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not good with 24 awg stranded wire

Customer Rating:
bottom line: this irwin self-adjusting wire stripper did not work well with the 24 awg stranded wire i tried it on. however, it worked beautifully with 22 awg solid core wire.

this irwin stripper works by gripping the wire with two clamps, the left one for holding the wire and the right one for stripping it with a sharp edge. as you close your grip on the handles, both clamps lock down on the wire. when you completely close your grip on the handles, the two locked down clamps then come apart, stripping the wire. at least in theory.

the problem i had with the irwin stripper is that the clamps did not provide enough force to hold down a thin 24 awg stranded wire. as a result, the insulation becomes partially pierced by the stripper and stretched a bit without being completely removed. if you manually press down on the left clamp before completely closing your grip to strip the wire, then the insulation will come off, but you also make a dent in the wire, exposing a little part of the wire away from the tip.

there is a swivel knob to micro-adjust the irwin stripper for thin wire gauges. however, even with the micro adjuster at its tightest, the clamps are still too loose to really work with 24 awg.

i also tried this irwin stripper with 22 awg solid core wire, which worked exactly as it should. just beautiful. i really really wanted to like this product, but i bought this stripper to work with the thinnest wire gauge it is spec'd to handle and things just didn't work out. it's not a bad product for thicker wires though. irwin should advertise these wire strippers for 10-22 awg rather than 10-24 awg.

This tool is like magic

Customer Rating:
I could not believe how nice this tool stripped the #14 wire I tested it on. What it does is grab the wire with one set of jaws, then the other edge with a little knife like burr, for lack of a better word, nicks just the insulation and pulls it off the wire when you squeeze the handles. After a lifetime of using every other way of stripping wires, this tool is like magic.

Throw all of your other wire strippers away!!!

Customer Rating:
Like other reviewers, I've tried everything out there (including my teeth) to strip wire... I've done my share of knuckle banging, finger cutting, and everything else you can imagine trying to strip wire for electrical outlets, recessed lighting, ceiling speakers, etc... I decided to give these a try (why not, I've used everything else and if they didn't work, I'd toss them just like many tools before it)... what a pleasant suprise... They work great and take just seconds to use... I get a clean strip 95% of the time (the other 5%, I have to run the wire stripper on the wire twice cause the first attempt didn't fully remove the insulation and only happens sometimes on heavy gauge wire)... No more using wire cutters (trying to delicately twist side to side on the insulation without actually cutting the wire), manual wire strippers, utility knives, and even my teeth... I'd pay double for these if I had too... I just wish I had found these years earlier~~~~

Why it's the most convenient type of stripper

Customer Rating:
I've used this style of stripper for years ever since they were first introduced. It's nice because you don't have to put the wire through a specific-size slot unlike other strippers. Just put the wire into the claws and this stripper figures out how much tension to apply automatically. This makes it quicker to use. For example when I'm on a ladder and I'm holding screws in one hand and a flashlight with my teeth and this wire stripper in the other hand, I can reach out and strip a piece of wire sticking out of the wall rather blindly. If I had to thread the needle to the right wire gauge as with other types of strippers it would be a lot harder than using this one. This tends to work best with gauges around 12 or smaller diameter. Good for household circuits and hobby electronics wiring.

Best Wire Stripper/Crimper/Cutter I have ever used!

Customer Rating:
I am used to those really cheap plastic handle wire strippers with the holes and stuff and the crimpers being hard to crimp. Also used to just wire cutters and pliers to strip and cut my wiring. I bought this because I have several accessories on my car that need wire stripped and crimped. This tool made my work so much easier today in the 85 degree sun. All I did was put the wire in the top part and squeeze and my wire was stripped perfectly. Then I just used the bottom part to crimp the butt connector and it made a great crimp with no loose wires at all. There is also like a punch crimp which works excellent if you don't think the normal crimp was enough. This was definitely worth the 20 or so dollars I paid for it. I knew it was good by the blue and yellow handles Irwin is a great company. They make quality stuff and this thing is no exception. Get this if you need to strip lots of wiring or cut wiring.