Desoldering iron

[Fluelikesymptoms]

I need a recommendation on a good desolderong iron/station that isn't going to break the bank. Ive spent a ton of money on tooling the last couple years.

I'd rather get something to help me desolder more efficiently, as I have dozens of hours in terrible desoldering experiences and I'm fed up.

Anything that will keep me from touch wick or a manual suckered as much as possible.

Most things I find myself needing to desolder are thru hole, I am not equipped for smd work yet ill get hot tweezers if I ever reach that point.

Incase it needs to be said, desoldering absolutely ***** and is the worst part of electronic repairs. I hate it, is it my technique, probably. Anything I can get that will aid my ignorance of desoldering would help.

 

[cvairwerks]

I’d suggest grabbing a couple of dead computers off of craigslist or fakebook and practice removing all the components off the boards. Takes practice to do it and not lift traces or leave holes partially filled.

A good rework station is going to be expensive compared to a good iron. Stay with the better names, such as Weller, Hakkio and so on. Be prepared for sticker shock. It will be in the range of a kilobuck or more.....

 

[californiaHank]

There are no magic tools. It's all about technique.

Solder wick is your friend.
Buy quality, fresh braid. Chemtronics 'Soder-Wick' is a safe choice. Bad braid is very bad.
One size doesn't fit all. Match the braid width to the size of the pads you're desoldering from (and pick a soldering iron tip to match, as well).
Don't be afraid to add a little new solder to the pad before de-soldering if access to the joint is difficult.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

When I was a technician I used solder sucker bulbs. Some guys prefered the spring loaded types.
At home I have a radioshack desoldering tool (basically a soldering iron with the bulb attached). It works but I still usually use my soldering iron to melt the solder and a bulb to **** it away.

 

[TuxThePenguin]

What's the budget? I use a Hakko FR301. $250-300 ish. Can I use solder wick? Usually , sure.

This is way better and to me it's easily worth its cost, but that's a subjective decision.

I don't bother with solder suckers. Those things are incredibly awful. Edit: They are still incredibly awful even if some of the other replies say you just need patience to get good. I went into trade school for electronics in 1999. Been doing it for a while myself. Solder suckers are awful. They were awful then and they are awful now. And solder wick is great stuff but it's not efficient to use for large amounts of component removal. It's more for minor cleanup work.

"Back in my day, we walked uphill to school both ways in the cold and the snow and we used bulbs and solder wick to do our desoldering"

 

[Rabid Badger]

Hakko is the industry standard for a reason (I love my old 808).

But if you're on a budget (and have the table space) a ZD-985 isn't a bad tool. It has good parts availability and consumables are FAR cheaper.

Below that at $110 is the S-993A. It takes a little longer to warm up and will have a harder time with large thermal masses. It's okay for the price and comes with a nice stand.

There are extensive YouTube videos on each of these. I'd start watching and figure out which suits you best. The EEVblog forum also has tons of good info.

 

[Toolfool]

I repaired cameras for about 15 years and used a solder sucker bulb. Worked well even on the sensitive flexible strips. As stated already, practice makes perfect. I always saved old strips for trainees to practice on.

 

[Citation]

Do you have a hot air rework gun?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X5SFJNR/?tag=atomicindus08-20
I've never used that one but I'm linking as an example. These blow a stream of hot air to melt the solder. It can work really well for SMD. Not always the right answer but very useful to have.

 

[Indyducati]

Might I suggest you take a look at ;

www.eaesales.com

I've no affiliation, other than a happy customer.
Bruce, the owner is a veteran and an expert soldering instructor.
I like supporting vets, hoosiers and small businesses.

I got a refurbished Hakko 808 desoldering gun and a 936 soldering station.
Tools way better than my skillset, but very, very nice.

Best of luck,
Steve

 

[Danglerb]

If you are going to be removing a lot of parts, scrap guys use a solder pot. OTOH they want the chips off fast and toss the remaining boards.

 

[pwhittle]

I have been desoldering connectors off cheap Chinese motor drive boards to mount them on my own control board. The three blue connectors and the eight 0.100” pins.

Qunqi L298N Motor Drive Controller Board Module Dual H Bridge DC Stepper For Arduino https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014KMHSW6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I use my soldering iron to heat all the bottom pads of one connector and needle nose pliers to gently pull the connector off without damaging the pads. It take a little patience to get it molten through the board to the other side of the through hole before wiggling the part free.

Then I use one of these to **** the solder out of the hole. I will sometimes need to add additional solder to give the desoldering iron a surface to start the heat transfer.

Velleman VTDESOL3U Vacuum Desoldering Pump with Heater 30W https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B88FRME/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have got pretty good after thirty boards.

Paul


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[Rabid Badger]

To all the guys preaching patience and old tools:

The guy is doing this for a living. Do you tell an auto mechanic he could get buy with combo wrenches and a basic socket set if he took his time?

