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Appreciation post: A customer in Tempe showed me my wire stripping method was costing me time
Ngl, I was stripping low voltage wire for a panel install the same way for years. I'd score the jacket with my knife, twist it off, then strip each individual conductor. I thought it was the careful way. Last month, a homeowner in Tempe was watching me and said, 'My old electrician uncle just used his strippers on the whole bundle at once.' I tried it on the next run. Honestly, I was stripping a 4-conductor cable in maybe 15 seconds instead of a minute. It felt wrong, like I was being lazy, but the connections were just as clean. I've probably wasted hundreds of hours over the years doing it the slow way. Has anyone else had a simple tip from a customer completely change a basic task you do every day?
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shanewells6mo ago
Honestly, that "lazy" method sounds like a great way to nick the insulation on the inner conductors. Maybe it works on fresh, perfect cable, but on anything older or with a tight bundle, you're asking for a hidden fault. That careful way you were doing it might have been slower, but it gave you a chance to actually inspect each wire as you stripped it. Speed isn't everything if it risks a call back later. That homeowner's uncle probably left a few mystery problems behind him.
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linda_bennett446mo ago
Totally agree with you. Rushing just sets you up for problems down the road. That extra minute to check things over is always worth it.
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black.beth6mo ago
Sometimes you gotta move fast to get the job done.
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