AF6AY wrote:
From: (Dave Platt) wrote on Mon, May 26 2008:
In article ,
W3CQH wrote:
Does anybody have the name of the substance that was sold years ago for
removing the enamel coating from wires, or maybe the name of something new?
You would soak the wire in it and it would soften the coating and then you
just wiped the goop off the wire.
I think you're referring to GC Electronics Strip-X. Doesn't seem to
be on the market these days, as best as I can tell.
I found a MSDS which states that it's 70% methylene chloride, 25%
cresol (isomers of cresylic acid), around 5% ammonia, plus some wax
and thickening agents.
General Cement's "Strip-X" hasn't been sold by them for at least
a dozen years. I sent them a letter some time ago, got a nice
reply to that effect from a female-named staffer "who had not
worked for them before that." :-) Their home office is also my
home town. :-)
"Strip-X" worked like a charm. For decades as an over-the-
counter product. Nothing over-the-counter now works as well as
it did from 1948 onwards to whenever they stopped repackaging it.
Note: GC did a lot of repackaging of bulk material and tools as
well as some manufacturing. GC went through a series of
corporate restructures, buys, and buy-outs, just aren't the same
company as when I left Rockford, IL, in 1956.
As a fellow professional, I've tried to find out what other
manufacturers use. Most use a mechanical "stripper" that
abrades coatings...but quite expensive, too much for the average
hobbyist. At least one "makes their own" but is very close-
mouthed on what their "own formula" is...:-)
One poster in an earlier thread stated that it was designed to work
with Formvar insulation, and might not work as well on the newer
Polythermaleze insulation.
The only problems I've ever had with "Strip-X" was with some
surplus Teflon-coated (!) magnet wire obtained decades ago. But,
my last bottle of "Strip-X" dried solid about 8 years ago.
There's a paint-and-finish stripper of a similar name (Klean-Strip
Strip-X) available these days. Like the wire-"Strip-X" it contains
methylene chloride, but it has no cresol or ammonia. Its other
ingredients include toluene, xylene, and methanol, plus a thickener
(it's relatively goopy and would probably have to be wiped off of the
wire using a paper towel or Q-tip or something like that).
I've tried to find one out of three different brands tested,
from Lowes, Home Depot, OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware), and
Do-It Centers. They remove oil-based paints with difficulty
and aren't even close to "Strip-X" for magnet wire, any
coating. Roughly a $60 experiment in trying for a substitute
all of which were unsuccessful. Bummer.
These chemicals all come with fire- and health-hazard warnings... if
you use 'em, do so with proper care and precautions!
The do-gooders done did too much with all those warnings and
attempts to protect us all from everything. :-( I'd only
been using Strip-X since 1947 and known lots and lots of folks
who stripped magnet wire using Strip-X. No "fires" caused by
the stuff and most of those I knew did not suffer from any
"health-hazards" inhaling (very briefly) the stinky odor from
Strip-X. It's sort of like anything with an odor should have
"Caution: Breathing will eventually result in death!" warnings.
I wonder if items such as Strip-X became obsolete due to changes in
insulation composition, i.e. not working on new types of insulation. But
I do agree about the folk who would protect us from ourselves. Strip-X
was pretty innocuous stuff.
Did you by any chance try some old style enameled wire in your
experiment above?
At one time (just about 8 years ago), pure acetone was VERY
hard to get in pint/quart containers. It is an excellent
solvent for lacquers, brush-cleaning, etc. (not good for wire
stripping though). As of about 3 years ago it and a few other
aromatic hydrocarbons started appearing in do-it-yourself
stores. Maybe there's some relaxation in all those dire
predictions, warnings, etc., etc., etc.
The acetone issue is a strange one. Acetone is one of the safer
solvents out there, heck our body even produces some acetone. Aside from
the obvious precautions for flammable materials, the biggest problem
with it is for people who wear contact lenses of the plastic variety.
Splash some in your eye, and if it gets to the edge of the contact,
capillary action will suck it under the lens, and weld the contact to
your eye. Removal effectively blinds the person. Otherwise it's pretty
safe stuff. I just don't wear contacts - even under safety goggles -
when I use it.
My late father-in-law was a polymer chemist. He died in 1977
so can't help me. I just hope that some chemist could come to
the aid of us hobbyists using coated magnet wire and provide
us with a GOOD product like Strip-X was. Meanwhile, it's back
to being VERY careful with a sharp X-Acto knofe and scraping
coatings. With #34 AWG that requires Zen-like calmness...
That is an understatement1 8^) I have to make sure I am in a good mood,
and no coffee for me that day before I attempt that sort of thing.
- 73 de Mike N3LI -