Tinning litz wire without a consumer solder pot

[kingkikapu]

What are people's DIY approaches here?

Not interested in mechanical or chemical stripping.

Are most people just using their iron and making do with the mess?

What about a small DIY pot? I was thinking of finding a fairly small diameter copper plumbing end cap and heating it on my camping stove. Sort of like a miniature DIY so as not to waste a lot of solder on a process I intend to do extremely rarely.

Thoughts?

 

[funch]

I've been using Cardas wire for years, and all I do is crank my iron up to 700F, hold the tip against the wire, and melt solder
onto it, and leave it until it melts the enamel off of the wire. Then use the iron tip to wipe the remaining yuck away.

Using flux helps, but isn't necessary. It helps to speed things up a but if I first lay the wire down and scrape away a bit of the
coating with an Xacto knife.

 

[kingkikapu]

I figured that was the cheapest way to go, but was concerned that it would be difficult to know if all of the enamel on the interior wires was stripped. I guess I'll give it a go. thx.

 

[funch]

The enamel will bubble up to the surface of the solder. You will get the hang of it quickly I'm sure.

Because you will be applying heat for a while, the insulation will melt back and expose more wire than you want, so don't strip as much as you initially think you will need. It even does it with the Cardas wire, which is teflon coated.