ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area is there a good stripper for 12/3 and 14/3 romex?

is there a good stripper to remove the sheathing from these types of romex wires without cutting through the sheathing on the wires inside? there's gotta be an easier and safer way to strip it other than useing my utility knife.

mike

I use an electricians knife made by klein Tools, I've found a utility knife is actually to sharp, it's very easy to knick the insulation on the wire.

You can do it with the razor knife with practice. I like to cut length-wise, just scoring the jacket, then dig in deeper at the end. peel the jacket back, then clip it off with your diagonal cutters.

i know what you mean, that is the problem i run into. i have, and use, the same knife and sometimes cut into the inner wire sheathing and have to start over. i'm not going to put wires into a box with a knick in them.

mike

the inner wires twist together and it is kinda hard to cut straight on the outer sheathing.

Why noy try one of the all in one strippers. One cut will remove the outer jacket, then you can use the stripping holes for the conductors. www.kleintools.com
Look for item #1412 in the tool catalog. They are less than $20.

Jim, he's looking to strip 3 conductor NM. I recently bought the 1412 and really like it.

Sorry, I missed the part about being 3 wire.

I usually cut about 1" of jacket(pulling the knife toward you, with no regard for damaging the conductor insulation) from one side of the end of the cable.
Then push an electricians knife(pointed seems to work better than sheepsfoot)into the stripped part and push away from you.
Sometimes it slips out, but with practice you will be able to remove 2-3 feet of jacket in one pass.

I'll take my utility knife and cut the sheath on the end about a 1/2", and then take the lineman pliers and pull the ground wire back. This splits the sheath, and I cut off the outer covering with the linemans. Works great for 12/2 and 14/4. 3 conductor is another story. I go through the same motions, being careful, because the ground wire turns around the other wires. As I pull back the ground, I have to turn the cable, to go with the turns.