What's the best (cheap) way of stripping enamel off of magnet wire?

Question

What is the best way of stripping enamel off of magnet wire using things available in a common electronic setup? I mean, I have some wire cutters and I can use it to strip the enamel off of thicker magnet wire but I have two thin types of wire. For one of them I can burn the enamel off effectively but it still seems to not be consistently conductive. For the thinnest wire I have when I burn it off the copper(I assume it's copper, the wire is of unknown origin) the copper burns and vaporizes with it and the wire just falls apart becomes disconnected.

What's the best way of stripping enamel with common tools? (as in, without special acids and such)

see also http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/7489 — markrages, Dec 23 '10 at 16:15

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 23 '10 at 13:20

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The traditional way for enamelled copper wire was a methylated spirits burner.

answered Dec 23 '10 at 13:20

Linker3000

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score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 23 '10 at 22:27

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Cigarette lighter - done in 2 seconds!

answered Dec 23 '10 at 22:27

Adam Pierce

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This is the method I use -- a Bic lighter -- and then some fine steel wool to take the residue off, to reveal bright bare. Just use the steel wool over the trash can (away from your PCB) to prevent steel wool dust from getting all over your work area and creating a short-circuit problem. Sandpaper too easily removes copper from the wire, which matters with the thin stuff. The fine steel wool does not remove much if any copper, and produces a nice bright slightly-burnished finish that shows you whether or not you got all of the insulation off or not. – MicroservicesOnDDD Mar 05 '21 at 05:52

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 06 '15 at 07:21

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I always use a blob of solder on the tip of a soldering iron. Just stick the tip of the wire in the blob and the enamel floats right off.

answered Apr 06 '15 at 07:21

Eric Hoffstetter

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I have tried this but I get a 60/40 success chance. Then I trim the end and try again. I haven't managed to find a way for this to work consistently. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? – Schizomorph Dec 07 '17 at 20:24
This only works for certain types of insulation, polyurethane, I think. But certainly not the highest temperature imide insulation. – MicroservicesOnDDD Mar 05 '21 at 05:57

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 02 '15 at 19:19

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I had some trouble with polyurethane-coated magnet wire, heat wasn't getting the insulation off. Soaked it in a weak acetone solution for a few minutes, and the insulation flaked off pretty easily after that.

answered Apr 02 '15 at 19:19

Stephen Collings

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SE system was auto-complaining about a duplicate answer. I have converted the other one into a comment with a link to this one. – Nick Alexeev Apr 02 '15 at 19:48
You can warm up the acetone, and it will work faster, but be careful, because it's also flammable! – MicroservicesOnDDD Mar 05 '21 at 05:58

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 23 '10 at 08:45

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It could be that the thinnest type of wire you have is actually some sort of plastic with just a bit of metal in it. Headphones or flexible telephone cords often use such wires because the polymer (often nylon) string is more robust to tension and torsion than copper alone.

Soldering these is hardly possible; they are often crimped. I don't know if acid works (I think formic acid is used quite often).

answered Dec 23 '10 at 08:45

zebonaut

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I don't think this is true, I mean I can break the wire apart with my bare hands very easily. (and when trying to strip it, I commonly break it off accidentally. Some of the enamel comes off with my fingernails though) – Earlz Dec 24 '10 at 05:19

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 25 '10 at 05:55

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I've used very fine sandpaper. It's a time consuming and dirty process, but if you only need to strip the insulation off a short length of wire it works.

answered Dec 25 '10 at 05:55

mjh2007

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What's the best (cheap) way of stripping enamel off of magnet wire?

6 Answers6

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