06 November 2007
Revised 16 November 2007
Revised 04 March 2008
 

• Hakko FT-800 thermal wire stripper controller
• G1-1603 bent wire stripper blade for AWG sizes 18-26
• G1-1604 bent wire stripper blade for AWG sizes 24-36

If you are unfamiliar with thermal wire strippers, the concept is simple; a thin split blade has a hole sized to pass the copper conductor. The blade is heated and melts the insulation, which is then pulled away from the end of the wire.

The result is a clean separation, with no risk of nicking the conductor. By adjusting the blade temperature, both standard PVC insulation and Teflon insulation may be removed. The FT-800 is not intended to strip enamel magnet wire. (For that I either mechanically remove the enamel, or dunk it into a solder pot, or melt it with a soldering iron.)

Even with the $100 off promotion, the FT-800 is pricey. I paid $199.95 (after discount) for the controller and $135 each for the two stripper blades. Most home shops could probably get by with just one stripper blade, I suspect.

The FT-800 is shown below. The rectangular black pad is a silicon rubber insulating grip, to be used when changing blades. The holding bracket has a microswitch arrangement that optionally reduces power when the handle is inserted in the bracket. (The toggle switch selects power-saving or always-on mode.)
 

The business end of the FT-800 is the hand piece and blades. Each blade has multiple notches to accommodate the specified range of wire sizes. The long straight part with horizontal marks is an adjustable depth stop, positioned out of the way for the photo.

The heating elements are embedded in the blades. The blades snap into the handle and the U-I projections assure alignment. The black ends are insulation, with the small cutout exposing the heating element that makes contact with the hand piece.
 

To strip the insulation, allow the blades to heat to the desired temperature (the handle has an LED that flashes when the blades are heating and becomes steady when the blades are at the set temperature).

With the blades open, insert the wire to contact the depth stop, if used. Close the blades and gently rotate the handle, and pull the wire from the blades.
 

For 105°C thermoplastic insulation, I found a setting around 2 to 2.5 works well. For Teflon, it's necessary to increase the heat setting to 8 to 8.5. At this setting, the blades glow a dark red, quite visible in reduced light.
 

My conclusion is that the FT-800 is a very handy device. It removes the danger of cutting into or nicking the conductor, particularly a problem with coaxial cable. It's an expensive alternative to conventional tools, but the results are impressive, to say the least.

04 March 2008

I received a  telephone call today to discuss how well the FT-800 has worked for me.

When I wrote my review of the FT-800, I had owned it for a week or two, and now that I've had several months experience with it, I can only say that I wish that I had purchased it years ago. It's an excellent product that does exactly what it should do; strips wire without leaving a nick behind. It will leave a small collar of melted insulation with some insulation types, but this is generally not a problem.

I've also used the FT-800 with Teflon insulated wire, both coaxial cable and normal hookup wire. It does a great job with Teflon. Of course, the temperature setting must be increased, to about 8 on the 0-10 dial. And, when hot enough to thermally strip Teflon insulation, the heating element glows a dull red.

I've also found it useful to keep a small wire brush, either brass or stainless steel, at hand to clean the stripping blades after use. Small pieces of insulation stick to the blades and will smoke and leave a deposit unless cleaned. I bought a small stainless steel brush, illustrated below, from McMaster-Carr, stock no. 33335K2, for this purpose. The brush cost $9.55 in single lots. A normal plastic or animal hair bristle brush isn't happy when used on a hot surface. And the stripper blade is rather small, so the trick is to find a small, soft metal bristle brush. The 33335K2 brush has a Delrin handle and is about the size of a normal pencil. Although the stainless steel bristles are stiffer than I would have liked, it does a good job at cleaning the blades.