Cables: How to quickly strip the insulation off?

[thinkingHT]

I have some Monster cable inwall cable with solid insulation for the outer jacket. The outer jacket is pretty resilient and I cant strip it easily without accidentally cutting the insulation on the inner red/black conductors.

What is the best way of doing this? Which tools will do the job if there are any for the purpose?

Thanks ,
THT

 

[jaxvon]

I would use a utility knife to slice the side of the jacketing open and cut off the excess.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Thats how I always do it, nothing better to strip wire with than a utility knife.

 

[Tsunamii]

There is always the lighter trick, but dont burn down your house (Heat the wire up with the lighter and then simply pull the jacket right off, be careful not to set the plastic on fire just melt it a little). Or A wire cutter with the right wire gauge setting for your wire.

 

[Resident Loser]

As stated in another response...

I have some Monster cable inwall cable with solid insulation for the outer jacket. The outer jacket is pretty resilient and I cant strip it easily without accidentally cutting the insulation on the inner red/black conductors.

What is the best way of doing this? Which tools will do the job if there are any for the purpose?

Thanks ,
THT

Get a proper wire stripper...it's cheaper than a trip to the ER when the utility knife slips...

There are electricians knives that can be used, but they do require practice and a deft touch. The wire will fit into what looks like a finger groove and you semi-close the blade and revolve it to really just score the jacket deep enough to facilitate it's removal...get a stripper!

jimHJJ(...Home Depot, Lowe's, electronics supply houses...)

 

[wilkenboy]

If the outer jacket is "hard" and resists standard wire-strippers then often the best way to strip it is to ring-score the outside with a utility knife (or anything reasonably sharp, like your wire stippers) - you don't need to cut all the way through.

Then grab the cable just above and below the place you just scored, now bend back and forth. If the cable jacket is "hard" enough and you did it right the cable jacket should snap in the place you scored it. Now just pull the open end off.

Just a suggestion, this works with some of the "harder" cable sheaths for fiber optic and CAT5 cable- but everything depends on the handling characteristics of the jacket material. I can't believe that monster doesn't provide a cable sheath stripping string in their design for the amounts they charge!! Sheesh!

Or perhaps they just want to use an extra couple of feet at every breakout...

~Josh

 

[Tsunamii]

"Or perhaps they just want to use an extra couple of feet at every breakout" I can hear the board meeting now, Sounds like a Six Sigma project... LOL

 

[j_garcia]

I use a utility knife parallel to the wire - cut it about half an inch along the outer jacket, peel it back and then you can cut further down as far as you need, cut it off. Works every time.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Get a proper wire stripper...it's cheaper than a trip to the ER when the utility knife slips...
jimHJJ(...Home Depot, Lowe's, electronics supply houses...)

Hey, but then you don't have first hand experience

 

[BMXTRIX]

While it takes a little more of a light touch with Monster CI-Pro cable to get the strip right, just using light duty wire strippers like pictured below is the way that I have done it, and the way I have seen it done most often. You don't have to do a full cut typically, but just breaking the surface in one location will allow you to pull the housing cleanly off the cable.

 

[thinkingHT]

Hmmmm

The cable does have a ripcord but thats pretty useless, the jacket is really tough and the rip cord just doesn't get the job done. Would I be able to use a coaxial wire stripper just score the jacket then pull it off? These things are pretty expensive where I live so wanted to ask before I go out and buy one. Cheers

 

[thinkingHT]

These are the tools I am able to buy

Which one would be more suited to the job?

 

[BMXTRIX]

You are stripping speaker cable correct? Is it CI-PRO or some other version of Monster Cable? The rip cord inside CI-PRO is one of the few that actually will cut the housing cleanly if you want to do it that way.

The first wire stripper you are showing is more of an electrical heavy duty stripper. It is better than the second item, but is still not nimble enough for what you are looking to do. You need a gentle touch, and that thing is a sledgehammer! The second tool is designed for stripping coaxial cable.

Not sure where you are located, but I picked up my Ideal wire strippers from my local Home Depot store. They had different sizes, and different choices. There are also Klein wire strippers. Not sure where you are located, but I wouldn't think you are so limited.

If those really are your choices, get some electricians scissors as they will do the job equally well. The tool I listed above - you don't actually 'strip' the housing. You use the wire cutters in the center and press the wire into it, then spin the strippers around it a bit. The housing is scored/cut and then just slides right off.

Good electricians scissors should be available to you and will do this equally as well...

Image of what I'm talking about:

 

[thinkingHT]

Right, I see, it is 14 gauge Monster Cable THX certified In wall CL3 rated blah blah that I am trying to strip. Its basically just normal cable really, bought it in bulk so got it cheap. I will try and track down the tool you showed me earlier. I have tried normal scissors and they dont even make a dent in the jacket. The CI pro wire has a loose jacket doesn't it? This one has a solid jacket. Anyhow will run down to a few stores and check out the wire strippers.

Cheers
tht