Printable View
I have searched the forums for this topic, sorry if its been covered before. I have some Service entrance cable in various gauges, and that aluminum cable has a very tough insulation to strip. Has anyone come up with a way to do it that is worthwhile for aluminum price? I also wondered if wire striping machines can do that kind of cable. I am guessing its easier to just sell it as insulated aluminum cable or resell longer lenghts on Craigslist.
thanks T
My wire stripper, which basicly uses a pipe cutter wheel (I've seen it on this forum before) is able to cut the SE casing pretty good... even the really hard plastic on the large gauge... like 3/4 - 1" thick copper cable... I do strip the aluminum wire as I get about 20 cent more per pound over regular aluminum.... keep an eye on the smaller stuff tho, as it has a steel core.... i let my wire pile stock up and when I have nothing to take apart, I work on wire... I cut the alum wire in say 2 foot lenths and after it's stripped, I unwind the steel core.
I was just wondering the same thing. I found some wire scraps at the base of a utility pole out in the woods. It looks like some burnt end pieces from where the wire broke and around a 4' length from when they did the repair. The insulation is a hard plastic.
The only idea I could think of was putting a razor in a set of vice grips and heating the blade with a torch to split it lengthwise. I haven't tried it yet because it seemed dumb and I wanted to find a better way.
I don't guys, but I got the same problem. Got 3 strands of the stuff each about 50 ft. long and can't strip it for nothing. Haven't thought about resell on CL until now. Might go that route, but if anyone knows of a better way please let us know.