How do you strip the enamel from an inductor?

[mintos]

I have the end joint of an inductor that broke off. How do I strip more enamel to solder again?

Thanks

[fastbike1]

Sandpaper. Course you can scrape it off with a knife as well.

[johnnyrichards]

Quite often, the magnet wire used to make these things is advertised as "solderable".

Nail polish remover might do the trick, I know lacquer thinner will. Sandpaper. Careful scraping with a tire knife.

[PassingInterest]

As stated, sandpaper or scraping with a knife works. Those are my preferences.
But, you can also rub your soldering iron tip along the area you want to strip and the heat will burn the coating off if you do that long enough. I've used that method successfully also.

[jakeb]

I use a dremel with any coarse sanding bit...wear eye protection...its fast, easy...and the inductor wire gets very shiny so u know where u got the enamel off.

[Face]

I use a dremel with any coarse sanding bit...wear eye protection...its fast, easy...and the inductor wire gets very shiny so u know where u got the enamel off.+1!

[Altec Best]

+2 ! But if you don't have a dremel use emory cloth it is a fine grit like the kind that plumbers use to solder with.

[Æ]

I have the end joint of an inductor that broke off. How do I strip more enamel to solder again?

Thanks

Just scrape it with a knife or sharp blade. Easy, no special tools required.

[bangleiii]

Real men use acid flux, then clean up the mess with a little alcohol,, saves alot of time.

[Æ]

Real men use acid flux, then clean up the mess with a little alcohol,, saves alot of time.

Acid flux is good for plumbers, not electronics. There is a reason why the electronics industry does not use acid flux. Let me repeat, no company or manufacturer in the electronics industry uses acid flux or acid flux solder.

[johnnyrichards]

Acid flux is good for plumbers, not electronics. There is a reason why the electronics industry does not use acid flux. Let me repeat, no company or manufacturer in the electronics industry uses acid flux or acid flux solder.

Industry stopped using acid flux because of environmental concerns, not electronics concerns. Most use an alcohol based flux because it is cheaper, safer to store and dispose. It is easier to clean off of boards, because it does not require a detergent bath. It cleans 100% with hot, agitated water.

We actually have two kinds of flux - no-clean and the stuff that will burn your eyes and skin. The no-clean is what hobbyists should be using, since it is a low corrosive flux, good for small, simple jobs like soldering crossovers together.

The other stuff will eat coverlay off of PCB's if left sitting for 24 hours. I have no idea why we use such an aggressive flux - but we do. Then again, our product will run for a year while submerged in a saltwater tank. I doubt the average crossover will survive a weekend.

Any flux is fine, if you wash it off afterwards. Most fluxes will rinse off in a simple water bath. Good crossover components can handle getting wet, but it would be a good idea to air dry them before sticking them in a cabinet.

My company is one of the last to use lead based solder on a large scale, as well.

[patrickm]

flat head screwdriver. much easier than a knife, and much harder to accidentally dig into the copper than a sharp blade. just put the wire down on a hard surface (like a piece of scrap wood) and scrape back and forth a few times.

[Æ]

I've used some of that water soluble paste flux for sweating copper pipe, but I don't like it very well. The good ole stuff always seems to work better.

I cannot stand RoHS, using lead free solder on electronics.


Industry stopped using acid flux because of environmental concerns, not electronics concerns. Most use an alcohol based flux because it is cheaper, safer to store and dispose. It is easier to clean off of boards, because it does not require a detergent bath. It cleans 100% with hot, agitated water.

We actually have two kinds of flux - no-clean and the stuff that will burn your eyes and skin. The no-clean is what hobbyists should be using, since it is a low corrosive flux, good for small, simple jobs like soldering crossovers together.

The other stuff will eat coverlay off of PCB's if left sitting for 24 hours. I have no idea why we use such an aggressive flux - but we do. Then again, our product will run for a year while submerged in a saltwater tank. I doubt the average crossover will survive a weekend.

Any flux is fine, if you wash it off afterwards. Most fluxes will rinse off in a simple water bath. Good crossover components can handle getting wet, but it would be a good idea to air dry them before sticking them in a cabinet.

My company is one of the last to use lead based solder on a large scale, as well.

