[Elecraft] De-soldering Tool Recommendations?

[Dave Fugleberg]

Back when I was a bench tech doing component level repair, I used a vacuum
desoldering station from Pace (I forget the model). That thing worked
great- I pulled hundreds (maybe thousands) of through-hole parts from
boards with it.

They were (and are) expensive, but so are time and PC boards, so my
employer equipped every bench with one. It had a glass tube in the handset
that collected the solder. As long as you cleaned it regularly, it worked.

I recently looked at some used ones but still couldn’t justify the price
for my hobby needs, so I continue to use a variety of means to remove
solder. None are as good as the Pace. I’ve been tempted to buy a Hakko or
one of its knock offs, but reviews generally say they don’t have enough
suction. I’d love to hear an honest comparison between the Pace and the
Hakko from someone who has used both.

73 de W0ZF

On Mon, Mar 14, 2022 at 9:26 AM jerry <jerry at tr2.com> wrote:

> It's hard to beat a good old big blue Soldapullt.
>
>    To remove the offending part with minimal damage to its surroundings,
> it's generally
> wise to chop the part off its leads first.  Then if you have access to
> both sides of the
> board, you can heat each land with a soldering iron and pull the lead
> out with a pair
> of tweezers or needle-nose pliers.  Then suck the land clean with the
> soldapullt.
> Alternatively, you can clean it with solder wick, and poke the hole
> through with a
> toothpick.
>
>    I haven't had much luck with desoldering irons.  I did buy a
> desoldering station.
> It has a vacuum pump in the base unit, and a separate iron in a stand,
> with a vacuum
> chamber and filter.  The pump starts when you pull the trigger on the
> iron.  It's a
> Chinese copy of a Hakko.  First of all, the pump is not very strong.
> Not that much airflow
> or suction.  Much less than a Soldapullt.  Second, it takes it a LONG
> time to warm up,
> I guess because the desoldering head has high mass.
>
>                     - Jerry KF6VB
>
>
>
>
> On 2022-03-13 22:06, Tony wrote:
> > All:
> >
> > Can anyone recommend a budget de-soldering iron that can be used in
> > tight places? I need to remove a small component that has a few
> > surface mount devices close by so the iron would need to have a small
> > tip.
> >
> > Also need advice on the best soldering iron to use for this type of
> > work as well as the best low-temp Rosin core solder to use.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Tony -K2MO
> >
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