tips on soldersucking

[WeAreAs1 at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/13/00 12:00:09 PM, you wrote:

<<how do y'all do your desoldering, without damaging components?>>

You need tips on sucking?  You've come to the right place, sir!

Obviously, an actual powered, heated vacuum desoldering tool is the best way 
to go, but most of us don't have access to one, nor the inclination to spend 
money on one.

I use a spring-loaded "Soldapullt" sucker, and I always add a little bit of 
fresh solder to the area before I try to suck it.  This renews the flux 
around the joint and helps the solder to flow again.  It very important to 
not get your joints too hot - get them just hot enough to flow the solder 
(again, the fresh solder helps).  Too much heat will tend to loosen the 
traces from the board.  If things seem to be getting too hot, back off for a 
few seconds, then add just a little more solder and start again.

You will find that some PC boards are just going to give you trouble, no 
matter what technique you use.  In general, single-sided boards that don't 
have plated through holes are going to be the most troublesome, and double 
sided, plated through-hole boards will usually withstand more rigorous 
reworking before falling apart.  Also, the dark green fibreglas resin boards 
seem to be a little more forgiving during rework than the light yellow ones 
or the old brown phenolic boards (though not always).

You will also find that some components may be a little too snug in their 
holes to come out easily, sometimes even too snug to allow solder to flow 
from the other side of the hole.  On these, I usually add a small amount of 
solder, then use the tip of the soldering iron to work the component pin or 
leg gently side-to-side before sucking it.  This helps convince the component 
that it's OK to let go of the hole.  Sometimes you'll have to suck first, 
then do the side-to-side massage to get results.  This tends to be an issue 
mostly on machine-inserted IC's, and not so much on discretes such as 
transistors.

You can always try using solder wick on especially difficult areas (such as 
the too-small through holes described above), but solder wick, too, can be 
frustrating.  The key is practice!

Michael Bacich

P.S. - beware of PC boards in ARP products.  ARP circuit traces and pads just 
seem to wither at the sight of a soldering iron and desoldering tool.