[LSV8]

Johnny is dead on in both of his posts. Modern enamel coating does not need to be removed prior to soldering. The heat of the iron will burn off the coating, and the flux in the solder will clean it away. (Does not have to be acid flux, which as AE pointed out is not used in electronics soldering. Typical rosin type electronics solders work just fine.)

Most manufacturers of the coils we buy for our hobby are dipped into a solder pot to speed up production.

I would agree with scraping with a knife, wire brush, or similar... but would NEVER use emery (or any other mineral based abrasive) for cleaning a metal prior to soldering. As a welder, I am aware of the contamination downfalls of using such abrasives for preparation before soldering/brazing/welding. Trapped abrasive particles can dirty the solder joint. Will it really give you an issue with something as simple as soldering copper? Probably not... but I still wouldn't bring myself to do it. (If anything, because it's a pointless step.) The solders used for copper plumbing are more capable of handling this issue than electronics solders... but even when sweating pipes, I prefer to use a rotary wire brush than emery cloth. Seems to work much better. This last part is my opinion. Use whichever method you feel works best for you. If your work will never end up on the space shuttle or in hospital equipment, no one really cares about the quality of your solder joint. :)

[Æ]

I've used a solder pot before, but I doubt that I would ever buy one, it's not something I would use often enough to consider buying. The soldering iron I use solders nicely, but it's not quite massive enough to burn off the enamel from some of the larger gauges of wire. Takes too long to heat up the wire.


Johnny is dead on in both of his posts. Modern enamel coating does not need to be removed prior to soldering. The heat of the iron will burn off the coating, and the flux in the solder will clean it away. (Does not have to be acid flux, which as AE pointed out is not used in electronics soldering. Typical rosin type electronics solders work just fine.)

Most manufacturers of the coils we buy for our hobby are dipped into a solder pot to speed up production.

I would agree with scraping with a knife, wire brush, or similar... but would NEVER use emery (or any other mineral based abrasive) for cleaning a metal prior to soldering. As a welder, I am aware of the contamination downfalls of using such abrasives for preparation before soldering/brazing/welding. Trapped abrasive particles can dirty the solder joint. Will it really give you an issue with something as simple as soldering copper? Probably not... but I still wouldn't bring myself to do it. (If anything, because it's a pointless step.) The solders used for copper plumbing are more capable of handling this issue than electronics solders... but even when sweating pipes, I prefer to use a rotary wire brush than emery cloth. Seems to work much better.

[LSV8]

I've used a solder pot before, but I doubt that I would ever buy one, it's not something I would use often enough to consider buying. The soldering iron I use solders nicely, but it's not quite massive enough to burn off the enamel from some of the larger gauges of wire. Takes too long to heat up the wire.

I agree. I have used, but do not own as well. I doubt any DIYers ever would. If your iron does not get hot enough, you could also use a mini butane torch to pre-heat. I sometime use my Blazer butane iron with the tip removed as a torch...

Oh, and another point I meant to add to my above post (but forgot to) was to mention the sanding/scraping method is much harder to implement on thinner gauge magnet wire. Guitar pickups for example, 30awg typical, I have always just heated with my iron and soldered directly. Of course, we rarely see anything smaller than 20awg crossover building.

[gowa]

Litz Inductors are a pain to clean.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=3236

[benchtester]

Litz Inductors are a pain to clean.
http://techtalk.parts-express.com/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=3236

Gowa, appears to be a candidate for a solder pot. I used to use one at an old job, and it was a lot easier than a soldering iron. I have been close to buying one a couple of times, they're not that expensive. Back in the '80s I built some motors with high-temperature high-abrasion resistance insulation and we used a caustic gel (something like Naval Jelly) to take the insulation off. I was told, back then, that lower rating insulation could be stripped with a soldering iron; but of course we had to use special wire. :rolleyes:

Here's an interesting link:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/everything-else/131250-removing-enamel-magnet-wire.html

and a table:
http://www.mwswire.com/pdf_files/mws_tech_book/insulation_guide.pdf

Sometimes I just scrap it off with a knife, but this is pretty risky since I could nick the wire and it could break there if stressed later.

[Robert Dunn]

I use a small butane torch to burn off the enamel and then sandpaper to remove the carbon. Faster and effective in my experience....

[chrisn]

I scrape it off with diagonal pliers. Works well with older, brittle enamel.