I purchased a Weller reflow set

The video shows the overall process pretty well Jan: how is that actually working?  The cube just provides a container over the part but not a seal so it could work with larger parts?  Is the vacuum lifter running all the time so you know when its unsoldered when?  How does it avoid lifting other parts that are nearby, e.g. a small decoupling capacitor?  

I assume the process to solder a part is pretty much the same but without the vacuum lifter obviously - it would be interesting to see you desolder that IC back on to the board.

Looks like a neat tool and saves the wand-waving and tweezer pressure I have to do to desolder a part.

Olalaa, many questions, and I only have a sample of one: this video was my first attempt, and it's still the only test I did.

Andrew J said:

Looks like a neat tool and saves the wand-waving and tweezer pressure I have to do to desolder a part.

That. You don't have to wave-and-prodd, then flip the IC off its place. 

Andrew J said:

how is that actually working?  The cube just provides a container over the part

Yes, a very loose box over the IC, but good enough to keep all that heat contained in that area.

Andrew J said:

not a seal so it could work with larger parts?

It's not sealed, but can't be used with larger parts, I think - in a reasonable way.

Andrew J said:

Is the vacuum lifter running all the time so you know when its unsoldered when?

yes, it's a light vacuum - pick-and-place kind of power. The lifter is spring charged. You bring it down, and it sucks on to the IC.
Then there's a little ring that you push down (not a seal, just a visual token). Once the part has been unsoldered and sucked up, you can see that because the ring moved higher up. I don't think this is a critical function. You also see and hear the part being lifted.

Andrew J said:

How does it avoid lifting other parts that are nearby, e.g. a small decoupling capacitor?

The suction cup sits on the IC, and it's lifted by a spring mechanism once it's unsoldered.

Andrew J said:

I assume the process to solder a part is pretty much the same but without the vacuum lifter obviously - it would be interesting to see you desolder that IC back on to the board.

I don't know yet if it 'll help a lot with that. You obviously can't use the pick-up tool, because the IC is supposed to stay on the board :). The little containers may help to keep the heat focused - but then: you don't see what's happening.
I'll only know that part once I tried ...

Yes, sorry, quite a few questions, I was just interested in it.  I shall await further videos.  The vacuum lifter is great: very often I use the hot air gun, get the part desoldered and then right at the last moment a pin gets re-soldered just before I get it out of the way.

Incidentally, is that the official French or Flemish spelling?  We would write Ooh la la! in English. I wonder if culturally it has different meanings as well: 

• Blimey! (the way you use it); 
• Ooh, that's nice;
• Look at you, you flash @£$%@3. 

Take your pick, depending upon context 

all of the above 

Test 2, with a bigger IC and one of the bigger ovens. This was more eventful. Not because of the kit, but because of me, learning while on video.

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RE: I purchased a Weller reflow set

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The editing is very limited. I only cut out those parts where I was walking away from the bench to get different tools. I never cut during the actual performance.
You hear some voice-over, to give some comfort to the people that sit out this video, but that's it. No editing, no sound is omitted.
Bless the ones that manage to finish viewing this .

I should have RTFM first:

Small oven: nozzle. Big oven: no nozzle

I tried to use the ovens on non-IC parts: connectors, transistors, electrolytic caps. Without the lifting mechanism, just put the nozzle on top to concentrate the heat.
After a few seconds, remove the nozzle, and complete the exercise with the air pencil and some tweezers only.

In most cases, it made desoldering faster. With a few SMD plastic connectors, I managed to lift them off fast, before the plastic started to give away - something that fails often when I use an iron or heat gun in isolation.

One thing failed miserably: an SMD electrolyte cap: that one exploded inside the little oven after a few seconds. Definitely not a good match with this desoldering kit.

Action photo:

That's very neat! That video makes it clear how it works. Nice design, using the suction to gently lift up the chip once the heat has reflowed all around the chip,

For the connectors, one idea (I have not tried it) could be to obtain some ceramic paper, and cut a small piece into the shape of the inside of your metal cover, and pierce some holes or cut out notches all around the sides, so that all the heat hits the sides of the connector only. Basicallty the ceramic paper acting like the space shuttle tiles  The ceramic paper is cheap (it's used for art/craft pottery etc). However the suction won't suck up the part, but I guess for a connector the suction won't work all that well anyway, so maybe that's no big issue.

(Just remembered I may have some of that paper, I'll take a look).

I have Kapton tape. It doesn't have the same shielding, but I'll try it anyway ...