cheap desoldering iron

dieseldogpi

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I was curious if one of the cheap desoldering irons from radioshack works well. I'm more concerned with very old solder joints. I know people recomend the hakko gun, but I don't wanna spend over 200 on a gun. So far i've been using a Weller soldering station and a solderpault. with the old solder joints the soldering iron doesn't really melt the solder...I really have to work at it. Plus I don't want to pull up any traces on the board. Thoughts? Experiences? Thanks guys. Please excuse the spelling and grammar, posting from my cell.
 
I was curious if one of the cheap desoldering irons from radioshack works well. I'm more concerned with very old solder joints. I know people recomend the hakko gun, but I don't wanna spend over 200 on a gun. So far i've been using a Weller soldering station and a solderpault. with the old solder joints the soldering iron doesn't really melt the solder...I really have to work at it. Plus I don't want to pull up any traces on the board. Thoughts? Experiences? Thanks guys. Please excuse the spelling and grammar, posting from my cell.

Adding a little bit of new solder to the joint can make it easier to remove the old solder. I also tend to use solder-wick, that stuff is very helpful some times.

Radio shack desoldering irons have NO temperature control. They just keep getting hotter, which is nice if you have some monster joint that's basically soldering down a heatsink to a solid bit of copper, but less good if you're trying to desolder normal joints on normal boards. They CAN do the job, but you have to be super careful that you don't over-heat them (and the traces).
 
I love my $11 Rat Shack desoldering iron.

Yes, it gets hot. But as long as you're quick with the bulb, there's no reason to be overly concerned about frying a trace or component. If you're overly concerned about that, then keep a wet sponge nearby to shock the iron down to a more manageable temperature if it's been sitting on for a while.

Personally I use mine for 90% cap change work. Works great for pulling all the old solder off. Most times I have to hold the cap from the parts side of the PCB otherwise I risk the cap falling right out when I desolder the 2nd leg. Works great!
 
I've always had good luck with the RS desolder iron. It works very quickly and is many, many times better than desoldering braid.
 
Th desoldering irons from radioshack work fine. Just put the iron on the joint long enough to melt it and suction it up. I tend to apply a bit of solder to get older, dirty joints to melt.
 
+1 for this gadget - I've used it to take out old chips just recently. Not for super small work, like modern electronics with SMDs, etc. I also found it helpful to add a touch of new solder to 30 year old stuff.

That said, I have no real reason to own a $400 kind of desoldering station. If you've got the money, or are going to do a lot of work, I understand they are super.
 
Desoldering Iron VS Desoldering Braid

I've always had good luck with the RS desolder iron. It works very quickly and is many, many times better than desoldering braid.

To piggy-back the thread a bit, this was going to be my question. Does anybody use desoldering braid rather than a desoldering iron? What are the plus/minuses?

I've never desoldered or soldered, but I'm a week away from doing my first cap kit (DK Junior amp board) and was curious to what I should buy (keeping in mind I plan on buying the cheap version of either from Radio Shack).
 
I recently bought a new pace station which cost 2K. I also bought another identical one off ebay for $300 and it works perfectly. I would suggest buying a used name brand unit vs a cheap knockoff. The main reason is the availability of consumables. For the same reason stay away from the older model name brand units because stuff like heating elements and such may be discontinued.
 
To piggy-back the thread a bit, this was going to be my question. Does anybody use desoldering braid rather than a desoldering iron? What are the plus/minuses?

I've never desoldered or soldered, but I'm a week away from doing my first cap kit (DK Junior amp board) and was curious to what I should buy (keeping in mind I plan on buying the cheap version of either from Radio Shack).
I think it comes down to personal preference. I've used both but really struggled to get along with a desoldering iron. Switched to desoldering braid and have never looked back. Place braid over solder, press on with hot iron, stand by while the braid just sucks it all up.
 
I have used just about all of the cheap items (braid (don't use the Radio Shack stuff, it is too thick and sucks up too much heat), solder suckers, RS desoldering iron, this kind of desoldering iron (link)) and just bought a Blackjack 4000 desoldering station.

There is no comparison, the desoldering station wins hands down. In the long run, it probably would have been cheaper to have just bought the Blackjack in the first place. Solder suckers last about 6 months. The RS desolder irons last a little longer, but are really likely to burn the traces off the board if you are not super careful. The desoldering iron with the solder sucker built in lasted about 3 months and was a pain in the A$$ to keep clean.

If I had bought the desoldering station in the first place, I would have saved myself a lot of grief and probably a few buck overall.

ken
 
I use braid and a solder gun on big stuff. It really requires too much heat to be used on ic's and such. It can be done sure but why risk delaminating the board. If you dont like or cant afford a dedicated desoldering station then I would recommend a good old fashioned soldapullit. They work great and are cheap.
 
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