It sounds like he lacks the mechanical aptitude to be an electrician. Stripping a wire is the most basic of tasks that should be instantly mastered by an apprentice. I would fire him.

 

I had a journeyman, with several years of experience, use a pair of klein cable cutters (the small pouch size ones with the red handle) to "ring" the insulation before using a knife on it on a #6 on a motor crimp.. He buttoned it up and when I went down to change the rotation (in a confined space), there was about 1 or 2 strands left that weren't nicked to the point of breaking off.. Needless to say I was glad he only worked on 2 motors - both of which needed repairs...

 

You only have to do the ones over near the beginning of the circuit, once your load is down to 7 amps, his method is fine. -Concrete Joe

 

He's "turning"/"twisting" the strippers as he pulls the insulation off.

Have him do the cut with the proper wire size groove, then move up a size or two and pull the insulation off (or use the tips of the strippers to pull the insulation off after doing the cut).

If that doesn't work, hand him a toilet plunger and wish him luck in his new career.

 

If that doesn't work, hand him a toilet plunger and wish him luck in his new career.

:laughing: :thumbup:

Great post!

 

I taught him how to glue PVC pipe. He got that right, no problem. He fixed the urinal in the shop bathroom, no leaks. He's fine with plumbing. Nicest kid, willing to work hard. Doesn't play with his phone all day.

Had him pull wire into a 1900 box. He cut the wire so short, it was useless.

He just doesn't get electrical.

I'll teach him how to sweat pipe, we'll see how that goes.

 

How is he with coffee orders?
We all started with the basics.

Let him practice on your scrap, make him use the same strippers and point out why the holes have numbers on them...
If that don't work, get him the $5 Stanley strippers and you adjust it for #12.

 

Maybe it is the teacher.:laughing::no:

I can do it with Kliens

 

I worked with my Dad the first couple of years or so in the trade.
We only used #12 stranded.
He never owned a pair of strippers so, I learned how to trim out receptacles and switches using a pair of Kleins.
I have no problem either way but do carry a pair of those new stainless strippers with the screw cutter and needle nose.

 

I have a gap in my front teeth that fits 14ga perfectly. Freaks people out when I do that...

 

When I was inThe army I was setting up the phones from guard point to point, they were a two wire style with 4 d batteries and a crank to make the other phones ring. Well in Iraq I didn't have strippers so I used my teeth right about the time I clamped down my battle buddy started cranking the other phone and zapped me good. Never stripped with my teeth again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

90 to 100 volts DC? Damn!

How many amps?

 

90 to 100 volts DC? Damn! How many amps?

I have no idea. It was one of the few light hearted moments during war.

 

Ring voltage on that crank phone would be 100 vac from the magneto. 90 vac from a central office. And that is one of the oldest tricks in the phone guys bag, right next to a bucket of dial tone.

Your apprentice is probably stripping the stranded wire in the solid wire slot. I know on all my strippers each side says what gauge and either solid or stranded and often enough an apprentice is clueless and doesnt realize it.

 

Ring voltage on that crank phone would be 100 vac from the magneto. 90 vac from a central office. And that is one of the oldest tricks in the phone guys bag, right next to a bucket of dial tone.

I know on all my strippers each side says what gauge and either solid or stranded and often enough an apprentice is clueless and doesnt realize it.

I've never seen a wire stripper that distinguished between solid and stranded wire, could you let us know the brand/model so we can look it up?

 

These are the ones I've used since the early 80's and I've never seen the solid and stranded ratings on the tool. I tried to check the specs and didn't see whether it said it was rated for solid only or for both solid and stranded.

I did learn early on that the best technique was to squeeze the handle to make the cut in the insulation then loosen your grip slightly when pulling off the insulation. I guess because the stranded wire was a little larger. I never had any problems (that I'm aware of) with the terminations.

 

Time to get a new pair of strippers, use what your preference is, I noticed this change in wire strippers about 2000-2001.

 

So just for chits and giggles, I looked at conductor properties in chapter 9 and compared the diameter of solid and stranded wire.

