[Elecraft] De-soldering Tool Recommendations?

[Don Wilhelm]

Dave and all,

I have not used the Pace desoldering tool, but I have plenty of 
experience with the Hakko 808.
The vacuum pump needs to be disassembled and cleaned of solder flux 
occasionally and once that is done, it has plenty of suction.  That 
means the holes and plastic "flappers" in the pump need to be cleaned - 
I used alcohol successfully.  Pay attention (or take photos) when 
disassembling and it will go back together just fine.

Between the pump cleaning, it is necessary to clean out the nozzle after 
a dozen or so solder connections - use the tool that matches the nozzle 
diameter.  The larger "collector tube" that catches the solder needs to 
be cleaned as well.  You need to change the filters often - if you are 
using it a lot, keep a goodly supply of those ceramic filters on hand - 
they are not cheap, but become ineffective when they fill up with flux 
and solder bits (reduced vacuum).

I used it for over 10 years while repairing the Elecraft legacy products.
In fact I had 2 of them so I did not have to change from a small slender 
tip to a larger tip.  If you are using one constantly, having 2 is a big 
help, but that is not for everyone.  For similar reasons, when I was 
doing professional woodworking, I had 5 routers, 2 were dedicated to 
their attachments, but the other 3 were available to mount a variety of 
bits for the project being worked on.  A hobbyist can get along with 
one, but a professional wants dedicated tools - time is money.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 3/14/2022 6:24 PM, Dave Fugleberg wrote:
> 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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