I love UF cable outdoors because it’s tough and can be direct buried. That toughness, however, makes it difficult to strip — for me anyway. I’ve got 25 Gard ‘N Posts (great product BTW, from Arlinington) to fit out with floods and pagodas (low-voltage wasn’t appropriate for this job). And I don’t relish the thought of hours of tedious cutting with my utility knife and tearing with pliers.
Does anyone have a favorite tool or technique for stripping UF (12/2 and some 12/3)? Thanks guys.
Replies
Look at http://www.wired-2-shop.com/joneakes/ProductDetail.asp?ProdID=21&nPrdImageID=&CatID=7.
I have not seen that tool before, but it looks like a fancier version of the regular Klein Romex stripper. Are you sure it works for UF?
The one that JohhnyD is referring to definitely does not work for UF.
Rick
Amazing what you can learn on this web site.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
There's a Klien tool that has cutters designed just for stipping romex. Has a 14 guage and 12 guage cutters for the sheath. Cuts the sheath just enough so you can wiggle the remaining free and the sheath then just slips off the wires. Have to be careful to not squeeze too hard or you'll nick the wire.
Changed my life.
Don't have much use for the Romex strippers. Too often they nick the insulation on NM down where the jacket was cut making it hard to catch. Not designed for UF they are more of a hazard on this material IMO.
Stripping UF is easy. Take a good sharp knife, I use a utility knife as it is both very sharp and expendable, and make a quick slice across the flat at the end of the cable. Properly done you end up with three copper conductors exposed for about 3/8". Grab two pairs of pliers, I use a pair of long nose and Kleins, and grab the exposed ground wire bending it up slightly first. Use the Kleins to grab both the other wires. Once in position rip the ground wire down through the jacket for as long as you need.
Once done you end up with a thick jacket opened up from inside and both remaining insulated conductors separated from the now open center of the UF by a very thin membrane. Nick that membrane beside each insulated conductor. Now repeat the ripping motion used with the ground with each wire still in the jacket. Most times you don't need two pliers for this step. Once all three conductors are ripped out cut the jacket off and wire normally.
Alternately you can either squeeze the cable with the handles of your Kleins or whack it with a hammer, or Kleins, to expose the conductors to allow you to rip the ground down but this is not a sure thing. Some makes of UF resist this method when new and all brands when aged, causing the UF outer jacket to toughen.
Aged for a few decades careful whittling with a good sharp knife works well but it is slow. Sometimes, if the UF is not too tough I can whittle down in the middle of the cable, this makes ripping while cutting simultaneously possible, and combine ripping and slitting by making a light cut short of the insulation and them ripping through the remaining jacket.
In one case where I had a lot of very old UF to strip down I used a torch to soften, not scorch or burn, the old and tough jacket material. This allowed something more closely related to new, soft and easy to rip through, cable.