There are proper tools for this sort of work.

 

[DGersic]

I need a recommendation on a good desolderong iron/station that isn't going to break the bank. Ive spent a ton of money on tooling the last couple years.



I'd rather get something to help me desolder more efficiently, as I have dozens of hours in terrible desoldering experiences and I'm fed up.



Anything that will keep me from touch wick or a manual suckered as much as possible.



Most things I find myself needing to desolder are thru hole, I am not equipped for smd work yet ill get hot tweezers if I ever reach that point.



Incase it needs to be said, desoldering absolutely ***** and is the worst part of electronic repairs. I hate it, is it my technique, probably. Anything I can get that will aid my ignorance of desoldering would help.

I have thousands of hours on my Hakko, picked up used on eBay.



That bucket sitting on top is just about full of parts I’ve removed from boards.

Desoldering clean parts is easy. I work primarily on corroded, battery damaged boards, so not easy, but you won’t find better.




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[DGersic]

If Hakko is out of your budget, I have heard good things about Tenma, though I don’t own one myself.


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[rlitman]

I have been desoldering connectors off cheap Chinese motor drive boards to mount them on my own control board. The three blue connectors and the eight 0.100” pins.

Qunqi L298N Motor Drive Controller Board Module Dual H Bridge DC Stepper For Arduino https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014KMHSW6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I use my soldering iron to heat all the bottom pads of one connector and needle nose pliers to gently pull the connector off without damaging the pads. It take a little patience to get it molten through the board to the other side of the through hole before wiggling the part free.

Then I use one of these to **** the solder out of the hole. I will sometimes need to add additional solder to give the desoldering iron a surface to start the heat transfer.

Velleman VTDESOL3U Vacuum Desoldering Pump with Heater 30W https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B88FRME/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have got pretty good after thirty boards.

Paul


Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

I must be missing something. Why are you sucking solder out of the holes from the donor boards?

I'd grab the donor board in my panavise, put gentle tension on the connector with my pliers, and heat the backside with a heat gun until the solder melts on all pads around the connector simultaneously. When they're all melty, the whole thing will just come out clean in one shot.

 

[cvairwerks]

To all the guys preaching patience and old tools:

The guy is doing this for a living. Do you tell an auto mechanic he could get buy with combo wrenches and a basic socket set if he took his time?

There are proper tools for this sort of work.

I used to do component level work maintaining broadcast equipment. If you don't do any for a while, the desolder skills get a bit squirrelly. Also there is a big difference in what you are working on. Older Textronix stuff was silver soldered. Sony Broadcast stuff was wave soldered, even back when I started on it. Ikegami was a combination, while Grass Valley, CVS and RCA was all hand soldered. When I started, desolder stations didn't exist outside of a few labs.

 

[jessesandy]

Maybe your frustration/poor results is from not keeping the equipment in tip top shape.
De-soldering equipment needs to be cleaned a lot. (Every time you use it.)
Hold your thumb over the tip of your spring loaded solder sucker and press the button.
The plunger should stop in no more than an inch of travel.

If you don't care about re-using the thru-hole components, cut them out. Then heat each pin and pluck it out with needle nose. Then **** out the empty holes. (often helps to add more solder first.)
Zero frustration and zero damage.

 

[engineer2]

I got a Hakko 471? when we went lead-free a few years ago. They were scrapping all the older lead-contaminated equipment. I was surprised most parts are still available for it. It mainly needed pump valve and the filter.

 

[Fluelikesymptoms]

Thank you guys for the replies.

I kind of made this post out of frustration, and than forgot about it lol.

I will be looking into the advice that everyone had to offer. Other than the get good use wick advice that is. No offense to anyone, but i just hate use wick and the manual suckers. I'm going to avoid it if I can, maybe one day I will get good at it but I dont care to find out im just trying to get by lol

A good desoldeeing station is high on my list. As much as I didn't want to spend Hakko bucks on one, I've always known in the back of my head that would probably be the best option, but I will look into the other suggestions first.

To clarify, I'm not huge into scrapping parts I do when the opportunity presents itself from time to time. Usually im trying to save the board and sometimes even both the board and the component.

And for the record yes, I always use good chemtronics wick, of different sizes, lubed with Kester flux. I do use Kester 44 to help heat the joint. I've done every tip and trick of the old timer, sparing no expense for high quality materials. The fact is, i just **** at it and I hate it, if theres a way around it for me, im going to take it.

 

[240sxguy]

I am a hobbyist, and own an FR-301 Hakko I got as a gift. It's a game changer. My buddy borrowed it to do a massive recap/restore of an ampex reel to reel and can't stop raving about how much time it saved him.

I know it's a lot of money but the time and hassle it's saved me has me wishing I bought it a decade ago.