[sdiy] solder wick?

[Scott Stites]

Hi Stephen,

I've used a lot of desoldering equipment.  IMO, one of the best bang-for-your
buck de-solderers is that weird iron that Radio Shack sells with the rubber
squeeze bulb.  Squeeze the bulb, put the iron on the joint and release the bulb. 
Sucks the solder right off.  Then 'blow' the bulb over your sponge to get rid of
the solder.  It's pretty easy and not as cumbersome to use as those spring
mounted solder suckers.

You kind of have to be careful (IIRC it's a 45 watt iron), but I don't think it
gets things any hotter than using wick, which always gives me fits when
desoldering a pad on a thick ground plane.  The other thing to watch out for is
that you don't want to forget and squeeze the bulb again over your project before
you've emptied it - it'll blow melted solder all over your project (or you, if
you're not careful).  

Best Regards,
Scott
 

On Fri, 28 Feb 2003, "Stephen Begin" wrote:
> I've got a couple questions about desoldering
> Does anybody use the "no-clean" type of solder wick?
> What do you use to clean up the mess from normal solder wick?
> Is a cheap desoldering station worth having, or is it pointless unless you
> are willing to get a good one?
> 
> Basically I'd like to hear anything people have learned about desoldering
> from experience.

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