HALLELUJAH I finally found a good motor wire insulation remover

And you would NEVER guess what it is. You all probably have some of it already, and all of us, except for the ones that live near the equator, are using it every day. Attachment 160206

Antifreeze!!!!!! Get one of those little $10 crock pots from walmart. Fill it with the antifreeze and turn on high. Give it a couple of hours to get up to temp, ya know those things are slow to get hot. Now put your wire in it and leave it two or three hours. It may take less time but I know three should get it all off. Pull the wires out and rinse with water, and your ready for solder.

And a good thing about this remover is that it is cheap as you can use the left overs in your mini van, and it does not attack the copper like the salt/lye solution does, the wire in the picture was stripped two days ago. And it's much much more safe. So with this method you do not have to hurry to get the soldering done before the copper turns blue with corrosion.


It's hard to tell in the picture but every bit of the varnish is gone and the copper is shiny on the wires at the top. The wires at the bottom are also completely stripped, but the copper took on a dull textured look. That's because I let the bottom wire soak overnight with the pot set on warm, after a one hour soak with it on high. I think either would be fine as I am pretty sure that even the dull copper will take solder after a good fluxing. I'll flux and solder them later and will let you'all know the results, but I'm all but positive that there won't be a problem.

Most of you will never need something like this, but for those few of you that may have cut your motor leads a little shorter and now that insulation is keeping you from soldering them back together and attaching a connector to them. I'll make up something and take a picture of it, to demonstrate how to soak the motor leads without dunking the whole motor in the pot. (That wouldn't turn out to well!)

I thought you had lost your mind when you told us about this.

That is a cool discovery Don. And one I may use soon. I have a couple T-500 outrunners that have waaaay long leads.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T.S.Davis

I thought you had lost your mind when you told us about this.

---

What you talking about?

You may be thinking about the other stuff I found that does work, but is expensive and stinks something awful. It's called "electra strip" and sells for $60.00 a gallon. Want to buy some? I gots 7 pints of it left.

I just found out about the antifreeze this past Saturday. And you'll never guess what made me think of it.

Don't know what that t-500 is. But if it is a chinese motor, and is wound with the bright yellow/gold copper wire. You wont need the antifreeze. But if it is wound with GOOD 200*C wire which is usually amber colored, then yes, you will.


An easy test is to strip back the motor lead heat shrink to expose the wire. then just past the point where the solder ends and the wire insulation is good. Apply your solder gun and with a glob of hot solder on it. Hold it on the wire for a little and if the solder wicks in, then your wire is the cheep kind. If you hold it on there for several minutes and the solder just sits there in a ball. Then you gots the good stuff, and it will require the antifreeze treatment.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by donhuff

You may be thinking about the other stuff I found that does work, but is expensive and stinks something awful. It's called "electra strip" and sells for $60.00 a gallon. Want to buy some? I gots 7 pints of it left.

---

Yes that! Pricey.

My old lady would go :cursing: if I filled her crock pot with anti freeze and had a motor dangle in it........

That said - Nice find Don :thumbup:

don't tell her!

we'll see how that turns out for you.

Owen would rat me out.......

But on a serious note I'm sure I could rig up a small pot and stand and put it on a warmer plate and achieve the same thing.

Yes, anything to get it hot. I don't know how hot those things get. I'll check it one day. The convenient thing about the crock pot is it's self contained and made to run for a long time without attention.

And you can get one from Walmart or Amazon for about $10.

https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-2-Q...all+crock+pots

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Crock-Pot...ooker/50213889

Hahahahah a mini pot. Good idea :)

Just for clarification, what type of antifreeze did you use? Lots of colors, 50/50 mixes, etc. to choose from. I would assume it's just the glycol doing the work.

Plain antifreeze, not the 50/50 kind. I would think that the 50% water would slow or stop the process. I have a auto parts store close to my house, and I bought their cheapest store brand. I had a gallon of 50/50 at the house already but didn't try it as I assumed the full strength kind would work better.

I don't think that any of the other types would matter much ie, for aluminum blocks, for European cars. Like you, I believe it is the glycol doing the work. I seem to remember that denatured alcohol (ethanol) is sometimes used as a shellac thinner.

Other than Don, has anyone tried this yet? I would like to shorten the motor wires on a couple TP motors, but would like to hear of others success or failures?

Thanks
Mike

I haven't tried it but we buy food grade propylene glycol for certain sprinkler systems. Might try that just to see if it works.

I did do a little bit of reading. My understanding is that ethylene glycol decomposes to glycolic acid. That's likely what's doing the work. "Glycolic acid is the most commonly used alpha hydroxy acid in facial peels" Not sure what to do with that data but interesting.

Sooooo......wonder if we could skip right to the glycolic acid and pick up time.

I'm done with facials, thanks Don!

You've certainly dug deeper than me. I will probably give it a go this weekend.

Well, since you didn't want a response from ME, I'm not gonna tell you the secret special method.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by donhuff

Well, since you didn't want a response from ME, I'm not gonna tell you the secret special method.

---

HA HA HA.... I feel guilty! You provide a lot of helpful information and I don't feel I am providing anything in return!

So you've been using this method a bunch now?

Not really a bunch. Just when I have a lot of motors to do at one time. I'll put the wire bundles in the solution to soak while I am tearing down the motors.

I mostly still use the hot Lye process to do one or two wires sets, mostly because it is quicker.

To do what you are planing, I would use the Lye.

Sorry, had to do a second post cause the power went off.

But I would use the Lye only because it is quicker. If your not in a hurry, do the antifreeze. And remember that it will work without heat. But it will take several days for it to get really clean. Just fill a cup or something with the antifreeze, place a piece of thin ply scrap over the top with three holes in it , and stick the wire bundles through the holes and into the antifreeze. Set it to the side and leave it for a few days or a week. You can check the progress now and then , and it might help to use a wire toothbrush to clean the swollen insulation off and then submerge and soak more to remove the remaining varnish. It WILL eventually all turn a loose and can be wiped off.

Be aware that the solution will "wick up" a little, 1/8th to a 1/4". So don't put it so deep that the wicking will remove it past the end bell unless you can be sure to get heat shrink all the way up in there to cover the naked wire, so that you don't create a short between the three legs where they all get close to each other.