My Hakko FR-301 has gone from suck to blow

[TimePiloteer]

This damn finnicky Hakko desoldering pump. Fired it up to do a cap kit, and it won't suck. Nozzle is clear, I can get the cleaning tool all the way in. The chamber is clean and has a fresh filter on it.

When I remove the back cover and unplug the hose from the exit hole, I run the unit and it is blowing air instead of sucking it. Anyone seen this?

 

[andrewb]

I have an 808 (the older model), but cleaning is tantamount with these. And not just cleaning the nozzle. I have a post here somewhere about it, but the main thing is cleaning the pump internals. See here for a good breakdown about it. I assume the 301 is similar. You probably have a stuck valve, as flux does get all the way back there, and will gum up the valves. So they need to be cleaned periodically.

http://stevekulpa.net/tools/hakko808-maint01.htm

 

[esqueleto]

You'll have to take the handle apart and look at the diaphragm that actually creates the vacuum. I know on rare occasions flux vapor will actually make its way back to the vacuum input and harden not allowing the flap to open. A wipe around and under the rubber flap with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol fixes it in seconds.

 

[esqueleto]

Yep exactly what Andrew said. He posted while I was typing!

 

[TimePiloteer]

Thanks, cleaning the pump did it. Swabbed the diaphragm with alcohol and it's working now.

 

[andrewb]

Thanks, cleaning the pump did it. Swabbed the diaphragm with alcohol and it's working now.

Cool.

I don't know how different the 301 is from the 808 (I'd assume they kept the same pump design, as it's really well done in the 808). But for the 808, you can quickly access/clean the valves, but you can also go further and get inside the pump diaphragms, and all of the tubing too. Usually they're all covered with flux, so I clean them all with Q-tips and some Goof Off (or 100% acetone). The more you clean while you're in there, the longer you'll go before needing to do it again.

These are awesome tools, they just need a little more periodic maintenance than they really tell you about in detail in the manual, if you use them frequently and want them to stay in top shape (as they will slowly lose vacuum as things get gunked up).

I'm actually at the point with mine where I think I need to replace my valves. They've been cleaned so many times, they're now stained brown and have gotten somewhat stiff (instead of the soft, pliable silicone), and cleaning them doesn't help much anymore. But that took years of daily use, and dozens of cleanings.

Whoever designed these did a really good job, as they can really take a beating and hold up, the materials hold up under the heat and chemicals, and they're designed to be cleaned/maintained and rebuilt when needed. (And you can get all of the parts.)

Good tools rule.

 

[mecha]

I've heard many horror stories of the pumps giving out. I will suspect that's from improper or no cleaning. that plastic box that sits on top of the diaphragm needs to be opened and soaked in rubbing alcohol. mine I can tell when that's due for cleaning when it has a very low pitched BRUUUUUUH sound. I use leaded solder, I would expect that to contribute to its gunk.

I had to replace the blue plastic shells on mine as they were cracking and falling apart. a piece of plastic broke off inside and ripped the old diaphragm and I finally got around to replacing that too.

also dropped it again about a month ago, cracked that black plastic ring that holds the heater element on. that's a special order part for whatever reason, I'm glad I bought 2 last time. last, I bought the holder so now I'm no longer laying it on the table on its side.

 

[Magister]

So, is the 301 better than the 300? I don't own one yet, I just know that sometimes the newer models of things tend to be worse than the older models.

 

[blown23t]

I have a 301 model, and its going strong after about a year so far..

 

[bman7418]

I clean mine every time I finish using it. It's the best time-saving tool I own.

 

[Cmndr Brain]

 

[TimePiloteer]

Good, someone got my Spaceballs reference!

My 301 seems to clog a lot, and I haven't had it that long. It also seems to burn off pads easily, even on lowest temp setting. I'm careful to heat the leg, not the pad, but if I touch a pad at all it seems to just come up. Especially in Atari boards, and on pads that don't have a trace attached. I keep going back to my soldapult and Iron, where I know for certain I won't lift any pads.

I also have this bootleg dk jr board that is toast that I practice my technique on, and sometimes try and harvest chips from. Even with reflow of solder first, the 301 doesn't seem to suck up the top side at all. Maybe it's just this board, and maybe I'm still learning on the 301, but I haven't it to be easy.

 

[parism]

What tip are you using? For my FR300, I use the 1.0 mm for all my work, but I don't do monitor repairs ( I presume you will need a larger diameter tip in that case).

You also need to get the drillbits to declog the tips, those help a lot.

P

 

[mecha]

Good, someone got my Spaceballs reference!

My 301 seems to clog a lot, and I haven't had it that long. It also seems to burn off pads easily, even on lowest temp setting. I'm careful to heat the leg, not the pad, but if I touch a pad at all it seems to just come up. Especially in Atari boards, and on pads that don't have a trace attached. I keep going back to my soldapult and Iron, where I know for certain I won't lift any pads.

