Insulation ON or OFF?

Ok so after a few days I am wondering - does it make more sense to leave the insulation ON the smaller wires? For example, when I've stripped down extension cords or connector cables, I end up with 2 small insulated wires - stripping the insulation off those is really time consuming and isnt yielding a whole lot of copper, in the sense that I can only really strip a few inches and then I have to cut the wire. What ends up happening is the longer the stripped piece, the more copper ends up coming off with the insulation and I have a mess of copper hairs everywhere.

What to do?

Just strip off the heavy plastic and leave the very last layer of insulation? I know yards pay more for the bare wire but it doesnt seem very effective.

Any advice is appreciated!

I used to strip ALL cords I found but my hands just cannot take that any more so unless its bare bright or the think cable from monitors I turn it in insulated. but, thats just my preference you'll have to decide for yourself if you want to strip.

I dont strip cords. My yard pays me 38% for power cords which is about $1 a pound so I dont bother. I do strip degausing cables and anything solid wire.

Buy one of these. No more hairs. And you can do entire sections of wire without cutting it down every few inches.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANUAL-WIRE-...#ht_2314wt_938

I tend to strip all wires but I am not into large quantities yet and I have the time so do what ever you want but I would strongly recommend the same machine which IdahoScrapper posted above me...

well i get .70 for ins. and 2.75 for stripped. i usually do strip it, but since school, i havent had much time.

the machine doesnt tend to work well on braided wire (those copper fibers go everywhere and the wire breaks and has to be reset into that manual machine). i own one and i can only use it effectively for solid core wire. SO... my braided gets sold as is, and solid core will all be stripped

1075 as in all hands?

So. AZ prices
#1 Ins wire $3.00 lb
#1 copper $3.35 lb
#2 Ins wire $1.15 lb
#2 copper $3.05 lb

thats kind of like which is better chocolate or vanella Ice cream. that said, I absolutly hate it when I have to turn in any insulated wire because it is too small to strip, to me its like giving away money I cant afford to give, so I strip every thing humanly possable.

ps. just a reminder for noobs who might not know, that silver wire in computers, tv etc. may not be stainless as you may think, it probably is copper, as is the silver woven cable down near the degassing cable. the way I tell is to bend it into small loups or wad it into a ball, if it dosent spring back redily it is probably copper.

I try and strip everything. I sit out in my man-cave, watch tv, drink beer and strip wire. Its amazing how much can be stripped during a football game!

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Originally Posted by Filthy

the machine doesnt tend to work well on braided wire (those copper fibers go everywhere and the wire breaks and has to be reset into that manual machine). i own one and i can only use it effectively for solid core wire. SO... my braided gets sold as is, and solid core will all be stripped

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That's what I thought when I first used it. The key is to set the blade deep enough to cut the insulation and be easy to pull apart, but not so deep it catches the wire and causes problems. Another tip is to use your hand to hold the wire low on the incoming side, so it doesn't ride up into the blade.

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1075 as in all hands?

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What did I miss,,???

i like to strip wire as much as the next scrapper...but i usually keep it to 12 gauge or larger. Especially if your doing it by hand.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

What did I miss,,???

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I Googled it. Seems to be a firefighter term.

1075 is the FDNY "10" code for an all hands working fire, just thought it was an interesting screen name, from a FF's persepective.

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Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

Buy one of these. No more hairs. And you can do entire sections of wire without cutting it down every few inches.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANUAL-WIRE-...#ht_2314wt_938

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Yes, Cheers I.S and to the OP:) for posting.

I personally strip all cable by hand, yes its frustrating when dealing with the very small stuff, but if im doing nothing i'd rather be stripping.
I havent got large quantities of cable anyway, its only what im given or find?


Idaho, ive gotta get myself one of those:) this is exactly what ive been looking for?

Be Lucky

I use the "wire zipper" which is very similar to the one listed above. http://www.thewirezipper.com/ The nice thing about it is you can manually apply pressure and get a "feel" for when you are cutting through insulation vs. the strands. After a while, you can get very good at adjusting the amount of pressure from the cutting wheel so that you only score the insulation, nothing else. Now, no wire is safe from me, including stranded.

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Originally Posted by jonnyjeb

I use the "wire zipper" which is very similar to the one listed above. http://www.thewirezipper.com/

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Cheers for the reply JJ, i did go onto the site but the video link kept on crashing Firefox?

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Originally Posted by jonnyjeb

The nice thing about it is you can manually apply pressure and get a "feel" for when you are cutting through insulation vs. the strands. After a while, you can get very good at adjusting the amount of pressure from the cutting wheel so that you only score the insulation, nothing else.

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Yes i appreciate what you are saying mate.

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Originally Posted by jonnyjeb

Now, no wire is safe from me, including stranded.

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Ahh the stranded stuff is what you call the very thin cable, ie from toasters, power cables, and the like, am i correct?

Be Lucky

yes, any appliance cord that plugs into a wall socket I find to be stranded all the time.

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Originally Posted by jonnyjeb

yes, any appliance cord that plugs into a wall socket I find to be stranded all the time.

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Cheers for that JJ,
thats saved me a lot of headache on research, and also not having to make a detailed post (which i would imagine has been posted many times) .
cheers
Be Lucky

so skiprat........where you from?

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Originally Posted by Hypoman

so skiprat........where you from?

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Hello Hypo,
Im from Essex UK

BE Lucky

I believe it is not useful or good use of time to strip insulation off copper wire unless it is #1 or #2 copper. If copper stays bent when bent, strip it (I burn it), if not, sell it as insulated copper. I get about 1.10/lb for insulated copper

after work, or when i cant sleep, i sit in front of the tv stripping wire, i strip all the copper wire i can find. it has started really getting to my hands after these last few years.i recently purchased a drill operated wire stripper on ebay. after some trial and error,i now strip 10x the amount of wire i was doing a few months ago. it just took a little time to get the hang of only cutting the insulation.i would recommend one of these to anyone!! i still hand strip all of the small copper wire i find.i guess it depends on how much wire you come across and how much time you want to spend stripping it. i feel like it is worth my time... i have more time than money.

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Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

Buy one of these. No more hairs. And you can do entire sections of wire without cutting it down every few inches.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MANUAL-WIRE-...#ht_2314wt_938

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Not a bad price for that.

What type of wire do you strip with that?

Uhhm. Romex, solid, braided, etc.

I only strip degaussing cables...power cords go in one bucket, mixed small wires in a garbage can (basically anything thats not a power cord...) and the cables from monitors into another, after the gold end is clipped off. I've only cashed in power cords once because I was hard up for cash, my garbage can of wires weighs around 25-30 pounds right now. I don't know what current price is, and i've never cashed in mixed wires...