[Elecraft] Hakko 808 Desoldering Gun - A couple more hints

[Tom Hammond NØSS]

Hi folks...

Tip #1

   Having owned my Hakko 808 desoldering gun for about a year now,
   I've found that it's just about impossible(!) to see into the
   (once) clear plastic 'catch' tube, which becomes badly clouded
   by rosin fumes and all sorts of other 'crud' from desoldering.

   I'd originally tried to (gently) scrape away the solder bits
   and darkened residue which covered the inside of the tube, but
   I didn't have much luck at all and I didn't want to exert much
   force because the LAST thing I wanted to do was to scratch the
   inside of the tube, thus giving the crud an even better place
   to attach to.

   Today I SOLVED my problems completely!!! And it was a LOT
   easier than I'd have ever thought it would be...

   I was cleaning some heavy deposits of burnt rosin from the
   bottom of a PC board I was servicing. I used denatured (wood)
   alcohol to dissolve the rosin and then wash it (with more
   alcohol) off the board. I decided to dampen a piece of paper
   towel and see if there was any chance at all that I could do
   the same trick with the 808's solder catch tube.

   WOW! What results.

   Almost instantly, I was able to clean off ALL of the residue on
   the inside of the catch tube. It looks like new! I had a couple
   more stubborn spots, so I left the alcohol-saturated paper
   towel laying against these two spots for about 20 seconds and
   then I wiped... off they came, and with no effort whatsoever.

   I suspect that Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol would work as well,
   though I have not tried it.

Tip #2

   The final (ceramic paper) filter at the back of the Hakko 808
   catch tube becomes heavily covered with the residue of the
   rosin which is vaporized as you suck each solder joint clean.
   After cleaning a few hundred solder joints, this
   (originally white) filter is not either very dark gray or even
   black. You would normally throw it away and replace it with
   another one.

   However, you can gently rinse it out in denatured alcohol and
   then in a small amount of CLEAN alcohol, allow it to dry, and
   then replace it for further use.

   I suspect there's a limit to the number of uses one can get
   from this filter, but it should be good for at least another
   5-6 rounds of use.

   When you rinse the filter out, be careful to only squeeze it
   between its flat sides, to ensure that it stays together and
   does not fall apart.

   BE SURE TO ALLOW THE FILTER TO DRY COMPLETELY before you
   reinstall it...! You certainly do NOT want liquid alcohol
   present in the vacuum pump!!!

Tip #3

   I may have mentioned this one before, but it's worth
   repeating...

   The Hakko 808 includes a cross-shaped pre-filter just ahead of
   the ceramic paper final filter. This cross-shaped filter is
   nothing more than a piece of aluminum designed to catch (and
   hold) the majority of the actual solder which is sucked up.

   After a period of time, and depending upon how heavily soldered
   the joints you are cleaning are, you will have to eventually
   remove the solder catch tube and clean the accumulated solder
   from the pre-filter.

   It's a snap to get the catch tube out of the gun, and to remove
   and clean the pre-filter, but it can be a pain to reinstall the
   pre-filter once it's been reinstalled in the rubber gasket at
   the back of the catch tube. This is because the four 'fingers'
   of the 'cross' part of the per-filter will not allow the rubber
   gasket to compress much at all. This lack of available
   compression of the rubber gasket can cause the thin sides of
   the gasket to fold back and bind as you attempt to reinstall it
   into the catch tube.

   I tried a number of 'lubricants' on the outside edge of the
   catch tube, to assist in allowing it to slide in more easily.
   A very thin coating of silicone grease seemed to work best, but
   it also tended to cause the gasket to attract dust and dust as
   well.

   I finally solder my problem by using a fine-grained metal file
   to take about two (2) light passes over each of the four 'arms'
   of the cross portion of the pre-filter. This allowed the
   pre-filter to be easily (and securely) installed into the
   gasket, but also allowed the gasket to be reinstalled with NO
   significant effort whatsoever.

   If you do file the arms of the pre-filter, start with only a
   single pass of the file. You can always take more off, but you
   can't out it back once you've gone too far.