Transformer wires coating?

[remmelt]

Hi!

I've bought two 2x22V 160VA toroids from Amplimo for my chipamp.com kit build.

I've shortened the wires coming from the transformers but the wires have some kind of non-conductive coating. It looks like resin or lacquer.

How do I get this coating off? Scraping with a knife or screwdriver helps but isn't thorough (and takes a long time).

Thanks!

[godfrey]

For enamel wire I normally start with a sharp blade and finish with sandpaper.
Anybody got a better idea?

[Sch3mat1c]

Sometimes it can be burnt off with a combination of flux and heat. Litz wire is usually coated with a weak enamel which is easy to tin; others may not be affected by the soldering iron at all (polyimide is particularly heat tolerant stuff).

Most of the time, I use the edge of a scissors blade to scrape away the insulation. Hold the wire in one hand, blade in the other, and rotate your wrist so the wire is scraped evenly. A moderately sharp, shallow angled blade is best -- sharp knives or razors are too steep and tend to dig into the metal. The nice thing about scissors is, they're usually on the dull side, so they won't be prone to digging into the metal.

Tim

[star882]

I just use a pair of scissors. Make sure the insulation is removed from all around.

[Pano]

I use a small flat file.

[stoolpigeon]

I just scrape it off with a knife, apply solder to see if there are any spots not scraped off, and repeat until it tins cleanly.

sp