De Soldering

RE: De Soldering

Problemchild — Thu, 21 May 2020 15:38:12 GMT

Hi Mark, good post I too had a unit similar to the Denton it was great actually lasted 20 years or so.

The Duratool unit is about 1/3 the 30 year old price I'd that Denon but not as well built.Ive not had the same problems with the seals but I did find a smear of vasoline helped them.

I too hold down the pistol grip longer than strictly required like Compact does this really does keep the element clear along with a bit of bravery to hold the iron on the joint for a while before squeezing the trigger to make sure that the entire joint is molten

RE: De Soldering

dubbie — Thu, 21 May 2020 14:03:48 GMT

I've only ever used a hand held solder sucker which I have managed with. I still have the original one I purchased when I was 16 (I'm now retired) still with the original plastic end. It's a bit melted now but it still does the job - mostly. I only do pin-throu-hole soldering so thi is fine. One day I might try surface mount components and then I might need something better.

Dubbie

RE: De Soldering

colporteur — Thu, 21 May 2020 12:30:24 GMT

Comprehensive post M. I enjoyed stepping back in my career to the 1980's, with your Pace description. I recall the details, the glass tube, the flexible strip of aluminium like a stick of gum that was housed in the glass tube and I especially recall cleaning the darn thing when the suction didn't work. I completed a repair course with Pace the start of my career in electronics. Things I learned on that course stayed with me my whole career.

RE: De Soldering

msbettyhunt — Thu, 21 May 2020 11:52:25 GMT

Your guidance is really very helpful. Thanks

RE: De Soldering

Problemchild — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 22:37:20 GMT

Hi Mark, good post I too had a unit similar to the Denton it was great actually lasted 20 years or so.

The Duratool unit is about 1/3 the 30 year old price I'd that Denon but not as well built.Ive not had the same problems with the seals but I did find a smear of vasoline helped them.

RE: De Soldering

jw0752 — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 21:36:12 GMT

Hi Again,

I don't know if they ship from the US but this company stocks all the parts for your desoldering station under the brand of Zhongdi ZD985.

http://www.memotronics.com/soldering/?sort=featured&page=2

RE: De Soldering

jw0752 — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 21:26:47 GMT

Hi Mark,

I have a desoldering station that is the same as the one you describe in the last part of your blog. Here are a couple tips I have discovered to make it work better.

I put a light coating of talcum powder on the black front seal so that the chamber doesn't stick to it and pull it out when I remove the solder collection chamber.

I have had the stainless central tube become clogged when solder is drawn in early in the operation. The stainless wires that are provided to clean out the solder do not work well as they do not conduct heat to the clog. I have taken a piece of 14 gauge copper wire and used that to clear the tube. The heat travels down the copper wire and melts the clog making the clearing process quick and easy.

I made quite a few modifications to my unit and I am very pleased with how well it works now.

John

RE: De Soldering

spannerspencer — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 07:46:05 GMT

This is one area I need to be more disciplined in. I'll hold my hand up here, and admit I occasionally use a solder pump, but more often than not I just dig around with the iron until stuff comes free! [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-c980af88-4231-4fb0-b0d6-b4b7578f89ac/contentimage_5F00_2516.png:16:16] Or I melt the solder and bang the board/component on the workbench to remove it.

Really bad habit, but this is actually making me interested in the whole process -- makes me want to do it properly [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-c980af88-4231-4fb0-b0d6-b4b7578f89ac/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16] Good work, as always Mark!

RE: De Soldering

COMPACT — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 07:22:16 GMT

With some tools desoldering is like bricklaying - You need lots of practise before mastering it.

With that said here are some of my surefire hints:

1. Don't use spring loaded desoldering tools - they'll suck up your PCB pads and cause other damage.

2. Add a plentiful supply of solder to the joints you want to desolder to give the vacuum desolderer a blob to suck up.

(If you don't it'll just be sucking in fresh air!!)

3. Use gravity assistance! Suck down towards the Earth or at least suck laterally to not be as affected by gravity.

4. Tune your iron temperature to the lowest possible reliable heat.

5. Clean out the tool often

6. Use a PCB preheater.

I have the very same "2015" desoldering iron as you've mentioned at it works perfectly apart from its noisy fan.

Two methods that don't need much experience are;

2 sided SOICs, SOJs - the cheapest way is to use desoldering tweezers with a suitable tip.

BGAs and 4 sided items - temperature profiled desoldering air tool.

Have a look at my old post for details - It's Alive! Part 016

RE: De Soldering

DAB — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 20:08:43 GMT

Nice post Mark,

You discussion follows my experience as well.

Luckily I seldom do de-soldering anymore, so I mainly rely on solder wick. Though I look forward to giving my new spring loaded solder sucker a try. [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-c980af88-4231-4fb0-b0d6-b4b7578f89ac/contentimage_5F00_3.png:16:16]

DAB