[remove soldered chips] Cheap & Dirty

[Merlin Zener]

Michael wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
>   I am a jeweler by birth and have used my oxy/natural gas torch to remove
> headers and other hardware from pcb's. Gotta work fast!!! I personally
> doubt(even with my 30years of skill) that ANY component can be successfully
> removed without being TOTALLY FRIED!!!! I have made sterling silver "heads"
> for 35 watt irons to successfully remove chips by heating all pins at once.
> I'd be glad to custom make anyone some of these. Of course, each one is chip
> specific, so a small collection would be necessary. Silver sounds expensive
> but not so and will last forever!

I remember someone mentioned once an idea where you got a
piece of wire the same length as the number of pins on one
side of the IC and connected it to a scope transformer to heat
it up - you can use a spring loaded IC puller and heat up one
side, then the other - a few times each side and it's out.

Anyone done this?

-- 
Merlin Zener                            mailto:merlin at ion.com.au
Piano and Synthesizer              http://www.ion.com.au/~merlin

"No-one ever went blind from looking on the bright side of life"