Author Topic: Varnished wire question (Read 7353 times)

jadaro2600 · « **on:** February 17, 2009, 10:24:15 PM »

Some magnet wire has coating that aren't varnish ..exactly. Is there some other chemical I can use to remove the enamel ( other than Dr Pepper or CokaCola )? I've tried acetone - it's just not working out.

I've tried sanding it off, the wire is just too small, it causes breaking - I need a more gentle approach, something I can use to remove in a precise manner.

z.monkey · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2009, 10:35:07 PM »

Fire!

Take a lighter and scorch the enamel on the wire...

Then take some 400 grit sand paper and remove the charred bits of insulation...

Lets burn something! Yeah!

jadaro2600 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 17, 2009, 10:39:41 PM »

LOL, I've tried that too - the wire just melts away, it literally burns up with the enamel.

z.monkey · « **Reply #3 on:** February 17, 2009, 11:12:12 PM »

Are you sure its wire? I have seen nylon fiber with embedded gold foil used as wire in phone lines. I have never melted copper with a lighter (done that a lot too). Try a stripper... Strippers always make me feel better...

jadaro2600 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 17, 2009, 11:24:07 PM »

When the wire heats up, the burning enamel reacts with the copper and it shrivels up and crackles away. Surely this is not the case with strippers though.

I'm trying varnish and poly remover now, but it's all old and clumpy.

Paul-R · « **Reply #5 on:** February 17, 2009, 11:27:27 PM »

Try nail varnish remover, methylated spirits. It will take time.
Vicious stuff, but Nitromors should work. (Dangerous - nasty stuff).

brian334 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 18, 2009, 12:28:14 AM »

Why not buy uncoated wire?

z.monkey · « **Reply #7 on:** February 18, 2009, 12:37:19 AM »

If you wind a coil with bare wire...
it's...
anyone?...
all...
Someone?...

Shorted Out!

Bulbz · « **Reply #8 on:** February 18, 2009, 01:22:08 AM »

Quote from: jadaro2600 on February 17, 2009, 10:39:41 PM

LOL, I've tried that too - the wire just melts away, it literally burns up with the enamel.

The wire must be extremely thin then. If it's that hair thin stuff, the enamel should just burn off as you solder it to something.

brian334 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 18, 2009, 01:22:38 AM »

The issue is not winding a coil.
The issue is bare wire, for what ever reason this guy wants bare wire,
So I suggested he buy bare wire.

Bulbz · « **Reply #10 on:** February 18, 2009, 03:26:22 AM »

Quote from: brian334 on February 18, 2009, 01:22:38 AM

The issue is not winding a coil.
The issue is bare wire, for what ever reason this guy wants bare wire,
So I suggested he buy bare wire.

Or he may already have the coated wire, and maybe wants to go and sell it to a scrap metal dealer.

jadaro2600 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 18, 2009, 03:35:50 AM »

This has to be the most humorous thread yet;

The reason that I need the enamel removed is because I don't want to solder - it's impractical for prototyping; although, I suppose that I could just use a larger wire for the prototype, none the less;

I need to be able to remove a section of enamel from the wire without cause it to become embrittled by the heat of a flame.

The wire is thin, and whether or not it's thick or thin, a chemical which removes the varnish or enamel is favored. Consider an application which requires tapping the coil at a specific location on the winds, or perhaps you're stuck in my position, where soldering is a pain for prototyping, fire won't work, and embrittlement is an issue.

Thus far the best suggestion has been the methylated spirits. I have no idea what Nitromors are and the nail polish remover ( acetone and a bunch of other various chemicals which arguably do more than just remove nail polish ) isn't working at all even after 4 hours.

I've gone so far as to consider acids of some sort, but I haven't got access to those sorts of things unless I make them myself, and then I'm limited to what can be made from table salt. Soda Lye and Hydrochloric Acid depending on how good a day I'm having I might be able to raise of lower the PH by a point or two - but that's it; I really haven't got a clue what I'm doing and I hate chlorine!

Bulbz has a good point too, someone might read this and want to remove the enamel for the recycling biz.

Paul-R · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2009, 05:12:18 PM »

Quote from: brian334 on February 18, 2009, 01:22:38 AM

The issue is not winding a coil.
The issue is bare wire, for what ever reason this guy wants bare wire,
So I suggested he buy bare wire.

I think, Brian, the point may be that it comes enamelled. Use an angle grinder on the main
8:1 transformer in a scrapped microwave oven, and you get out some magnificent
copper lacquered coils.

Bulbz · « **Reply #13 on:** February 18, 2009, 06:12:50 PM »

When you stated "prototyping", are you using one of those systems with the holes that you push wires into ?.

If so, you could just solder the wire to copper pins, and insert that into the board instead !

jadaro2600 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2009, 01:23:32 AM »

I think I'm just going to prototype with a larger gage wire.

I'll go looking for varnish remover tomorrow and post any results - if I can remember.

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