I used to strip wire with my sidecutters for 15 years. Changed last month.

Old timers taught me to just nick the jacket and pull. Worked fine until I nicked the copper on a $400 run of 12/2 for a panel swap in Denver. Bought a Klein auto-stripper for $18. Never going back. Any of you guys make the switch late like me?

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rileyw721mo ago

Denver's elevation makes the copper brittle too. I did the same thing on a 350 foot run of 10/3 for a subpanel in Evergreen. That nick turned into a crack when I pulled it through the conduit. The Klein auto-stripper is solid but watch the tension screw on the side. If you're doing a lot of stranded wire or bigger gauge stuff you might want to loosen it a hair. I keep a pair of the old sidecutters in my bag for when the auto-stripper won't fit in tight spots like inside a panel. Just takes one expensive mistake to make you change your ways.

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