Hi Molten solder does dissolve a portion of copper from the wire, just as it dissolves the copper from your un-plated iron bits. I use a quick flash through a flame, gas lighter or if a lot of wires are being prepared, a small alcohol burning lamp is fired up, the sort used in the old days to sterilize the needle and bone saw. Some enamels are classed as solderable, Lewcosol was one brand of magnet wire that had solderable (self fluxing) insulation, the other type of wire, lewcomex for motor and transformer winding was not. On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 6:27 AM, Joe McCauley wrote: > Melting is possibly the wrong way to put it :). It did tend to damage fin= e > wire irreparably though. At the minimum the wire seemed to get very britt= le > & break apart. At the time I was winding pickup coils with up to 4000 tur= ns > using .038mm OD (including insulation) wire. After such a laborious job, > the last thing you wanted to do was to damage the wire in stripping the > insulation. The number of turns in the system was critical. > > This week I was making some IF coils for a receiver. Prolonged heating of > the wire after completing the specified number of turns was damaging the > former. > > Joe > > -----Original Message----- > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf > Of Sean Breheny > Sent: 07 August 2013 07:51 > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > Subject: Re: [EE]: Looking for chemical wire stripper > > Copper melted by soldering iron? Perhaps it was actually dissolving in th= e > solder? > > > On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 2:33 AM, Joe McCauley wrote: > > > That works OK for wires in the region of 0.2mm to say ~0.6mm. Larger > > diameters will probably tend to conduct heat away faster I'd speculate > > (I would usually use fine sandpaper on those). It is hopeless for the > > very small diameter wires as the copper just gets melted. It was while > > working with very fine diameter (<38 microns) wire that I first came > > across Eccostrip. > > > > It turns out that the use of methylene chloride in paint strippers has > > been banned in the EU since the end of 2010 :(. > > > > Joe > > > > ________________________________________ > > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of > > Sean Breheny [shb7@cornell.edu] > > Sent: 07 August 2013 06:41 > > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > > Subject: Re: [EE]: Looking for chemical wire stripper > > > > If you are only stripping a small portion and you don't mind the wire > > being tinned, a hot soldering iron with a generous blob of solder will > > strip magnet wire. The trick is to keep adding solder to the tip of > > the iron while it is in contact with the wire. I usually find that > > placing the iron tip above the wire and allowing the blob of solder to > > hang down and engulf the wire is best. I move it back and forth along > > the wire, adding solder and allowing the excess to drip down off the > > tip. Periodically it is necessary to wipe the tip to remove any burnt > enamel residue. > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 11:18 PM, Robert Rolf > >wrote: > > > > > Methylene chloride is the active ingredient in most paint strippers. > > > You'll probably find that any paint stripper found in your local > > > hardware/building supply store will work for stripping enameled > > > wire.. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 3:11 PM, KPL wrote: > > > > > > > Looks like cleaners for polyurethane foam guns also contain > > > > methylene chloride. > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 9:06 PM, Joe McCauley > wrote: > > > > > So I dug out an old tin of Nitromors paint stripper & it does > > > > > contain > > > > Methylene Chloride (& Methanol). It has deteriorated , but it does > > work, > > > > though the effect is not as fast as I'd hoped for. Still it beats > > > scraping > > > > the varnish off with the attendant risk of physical damage to > > > > small diameter wires. I'll have to see now if the modern > > > > incarnation of the product will work. > > > > > > > > > > Thanks for all the help, > > > > > > > > > > Joe > > > > > ________________________________________ > > > > > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On > > > > > Behalf Of > > > > Joe McCauley [PMCCULEY@tcd.ie] > > > > > Sent: 06 August 2013 17:49 > > > > > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > > > > > Subject: RE: [EE]: Looking for chemical wire stripper > > > > > > > > > > Used to use a product called Nitromors. I believe it no longer > > contains > > > > Methylene Chloride. I may have some in an old container in my shed. > > I'll > > > > test & report back if & when I can find it. It would be at least > > > > 10 > > years > > > > old so may have Methylene Chloride. It was a gel if I recall > > > > correctly which would be good from a handling perspective. > > > > > > > > > > I'll also look up MG chemicals as Dwane suggested. > > > > > > > > > > Joe > > > > > ________________________________________ > > > > > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On > > > > > Behalf Of > > > > Kerry Wentworth [kwentworth@skunkworksnh.com] > > > > > Sent: 06 August 2013 16:33 > > > > > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > > > > > Subject: Re: [EE]: Looking for chemical wire stripper > > > > > > > > > > Yes, it contains Methylene Chloride (and methanol). > > > > > What do you use in Ireland to get paint off of furniture? Or cars= ? > > > > > > > > > > Kerry > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Joe McCauley wrote: > > > > >> Kerry, > > > > >> > > > > >> That won't be available here most likely (I'm in Ireland). Do > > > > >> you > > know > > > > what the active ingredient is? > > > > >> > > > > >> I just tried 66% Nitric Acid. It worked well, but was not > > > > >> instant. A > > > > colleague tells me fuming nitric acid would be better. It would > > > > not exactly be easy to handle though..... > > > > >> > > > > >> I just found my notes relating to that period (1991!) & the > > > > >> product > > > was > > > > called Eccostrip. It was manufactured by Emerson & Cuming. It is > > > apparently > > > > no longer made, but one of the active ingredients was Methylene > > Chloride. > > > > >> > > > > >> Thanks, > > > > >> > > > > >> Joe > > > > >> > > > > >> -----Original Message----- > > > > >> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] > > > > >> On > > > > Behalf Of Kerry Wentworth > > > > >> Sent: 06 August 2013 15:18 > > > > >> To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. > > > > >> Subject: Re: [EE]: Looking for chemical wire stripper > > > > >> > > > > >> I have tried acetone and denatured alcohol without success. > > > > >> After > > > > seeing your email, I tried some Klean-Strip Low Odor Aircraft > > > > Remover > > and > > > > it works instantly. Available at auto parts stores. > > > > >> > > > > >> I suspect any paint remover would work. > > > > >> > > > > >> Kerry > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> Joe McCauley wrote: > > > > >> > > > > >>> Many years ago while working in a lab in France, I used a > > > > >>> chemical > > > > stripper to remove the varnish from wire (similar wire to that > > > > found in transformers). This would dissolve off the varnish > > > > cleanly and > > > effortlessly > > > > & I used it on wire diameters down to 0.038 mmm. It smelled > > > > absolutely horrible (corrosive), but only stripped off the varnish > > > > leaving the > > > copper > > > > perfect. > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Does anyone know of a substance that will perform similarly? > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Thanks, > > > > >>> > > > > >>> Joe > > > > >>> > > > > >>> > > > > >>> > > > > >> > > > > >> -- > > > > >> http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list > > > > >> archive > > > > View/change your membership options at > > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > >> > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > > > > View/change your membership options at > > > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > > > > View/change your membership options at > > > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > > > > View/change your membership options at > > > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > KPL > > > > > > > > -- > > > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > > > View/change your membership options at > > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > > View/change your membership options at > > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > > > > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .