Newbie pedal build failure - could it be a bad chip?

[Adam_DIY]

That's the stuff I use Phil and it works fine but I'd like a coating which would resist heat a little better.  The actual wire works great though and I've never had any break on me.  All of the builds posted here or on the fretboard use that stuff.

I should probably man up and start using heatshrink.

[Philtre]

Colin, no problems with that stranded wire and vero board or breadboard? I like to wire up my finished vero to a breadboard with pots and sockets to test it first, so I'll have to tin all the ends first but would they fit in the small breadboard holes?

[Adam_DIY]

It's totally fine with vero Phil but I've never used it on a breadboard.  I bought breadboard jumpers which are all I've used with that.

[Scruffie]

IIRC Banzai stocks something similar to the Smallbear wire.

[Philtre]

Can anyone recommend wire strippers that would work with the gauge of wire?

[Philtre]

Rapid sell Rapid 11 x 2m Stranded Equipment Wire Pack for £2.09 a bundle:

https://www.rapidonline.com/rapid-11-x-2m-stranded-equipment-wire-pack-01-0108

[Philtre]

Again a board with single core wire failed because of breakage. Another bad habit I want to break is stripping the wire by cutting nicks in the insulation with a scalpel and pulling it off with pliers. This is weakening the wire core.

So I've ordered some 7/0.2 (24AWG) stranded wire from Bitsbox and I'm going to replace all my interconnects. But I'm still not sure what the best kind of wire strippers are for this gauge of wire. Any suggestions?

[sonnyboy27]

I got one of these (http://amzn.to/2FJxxYo) and have never looked back. It works on multiple gauges and it's super simple. I was even able to strip pickup leads without breaking the strands. I highly recommend it.

[Philtre]

Thanks for that recommendation. 

However, that model is quite pricey (39GBP / 55USD) in the UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/IRWIN-2078300-VIS2078300-Wire-Strippers/dp/B000OQ21CA. Wonder if there's anything a tad cheaper?

EDIT - screw it, I ordered the Irwin anyway. 

[somnif]

My favorite Youtube electronics guru Big Clive uses this style of stripper:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000LFXIP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And I personally use this thing, which I sorta kinda stole from a mechanic friend of mine (entirely accidentally):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Klein-Tools-11063W-Katapult-Stripper/dp/B00BC39YFQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517858289&sr=8-1&keywords=klein+katapult&dpID=41QZAA4VBgL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[blearyeyes]

I always use 22 gauge solid core wire. Have to handle it carefully. Stranded wire always ends up fraying on me at some point and it tries to short out stuff. I find it very frustrating to work with.

[Philtre]

The stranded wire arrived today - works great. Using the Irwin strippers and then tinning the ends of the wires has led to a very robust build. I can even poke the tinned ends into a breadboard for testing. I would prefer to use single core, but the amount of mucking about I do means that it weakens very easily.