#14 stranded is 14.1% larger than #14 solid
#12 stranded is 13.6% larger than #12 solid
#10 stranded is 13.7% larger than #10 solid

#12 solid is 11% larger than #14 stranded
#10 solid is 10.9% larger than #12 stranded

 

I have noticed that on a lot of strippers they mark the wire ranges on both sides of the tool.
One side is marked SOL and the other, when you flip it over, STR. The AWG numbers are marking different holes depending which side you are looking at.

 

I use the Klein Katapult strippers for both stranded and solid.. Probably all I've used for 15 years..

I keep the Klein ones with the screw cutter as previously listed for a back-up or to cut screws..

 

Do they use the same hole for stranded and solid or is it marked like the yellow handled ones shown above (showing you should use a different hole for stranded vs solid of the same AWG)?

 

Speaking of which, did you ever get to see some of the wiring over there? That was long before I ever thought of doing electric work, but I remember them sending some KBR guys (probably subcontracted through them) over to some of the palaces and servants quarters we were living in and eating out of. Those guys were probably raking in a quarter mil a year of the taxpayer dime. It was interesting stuff: knew instantly that it was 3rd world hackery, couple dozen guys died from electrocution over there just from walking around and inadvertently touching some live 480v hanging out of a wall, or taking a shower in the wrong place at the wrong time. Makes you wonder what the citizenry in some countries go though. Wonder how bad a place like India is with hack job wiring.

I was there at the very beginning for a year then a break for 3 months then a year. We were mostly self sufficient, some of the target switches and small nodes came with 5-15 kW gens.. I didn't see hot water for the first nine months and only seen chow when we stopped into one of the bases. Toward then end there were more civilians but mainly bus and truck drivers.

 

My strippers (Klein Kurve) have different numbers for stranded and solid, but I find that when stripping stranded if you follow the stripper's markings it's a pain to strip, so I just use the same hole for solid or stranded, along with a modicum of caution, and it works just fine.

 

Practice, practice and practice. In school I found during the few times we used stranded that stripping was a pain in the ass. Finally bought a pair of Klein Katapult strippers that made easy work of it.

That being said I still start with a pair of regular strippers but will change over before I get frustrated. Have found that different wire manufactures, or even different production runs, are easier then others to strip.

Just my 2 cents as a student and new entry into the electrical trade.

 

Wait till you have strip single or multimode fiber..You will be fired...Fiber stripping is about care and angle and the right size strippers for cladding, fiber, etc...

 

First I'd have him strip a wire the way he normally does it. Then I'd show him how easily a nicked wire breaks off. Then I'd give him 10 feet of #16 and tell him to strip 100 times - an inch apart and examine each one. If that doesn't work then have him write on the white board 100 times "I will not nick wire when I strip".

 

I clicked on this thread to learn the ways of strippers --

And all I see are concerns about being 'nicked.'

 

As to the OP...

Your boy has no wrist sense.

I also sense a great deal of conductor anger in the kid.

He may prove out to be a nature Romex racer. Who knows?

 

Stripper tool worn out.

 

knicked? who knicks?

 

I've used my linesman since about day one. Gives me they perfect strip every time, whether I'm splicing, or wiring switches. And as far as I know, I rarely score the wire. Just takes a little finnes. And I don't like using wire stripers cause I have a hard time getting the right amount of strip at the end (not very good at measurement perception).

 

When I became an apprentice, I was an art school dropout with almost zero mechanical abilities. What I did possess, however, was attention to detail and the desire to do things right.

If this apprentice is hacking off strands and throwing things together, than you have a problem. His quality of work is probably poor in general and I don't know if that's something that can be taught.

Personally, I wouldn't care if he strips stranded wire with a utility knife. If his intention is to do the job properly, then that's what really matters. As his mechanical skills improve so will his speed and efficiency.

 

Show him the proper way and make sure he is using the right notches on his strippers. Everyone deserves a "reasonable" amount of time to learn how to do their job, but stripping a wire shouldn't take more than a day or two to figure out. Electrical work isn't for everyone.

 

I think weak hands and wrists are the probable cause. Big johns advice is sound.