[Test-Equipment] UNSOLDERING

[Tony Snider]

after doing soldering and unsoldering for practically every day since I was 13 yrs old. and whether we are talking removing and reusing flatpacks with solderwick, or double sided milspec coated boards. or whether we are talking radio shack solder suckers or mega buck Pace stations, 

the MOST important thing of all is to ADD SOME FRESH SOLDER TO EACH JOINT YOU WANT TO UNSOLDER.

this provides better heat transfer than tarnish and the joint will melt instantly without heating up the board. also adding solder forces the joint to swell and split the conformal coating on both sides of the board allowing air to flow down the hole during extraction

the second thing to always remember is to rotate the desoldering tip around the pin during extraction, this will move the pin away from the side of the plate through and prevent it from rebonding to side.

for junk board removal one of the little butane rechargeable pencil torches from radio shack works well, they come with some small attachments that allow you to just heat one chip with out setting the whole board on fire with a propane torch. then you just wack the board on a piece of wood and your chip jumps out.

as much as I hate to admit it the 9.00 radio shack desoldering irons work fantastic as long as you add solder and keep fresh tips on them.

Tony