
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
Years ago Weller made tips like that, they still may. But all of the heat solutions may bring other problems if the connection needs to be soldered. The plastic melting on the conductor won't accept solder too well.
I've never seen any problems the way you suggest. There are thermal strippers that have been used for a long time. The melted plastic may stick to the wire strands but it's easily pulled away. PVC, teflon - I've seen many wires thermally stripped with no problems.

I only made the suggestion to offer yet another line of thought for approaching the problem. Nicked wires can be a problem. An elderly neighbor called to say her heater stopped working and wanted me to take a look at it. The 12 gauge wire that fed the machine had been stripped with one of those strippers that have several size slots to accommodate different wire sizes. In doing so the wire was nicked all the way around causing a fragile spot where under normal vibration it broke. The fix was easy; strip and reterminate. She was happy to have her heat working again.
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
the machine had been stripped with one of those strippers that have several size slots
Using one of those type strippers and choosing the correct groove, in two places then a razor blade or Exacto to split the insulation between the cut rings is how I've always done it.

I changed the front shocks on my truck a year ago, they were the type that has a stud and nut at the top. To get the rusted nut off I had to use the cutting torch. And doing so some of the wiring got melted. When I tried to solder the wires back together, after pulling the melted insulation off, the solder wouldn't stick to the wire. That's the reason I said what I did. Even in the wiring factory I never heard or saw them thermally strip plastic insulated wire, only magnet wire.
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,852
the wiring got melted. When I tried to solder the wires back together, after pulling the melted insulation off, the solder wouldn't stick to the wire.
Can't trump personal experience. But then again, I've seen automotive wiring that had been exposed to elements for quite a while that wouldn't solder without the use of a very aggressive flux. The worst case has been battery cables. Those are my personal experiences.
 

ThePanMan

Joined Mar 13, 2020
773
Well, that may be a specialty tool meant for manufacturing production, but the idea is still there - a hot set of tweezers or even something like @Tonyr1084 suggested, making your own hot knife. I have a Weller gun I haven't used in years, but I have it. The tips are all gone but in a pinch I could easily bend up a heavy gauge wire and make a soldering iron out of it. In fact, back in 2015 I rewired a trailer for a log hauler. My iron burned up the tips I had. In a pinch I used some 12 gauge and formed a rudimentary soldering iron that finished up the job without me having to run to the store to find tips. Tony isn't the only one who knows that trick - heavy gauge wire and bending it. In fact, a few decades ago I used a custom tip for cutting styrofoam insulation, cutting slots for conduit and gang outlets.
 
Top