[sdiy] solder wick?

[Wayne Dubois]

I spent alot of years as an elec tech and found that while the 'solder-pult'
srping action type of desoldering tool works, it gets quite tiring having to
reset it for each and every junction you wish to desolder (sometimes
multiples on each one).  One of my favorites was the simple 'solder bulb'.
This is similar to what Scott's describing only without the attached
soldering iron (i.e., just a rubber bulb with a removable/replaceable teflon
tip).  You use it in a similar manner to the solder-pult;  heating the joint
first with a soldering iron, then sucking the solder off with the bulb.  (I
once knew a lady who did our rework for a living and most of the time she
relied on one of these bulbs for her work.  Did a nice job too.)  One trick
that may or may not work for you is to carve a small groove on one side of
the teflon tip of the bulb just large enough to accomodate the tip of the
soldering iron.  This will allow you to suck the solder off while the tip is
still on the junction without removing the iron first.  This can work almost
as well as the pro level desoldering stations.  It's a little tricky getting
it to work at first, YMMV.

Where the pro level vacuum station stuff comes in handy is when you've got
multi-layer boards to desolder.  With those, a desoldering station can be
worth it's weight in gold, 'specially around the power traces.

The other side of the equation, of course, is the soldering iron itself.  I
prefer one of the Weller WTCPN type.  A bit pricey, but they heat fast and
regulate the heat much better than the $19.95 Radio Shack models.  If you're
planning on doing alot of soldering/de-soldering the price of the iron will
be small compared to the savings in aggrevation.

 - w
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Stites" <scottnoanh at peoplepc.com>
To: <trypannon at hotmail.com>
Cc: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2003 4:24 PM
Subject: Re: [sdiy] solder wick?


> 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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