Wire Strippers

Wire Stripping Basics

Wire stripping is the severing and removal of a section of insulation surrounding the conductor. It is imperative that the operator pay close attention to the diameter of the conductor and the thickness of the insulation so that the conductor and remaining insulation are not damaged. The detail on the right shows some of the common errors or faults that occur as a result of improper wire stripping. In order to avoid these faults, a proper insulation stripping tool which is suited to the insulation and the cross-section of the conductor is required.

The use of pocket knives or razor blades is strictly inadvisable since with these, the stripping quality depends exclusively on the manual dexterity of the user. Far better are hand operated tools which self-adjust automatically to the corresponding cross-section of the conductor and do not damage the conductor during stripping or result in one of these faults.

Wire Strippers

There are two basic types of wire strippers available in the marketplace: manual and automatic. The manual wire strippers use a blade or pair of blades with or without a notch in them. These blades are squeezed together in a manner similar to pliers and then rotated around the circumference of the wire. In this way, the wire’s insulation is cut. The cut insulation must then be removed.

With an automatic wire stripper, the insulation is both cut and removed as the strippers are squeezed together to close them. There are usually additional features on automatic wire strippers:

• Depth gauges to insure that the strippers do not cut into the copper strands
• Stops to insure that the wire is stripped to the appropriate length
• Automatic opening of the jaws when the wire stripping operation is complete
• An integrated cutoff tool for cutting the wire to the appropriate length.

Weidmuller offers a broad selection of automatic wire strippers that will accommodate a variety of wire sizes and types of insulation. In addition, Weidmuller offers a combination tool that will 1) cut the wire; 2) strip the wire; and 3) crimp a wire end ferrule onto the end of the wire! This product is called the "Stripax Plus" and has a part number of 9020000000.