Coil varnish / Enamel Removal

[Chas]

Hi gang, I am preparing to start construction of some networks and one thing that drives me nuts when working wth Solen coils or, for that matter - Plitron output transformers too, is the removal of the varnish from the wires.:(

I tried filing, sanding and scraping it off, and frankly it's just a pain in the butt!

What do you folks do?

[toddalin]

Hi gang, I am preparing to start construction of some networks and one thing that drives me nuts when working wth Solen coils or, for that matter, Plitron output transformers too, is the removal of the varnish from the wires.:(

I tried filing, sanding and scraping it off, and frankly it's just a pain in the butt!

What do you folks do?

Rubbing the ends of the wire with a little sand paper has always worked for me.

[edgewound]

Yep....keep sanding and scraping.

Or....get a solder pot to burn and tin in one step.

[grumpy]

Fine grit "emery cloth" is what I used to use... (cloth-backed, sandpaper).
A bit easier to handle than paper-backed abrasive. Easy to tear off a small
piece if you can find a roll of it.

[Chas]

Yep....keep sanding and scraping.

Or....get a solder pot to burn and tin in one step.


Yeah, I have heard of that too, although a little pricey and likely an environmental disaster waiting to happen at my house...:barf:

hmm...maybe a blow torch? :flamer:

Grumpy, good idea! I have a roll of some plumbers sand paper (cloth backed). I'll give it a whirl.

[Joe Alesi]

Fine grit "emery cloth" is what I used to use... (cloth-backed, sandpaper).
A bit easier to handle than paper-backed abrasive. Easy to tear off a small
piece if you can find a roll of it.
Hello Grumpy and Chas,

Yes fine sandpaper is a good way. You just need to make sure that the wire is as straight as possible (no kinks), otherwise you easily miss some spots and sanding becomes more difficult. I am not sure whether something like acetone (or other chem) would SAFELY strip it off.

The solder pot is the traditional manufacturing solution. If you had to do quite a few coils and were handy you could make a special copper tip for an old soldering iron which contained a small hole into which you could melt solder. Or even drill a hole in one of those large plumbers soldering irons with a large tip to make a solder "pot".

[subwoof]

hello - it's varnish??

A little paint stripper and an "acid" brush and it comes right off.

scratching and scraping are no-no's in the military / industrial world since it provides a start point for vibration cracks.

Remember that rocket that lifted off the pad then fell down in the late 50's??

(1) wires broke off right at the crimp point.
(2) the engineeers forgot to take the weight of solder into the calculations..

:o)

[doodlebug]

The folks who build ham radio kits have a similar problem. Here's (http://www.elecraft.com/Apps/toroid_wire_tinning_notes.htm) the recommended way directly from one of the more popular radio kits today, Elecraft.

Also, since I have a gas stove in the kitchen, I've used flame there to burn off the enamel then tin the ends down. I can control the heat pretty well that way, too.

I do prefer the Solder Blob method, however.

Cheers,

David