Removing enamel from coil wire

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

Hi

Does anyone know of a good way to remove the enamel from the end of a 0.2mm thick coil wire so i can solder to it.

Everything i am trying keeps breaking the wire

Is there a chemical i can dip the end in to remove the enamel coating and leave the copper wire intact

Thank you

2

You can get special thin wire with a coating that melts with the soldering heat.
Vero wire
Otherwise use sandpaper.

3

For magnet wire, I just use a utility knife and scrape backwards while rotating the wire each way. There are also auto scraper tools available and chemical solutions. Note that there are different types of coatings, each having their own characteristics and degree of difficulty for removal.

http://www.eptac.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/eptac_08_20_14.pdf

4

ullisees:
Hi

Does anyone know of a good way to remove the enamel from the end of a 0.2mm thick coil wire so i can solder to it.

Everything i am trying keeps breaking the wire

Is there a chemical i can dip the end in to remove the enamel coating and leave the copper wire intact

Thank you

Yes.... sometimes, a flame from a match or lighter can take it off very quickly.

5

Ive tried a lighter and the wire just melts.

Its the same thickness as hair

6

ullisees:
Ive tried a lighter and the wire just melts.

Its the same thickness as hair

Apply the flame for a shorter amount of time. Example..... just brush the flame over quickly.

7

How will you solder to it then? Won't that melt the wire also?
Perhaps the wire is intended to go in some kind of socket that holds it on place with compression?

8

Is this magnet wire? Some types are made with a solderable coating.

http://www.wires.co.uk/acatalog/SX_0300_0710.html

9

Normally a solder pot is used in manufacturing, run at a high enough temperature
to burn off the coating (which means nasty fumes, cyanide typically).

10

CrossRoads:
How will you solder to it then? Won't that melt the wire also?
Perhaps the wire is intended to go in some kind of socket that holds it on place with compression?

Copper melts at about 1000oC, butane+air burns at about 2000oC. Good luck finding a soldering iron that can match those temps.

And also, soldering tips are themselves made of copper. It would be pretty impossible to make a soldering iron melt a copper wire without melting the whole iron first.

11

Whenever I've used a lighter to burn the enamel off, it changes the wire so it breaks more easily.

Just use a soldering iron with rosin core 63/37 solder. It will take a little bit longer than soldering a bare wire, but it should just melt the enamel off.