An automatic wire stripper can really add to your arsenal of electric tools. The ability to quickly, easily and cleanly strip wire can increase your productivity and reduce waste. Until the automatic wire stripper came about, you really had two options. You could use your knife to strip wire, or you could use a regular wire stripper like the Klein Tools 11047 Wire Stripper/Cutter. What I want to do is give my review of the Truper Automatic Wire Stripper.
Using a knife to strip wire works but there is always the risk of cutting yourself in the process. There is also the risk that you may nick the wire and degrade its capacity. You can also use the standard wire strippers. They work well but there is some skill involved with those as well. You need to know your strippers to know which slots correlate to which size wire. There is also a risk of cutting into the wire as well.
Truper Automatic Wire Stripper
These wire strippers can be used to skin wire from 22 AWG – 10 AWG. This gives you a very wide range of wire sizes to choose from. And the best thing about them is that they are automatic. This means that you will not need to squint really hard to see which hold in your regular wire strippers you need to use. You just lay the wire in there and squeeze. That’s it!
I have used normal wire strippers for most of my career. I have also used a knife to skin wire for most of my career as well. So, when I bought these automatic wire strippers I was a bit skeptical. But, they really do a great job of stripping the wire.
Details
The Truper automatic wire stripper features a guide that can be set up so all of your strips are the same length. This can be very useful for really anything you are doing. If you are making up a panel and you want all of your strips to be the same length so that just the right amount of bare wire is under the connector, you can do that. All you have to do is move it until you get the right length. Then set it and forget it. It really is that easy.
These automatic strippers also feature a wire cutter. However, it is not the best. It is located between the handles so you do not get a ton of leverage. When I was using them there were a few times where it did not cut all the strands of the stranded wire I was working with. But, these are not really made for cutting wire, they are made for stripping wire. If you are looking to cut wire then check out my review of the Truper Lineman’s Pliers.
Another feature of the this automatic wire stripper is the ability to crimp wire. It offers three different positions for crimping. Again, these are in the middle of the handles. I have never had good luck with any strippers or wire crimpers where the stripping, cutting or crimping is in between the handles.
The grips on these automatic wire strippers are comfortable. They offer plenty of leverage to carry out fast and precise wire strips.
Conclusion
The Truper Automatic Wire Stripper is a tool I wish that I would have had many years ago when I started in the meter field. I think about all of those meter bases I have wired up through the years where I used my knife or regular wire strippers to skin the wire. All of those CT’s and PT’s that I have wired up through the years could have been done much faster.
I highly recommend this tool. After using this tool on the first job you will not regret buying it. It makes stripping wire practically effortless.