Oh thermal strippers, how I love you.

[skiraly017]

Picked up one of these -

http://patcoinc.net/PTS-10.html

for $10.00 on Ebay. It was listed as a DC power supply.

[arawn]

gotta get me about three of those 2 for home and one for work

[jacobyjd]

whoa, whoa, man, this is a g-rated forum!!! 

seriously though...nice find! Are more available?

[R.G.]

Like I said when I posted about these - you never go back to what you did before. 

[StereoKills]

Thermal strippers are tasty, one of the reasons I prefer to wire stomp boxes at work:)

[skiraly017]

whoa, whoa, man, this is a g-rated forum!!!  

seriously though...nice find! Are more available?

I just searched "PTS-10" on Ebay.

[G. Hoffman]

So, do they work on Teflon insulation?  I'm afraid I'm a NASA fan, and I also like cable that doesn't melt!


Gabriel

[StereoKills]

So, do they work on Teflon insulation?  I'm afraid I'm a NASA fan, and I also like cable that doesn't melt!

Yup, just turn up the power a little more.

[dschwartz]

i waaant one!!!
hmm maybe build one?

[R.G.]

As I noted when I first posted about this, my PTS-10 cost about $40.

[gmr1]

I've had one of these for a few years, and the "blade" doesn't seem to work as well as it used to. It's also bent a bit. I'd love to find a source for single replacements, as it seems most sites just sell packs of them. Anyone have to replace this part? If so - where did you get the replacement from? I'd rather not pay the $25, plus unreasonable S&H charges when I'll never need 5.

[jdub]

Looks like Mouser has 'em (blades) for 5 bucks & change:
http://parts.digikey.com/1/parts/996026-replacement-blade-pts-10-0010-001.html

I gotta get one o' these babies

[Jered]

I can't imagine any other way. Easy and no worries.

[mnordbye]

Looks like a good stripper!   

Anyone know where us guys over the ocean can get something like this? 220Volts or so.

[FiveseveN]

Real men use their teeth! 

A good tool indeed but I'm wondering if one could build a DIY alternative (assuming one is aware of all implied hazards and can do it safely).

[G. Hoffman]

A good tool indeed but I'm wondering if one could build a DIY alternative (assuming one is aware of all implied hazards and can do it safely).

The thought kind of gives me the hebbie jebbies, but for your consideration:


http://www.dansworkshop.com/electricity-and-electronics/hw-foam-cutting-table.htm


Obviously, it is not a final solution, but with some effort on your part, a design might be possible.  I'm not sure but what that the temperature needed for wire isn't too high for a directly analogous solution (it almost certainly is, with the teflon wire I like to use), but hey, we're all supposed to be creative around here, right?  

Oh, public service warning - if you are like me, sites like that one can be very dangerous - they can give you ideas for new things to build, or even worse, whole new (expensive) hobbies in which to engage!  I'd advise staying away from the section on making a DIY aluminum foundry - but just imagine the enclosures you could make!  

I'm very fortunate that my living situation completely precludes the possibility of getting into a hobby that involves a furnace that runs thousands of degrees!

He's also got a DIY hot air pencil and a set of desoldering tweezers that are very interesting to me!  And a DIY arc welder that is truly terrifying to me!


Gabriel

[R.G.]

A good tool indeed but I'm wondering if one could build a DIY alternative (assuming one is aware of all implied hazards and can do it safely).

There is one high-tech part in there that's resistant to DIY - the blade.

Anything hot enough to melt/vaporize PVC and teflon instantly enough to be a stripper is very hot to the touch. Yet touching the blade on the Patco does not leave a burn on your skin. The blade is thin enough and low enough mass that it cools before your skin can get burned, and the power delivered to it is small enough that it cannot keep it hot on skin contact. Pretty amazing. It's kind of like catching a snowflake on your tongue - you're catching what amounts to a very tiny ice cube, but the mass is so small that it can't remove much heat from your tongue. Very different from the feeling of touching a metal object that has been days in the freezer.

The power supply is very power limited so it can't keep the blade hot.

Other than that, it's easy - a thin, hot blade. I have a pair of thermal tweezers with nichrome blades that does the same thing, but these will burn you nicely if you touch them.

[jacobyjd]

given that replacement blades are available, you could build a DIY unit that uses them, assuming that's the main obstacle.

[G. Hoffman]

given that replacement blades are available, you could build a DIY unit that uses them, assuming that's the main obstacle.

Probably, but I would guess it would take a fair bit of experimenting to get the temperature/power supply right.  That's not a bad thing, perhaps, but a thing.


Gabriel

[FiveseveN]

The blade is thin enough and low enough mass that it cools before your skin can get burned, and the power delivered to it is small enough that it cannot keep it hot on skin contact. Pretty amazing.

That's some sharp thinking indeed.
Ah, the English language and its lovely puns... 

Yeah I've built one of those hot wire cutters and it does involve a fair bit of trial and error. I guess we could predict the required supply based on target temperature and wire thickness (assuming it's Nichrome or other suitable material of known resistivity) but where's the fun in that? 

I was only asking because:
1. I haven't seen thermal strippers in local electronics stores and maybe there are others in the same position that would benefit from an alternative to overseas shipping.
2. There are many ways to heat up a metal blade. Surely some are more efficient than others.