I also have this bootleg dk jr board that is toast that I practice my technique on, and sometimes try and harvest chips from. Even with reflow of solder first, the 301 doesn't seem to suck up the top side at all. Maybe it's just this board, and maybe I'm still learning on the 301, but I haven't it to be easy.

I had a lot of problems with clogs initially... it's becoming a problem again cause I have to drill my tips out. (the solder collects on the inner walls, the tip cleaner can't reach that) but years ago when I researched this, someone suggested running it on the 2 setting, as 1 I gather will cause the solder to cool inside faster, which will jam it. 2 I believe is like 700 degrees, or maybe 750.

I've found that higher settings make the solder melt faster, so if you're real good at soldering (which takes lots of practice, and experience from doing it for a long time) you'll be touching the solder joint a lot less this way. whenever I replace .156 headers for instance, you always add new solder first, then I have the next size up tip (don't know if that's 04 or 05 off hand) and it goes right around the pins, melt, suck. works beautifully every time. clearing the solder out vs. heating and fighting to get the pin out will cause substantially less stress on the joints and you'll lift or burn off pads nowhere near as much. sometimes it happens if previous work was done with a super hot iron, or poor build quality ... just inevitable in those cases. so you have to become pretty good at patching too.

in the early days of my FR300, I was using the stock tip and heating/pushing down on the pins... that created a lot of havoc until I had the moment of clarity to get the bigger one.

 

[andrewb]

The tricks to reducing clogging are:

- Don't use the 1.0mm tip. It really isn't necessary for arcade work. Use a 1.6mm instead, which is far easier to clean, and more forgiving. (And it fits DIP chip pins, as well as the bigger header/interconnect pins, without needing to change tips.) It's the one tip to rule them all.

- Use the supplied silver cleaning pin to ream out the barrel after EVERY session. Oxides will build up inside the barrel from just sitting in the air, with the gun hot. But the trick is to clean them out BEFORE they build up, and you'll go much longer between having to do a full teardown.

- Get yourself a 12" long 1/16" drill bit. This is perfect for cleaning the oxide out of the barrel more fully, when you remove the tip. Again, if you do it regularly, you don't need or want to connect it to a drill (as you *don't* want to snap it off in the barrel. Ask me how I know.) The other trick is to clean it with the gun *hot*, and you can do it with just your fingers, slowly twisting the drill bit, and pulling the powdered oxide out, very easily. You can get the whole barrel clean in a couple of minutes.


I've written about this topic before. I repair boards full time, and have used my 808 every day, 12 hours a day, for years now. So I have maintaining it down to a science:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=436320

 

[DogP]

This came with my desoldering gun: https://www.circuitspecialists.com/20178.html ... works great. It's really flexible (more like a springy wire than a drill bit), so it never feels like it might break. I just slide it in and out a few times before turning off the gun.

DogP

 

[Interlock]

So, is the 301 better than the 300? I don't own one yet, I just know that sometimes the newer models of things tend to be worse than the older models.

Definitely an UPGRADE, FR-301 > FR-300

They actually totally stopped making and selling the FR-300 and immediately discontinued it aside from spare parts as well, so it's not like you can really pick and choose (plus why would you want to)

 

[cwilkson]

Get yourself a 12" long 1/16" drill bit.

Jeezus....who makes that? And how do you not break it in a drill?

 

[parism]

I have also broken a drill bit while cleaning the FR300 but I was using a 1.0mm tip so the broken drillbit only took the tip and not the entire barrel assembly... not fun.

 

[joeycuda]

The tricks to reducing clogging are:

- Don't use the 1.0mm tip. It really isn't necessary for arcade work. Use a 1.6mm instead, which is far easier to clean, and more forgiving. (And it fits DIP chip pins, as well as the bigger header/interconnect pins, without needing to change tips.) It's the one tip to rule them all.

- Use the supplied silver cleaning pin to ream out the barrel after EVERY session. Oxides will build up inside the barrel from just sitting in the air, with the gun hot. But the trick is to clean them out BEFORE they build up, and you'll go much longer between having to do a full teardown.

- Get yourself a 12" long 1/16" drill bit. This is perfect for cleaning the oxide out of the barrel more fully, when you remove the tip. Again, if you do it regularly, you don't need or want to connect it to a drill (as you *don't* want to snap it off in the barrel. Ask me how I know.) The other trick is to clean it with the gun *hot*, and you can do it with just your fingers, slowly twisting the drill bit, and pulling the powdered oxide out, very easily. You can get the whole barrel clean in a couple of minutes.


I've written about this topic before. I repair boards full time, and have used my 808 every day, 12 hours a day, for years now. So I have maintaining it down to a science:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=436320

Any recommendation on cheapest place to buy a 1.6mm tip? I need one...