I was stripping wire wrong for like 5 years before a foreman in Tacoma called me out

I used to just score the insulation and yank it off with my linesman pliers, thinking it was fast. Then this old foreman, Frank, saw me on a job at the old Rainier Brewery building and said 'Kid, you're gonna nick the copper doing that, just wait.' He showed me how to actually use the stripper gauge and make a clean cut all the way around. How many little nicks did I leave behind before that, lol? Anyone else have a basic habit they had to unlearn?

2 comments

2 Comments

morganhill1d ago

Gonna nick the copper" seems a bit dramatic. A tiny score on the insulation isn't going to hurt anything.

nguyen.tara1d ago

Exactly, morganhill. I've seen wires with way worse nicks that ran fine for years. As long as the copper isn't exposed or deeply cut, it's usually just a cosmetic thing. I had a cable once where the outer jacket was almost torn through but the inner insulation was perfect, no issues at all.