Hello techneters: An interesting question came up this week in one of our training classes and I thought that perhaps we could get some input from you folks relative to the statement in Section 8.1 of IPC-7711, paragraph 5, which states "Caution: Do not use mechanical strippers on wire smaller than AWG-20, as the strippers may stretch the wire." Being on the committee, I did not catch this earlier but after reviewing some tensile strengths of various wire sizes I doubt this is a valid statement to be used in this document. The tensile strength of 20AWG wire is 34.24 lbf or 15.53 kbf, as determined from the information derived from www.mogami.com/e/cad/wire-gauge.html I doubt that we could exert enough force during the insulation stripping operation to stretch the wire to the point where it would impact its electrical carrying capabilities. If you have the time, also check out paragraph (a) and (b) where the implication or statement reads with the intent that all wires be stripped with thermal strippers, unless they... "cannot be thermally stripped", then mechanical strippers be used. Your inputs on the use of thermal strippers would be appreciated, indicating whether or not they are used extensively or rarely within your facility or industry based upon your background. We don't see many uses of thermal strippers except for stripping Teflon insulation, all others use some form of mechanical strippers. Any thoughts on any of this would be welcome. Thanks for your time and anxiously awaiting your input and comments. Regards, Leo Lambert EPTAC Corp. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------