[sdiy] solder wick?

[Steve Ridley]

> My summary on using solder wick: don't, unless you really have nothing 
> else at hand (and then why bother with buying wick when just stripping 
> mesh shield from a surplus cable gives you the same or better quality). 

I've never got this to work very well.  If the surplus cable is old, the 
copper mesh shield is likely to be oxidised and may have finely 
ground plastic dust it's abraded off the cable sheath in it.  The 
oxidised copped doesn't take solder very well and the plastic dust 
messes up your iron tip.   OLD solder wick is not much better.  (I've 
had to use both when we ran out).

Buy some NEW solder wick and see how it goes - it's not very 
expensive.  It's a secondary method, good for certain fine work, 
surface mount work and especially cleaning up pads and tracks.
But don't bother using it as your primary method of desoldering
components -that's not what it's good for.

> I'm inclined to say the same about these plunger-type desoldering 
> tools. It's far too easy to overheat the board or the part while using 
> them and they just don't give consistent results.

Practice and use a good soldering iron.  Make sure there's a 
reasonable amount of solder otherwise it heats unevenly and
some areas don't melt properly.  Add more if necessary.  You 
need to get in quickly, melt the solder, remove it and get out if
you don't want to lift any pads.  If you fail to clear a pad first time,
let it cool off before you try again. 

Keep the solder-sucker vertical.  As the piston flies up, the tip
tries to go the other way, and if it's at an angle it will push the 
pad sideways and may dislodge it.

Desoldering stations are great if you do a lot and don't mind
dismantling and cleaning them regularly, but most of them
would try the patience of a saint.  I've used several fairly
expensive types, and they all clog up at just the wrong time.
How do they know?




Steve