[Elecraft] cleaning solder from lugs

[David A. Belsley]

Well, here is an interesting one.  I had a group of plugs and jacks  
that I had retrieved from various projects each still with ends of  
cut wires soldered to the lugs.  I heated up the soldering iron,  
getting ready to clean them out for reuse.  On the first lug, I  
heated the solder and removed the wire -- and the lug, of course, was  
still filled with solder, despite my shaking the jack vigorously  
while the solder was still hot.  I went to the next lug, did the  
same, but this time, when shaking vigorously I accidentally dropped  
the jack, with some force, onto the work table.  When I picked it up,  
I noted pleasantly that, not only was the wire gone, but the hole was  
clean as a whistle (and we all know how clean that is).  So I tried  
the same thing on the next lug -- and, lo, just as nice.  I went  
through three more jacks and a couple of plugs doing the same thing,  
and it worked beautifully each time.  Indeed, I finally went back the  
the very first lug, still filled with solder, and reheated it and  
popped it down on the bench, and, yep, clean as a whistle.

Needless to say, this is not a procedure recommended for pcbs or for  
delicate or breakable items, but for things like jacks, plugs,  
switches, and whatever, it seems to be a nice way to go without  
heating up the Hakko.  Just do it to some nice music that will  
benefit from an augmented rhythm section.

best wishes,

dave belsley, w1euy
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david a. belsley
professor of economics