Tool for stripping metallic cables

[farseer]

What tool would one use to tear away metallic BX type cables to get to the wires it house?

[Jimi]

Just bend over where you want to cut away the BX, the BX will seperate and then just use a pair of side cutters to cut the exposed aliminum strand. You only have to cut away one strand as it's is in a coil. The rest will slide off. Jimi

[John Grabowski]

The old fashion way which is still effective is a hacksaw cutting at an angle to the spiral. Just cut enough to get through the spiral and twist off the sheath. Use diagonal pliers, side cutters, or BX cutters to trim the sharp point off of the edge and use a red anti-short bushing inside the BX.

The new way to cut BX is with a RotoStrip tool. It does the same thing as the hack saw except that is much easier to hold the BX especially when working on a ladder.

[sheldon.mandel]

there is a special stripping tool that sells for 12$... it has a blade that cuts the BX with a few turns of a crank. DON'T use a hacksaw or bend the BX.. You could nick the cable, and then get a flash/bang when you throw the circuit braker on.

shelly

[someone]

I never liked the bending method and that could nick a wire. I used a hacksaw half my life as a professional electrician. You know when to stop cutting. The ends of an AC (BX) cable should always have a plastic bushing installed around the wires against the sheath. This is likely required by code, or used to be anyhow.

[Stormin Mormon]

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[farseer]

Thanks much for all the replys. i have been nipping at the bx cable, then using brute strength to just uncoil it. This tool looks like just what i need...reminds me of the tool i see the cable guys use.

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[Nate Nagel]

Or you could just hacksaw across one coil and then twist the end off and pull, if you're not doing a lot of electrical work.

It would probably bother me. I'm not sure what the real danger is, but I'd personally feel better with the bushing. Not sure how difficult it would be to sneak it in without removing the BX from its connector.

nate

[John Grabowski]

YES! I have seen in my lifetime a few instances where a bushing was not used and the armor eventually shorted to one of the conductors. In one particular scenario there was no ground on the circuit and everytime the bathroom lights were turned on the medicine cabinet with built-in lights in another bathroom became energized. The customer called my attention to this because they occasionally got shocked after stepping out of the shower.

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[dpb]

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The danger is that over time a sharp edge will cut the insulation leading to a possible shock or fire hazard. It's truly amazing how ordinary small vibrations and thermal expansion/contraction over a period of years can lead to accumulated damage one would think impossible from simply observing the initial installation situation. It's quite analogous to the eventual "working out" of a nail from a clapboard over a period of time, for example.

[JGolan]

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