[Elecraft] The "right" tool for removing IC pins

[PDouglas12 at aol.com]

There has been much talk here and on other lists about the safe/correct way 
to remove ICs from circuit boards.   Conventional ICs (as opposed to the 
surface mount jobs, which are another whole animal) can be removed cleanly and 
easily with a vacuum desoldering machine.  Handheld vacuum poppers are not a good 
substitute for a motorized desoldering machine.   For one thing, the popper's 
recoil will pull it off the work as it discharges.   If you've ever used or 
seen one of these desoldering machines in action, they are nothing short of 
amazing.   You put the tip over a pin, and it sucks the hole clean and dry in a 
fraction of a second.   Do this fourteen times, and the IC can be easily removed 
intact with two fingers.   The holes left behind are so clean that a new IC 
will drop right in as if they were virgin.   

So, if you're building your dream K2, and you make an IC mistake, you want to 
find a local ham who has one of these machines.   They're too expensive 
(upwards of $200 used) to buy for a one-shot deal, but they are the kind of tool 
you'd want around a serious workbench--kind of like a good oscilloscope.   And 
they require maintenance. 

My suggestion is to get on the local repeater and ask who has one, rather 
than trying to wrestle the pins out of a hot circuit board.   If you're local to 
me (Long Island) just ask.   I have a working desoldering machine.   Yes, you 
can clean out an IC using a combination of solder wick and vacuum poppers; but 
you will almost certainly do some damage to the traces/holes in the process, 
particularly on boards with plated through holes.   Better to find someone to 
give you a couple of minutes of time with a desoldering machine.   

72,

Preston Douglas WJ2V