I know this sounds odd but here is goes. I am a neophyte in the big world of electronics. last week I decided to pull a P.C.B board off my welder and buy a multimeter. i have a little help from a friend with knowledge who tells me the relays might be bad. There are two wires to the solenoid that controls the gas flow(solenoid will not close unless the power to the machine is off). One wire goes to what looks like a wirebound resistor.The other to one of the relays.
First problem is that it seems like there is a clear coat on the back of the board. I dont want to over heat the board but the solder will not melt.
So whats the deal? Am I being a wussy with the soldering iron?

 

It probably has some coating applied to prevent corrosion - http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/protcoat.html

There are several different kinds. You could expeiment with acetone or lacquer thinner to see if they will remove the stuff.

 

Other option is carefully scrape the coating from around the solder joints that are relevent to the part you want to remove.