[Elecraft] Stripping toroid leads

[Don Wilhelm]

LS,

Yes, the solder blob method works best with a wide tip on the iron to 
hold a substantial blob of solder and a temperature of 800 degF.
I use my Hakko 808 for stripping leads, and it works wonderfully. The 
only downside is that the enamel residue accumulates in the desoldering 
tip and I have to clean it well after using it for stripping and 
tinning.  For those who have a desoldering iron similar to the Hakko 
808, put the lead in the tip and add a bit of solder at the junction of 
the tip and wire.  When you see a puff of smoke come out, pull the 
trigger and extract the lead.  You should find a nicely stripped and 
tinned lead.
Clean the desoldering iron afterwards.

I would discourage builders from using the "flick the BIC" stripping.  
While it does vaporize the enamel, there is a residue left that often 
resists proper tinning afterward.  My repair activities have revealed 
many PTTL (Poorly Tinned Toriod Leads) that have been stripped of enamel 
using a flame.  If you do use a flame to strip the toroid leads, clean 
the residue from the leads with sandpaper and then tin.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/5/2016 8:51 PM, lstavenhagen wrote:
> Glad I use the sandpaper method on my toroid leads lol. In fact, funny this
> should come up, because I just started winding my new K2's toroids this
> evening. But the solder blob method fails on this kit in exactly the same
> way as it did on my first K2 some years ago. It's possible that the tip in
> my iron is too cold (weller WTCPT with 700f tip), but I can hold it onto the
> wire forever and it'll never bubble up and burn off. Go figure....
>
> But as others have noted, it scrapes off pretty easily so I just use some
> fine sandpaper and I can clean them almost all the way up to the hilt (the
> toroid body). Works perfectly as long as I'm not too aggressive and remove
> too much metal.
>
>