Isn't 'Big Globs of Excess Solder' and Professional World' an oxymoron?
Max.

 

Plumbers flux is typically acid flux and that's a no-no for electronics work. It should be a rosin flux or other non-corrosive flux.

Well that's why I said "where you can thoroughly clean the board" and boy! does it work well

 

Recently I found how to improve using solder sucker (desoldering pump).

dont heat the junction from the side like you normally do, and try to remove solder from the top. That doesnt go well especially with SMD pads. It can be quite a pain.

Heat from the top, and apply the desoldering pump tip sidewards. Quite easy. Then flux, and reheat all pads.

Dont use small soldering irons for desoldering, you need a 50 Watts station with temp Display, and a broad, rectangular tip. That can help to pull off solder or to move it already.

For desoldering, turn up temperature. A large amount of heat for a short time is better than to fry the PCB for minutes.

Forget using point tips for desoldering. these are most unsuitable for almost all soldering jobs, and are prone to damage and oxydization. I can do SOT23, 0805, and TSSOP / TQFP with a broad tip at 50 Watts, easily.

 

I am relatively new to soldering and I am in the process of fixing the PCB of an old guitar effects pedal. I have to remove some of the components. When using a soldering wick should I dip the wick in flux first?

Thx
Adam

The whole point of buying solder wick instead of just stripping a load of braid from old co-ax cables, is that the wick is pre-treated with flux.

My own preference is for the suction pump type solder sucker, but using it is an acquired art - they have a bit of recoil, so they can dislodge the heated track if you're not careful.

 

I only wish I had a solder sucker like the factory quality one I saw in 1973. Separate pump with vacuum reservoir, glass receiver with stainless steel filter, foot pedal operated, and ONE person in charge of it. Our rework girl could replace as many parts as I could put red dots on and I never knew whether I was working on a freshly finished product or one that had been repaired. The equipment and the person running it were that good! If they were as cheap as solder wick, everybody would have one. Meanwhile, practice, practice, practice. It's possible to do a good job with solder wick, but it takes skill.

 

I prefer to use a solder sucker rather than solder wick. Need to hold work piece securely, use good hot iron, melt solder then use sucker to remove solder. Heat pin, joint and give it a wiggle and out they come. Never really had much success with solder wick.

 

I have thought about using a worn out vacuum pump from the Air Conditioning business and attaching it to a 5 gallon portable compressed air tank from Western Auto. A very minimal Freon compressor out of a dead refrigerator would work, too, until the oil in its sump loads up with atmospheric water. The next part is an electrical power switch that works on vacuum instead of pressure. Probably need to build one out of something close to the right thing, but with separate ports for pressure and vacuum. The foot pedal air valve is a standard stock item at Graingers. I am guessing that some commercial solder suckers have a heated, hollow tip that can be powered up to the right temperature and allow air to be sucked through the hot tip. Presto! A dozen different places trying to hack together a top quality solder sucker from seemingly random parts. It could be just the right thing for a person that does a lot of that kind of work.

For now, it's just a pipe dream.

 

if you have trouble getting soloder out of plated through holes, get your self a stainless steel dental pick, the kind with a long slender needle. just melt the solder, and stick the oick through the hole. solder will not stick to stanless.

I use a hypodermic needle for this after grinding off the sharp point. Needles sold for dispensing solder past also work.

 

I have thought about using a worn out vacuum pump from the Air Conditioning business and attaching it to a 5 gallon portable compressed air tank from Western Auto.

Do you think the vacuum would crush that poor little air tank?

 

Fun video!

No crushing doubts here. The portable pressure tanks are designed for maybe 125 PSI of internal pressure, but you don't need 125 PSI of vacuum (LOL) to run a solder sucker. Maybe 10 PSI below atmospheric pressure should do the job nicely. That's also why a worn out vacuum pump would work properly for this job. Originally designed to suck down to micron levels of pressure, even a badly worn vacuum pump can get down to -10 PSIG.

 

Fun video!

No crushing doubts here. The portable pressure tanks are designed for maybe 125 PSI of internal pressure, but you don't need 125 PSI of vacuum (LOL) to run a solder sucker. Maybe 10 PSI below atmospheric pressure should do the job nicely. That's also why a worn out vacuum pump would work properly for this job. Originally designed to suck down to micron levels of pressure, even a badly worn vacuum pump can get down to -10 PSIG.

I have thought about using a worn out vacuum pump from the Air Conditioning business and attaching it to a 5 gallon portable compressed air tank from Western Auto. A very minimal Freon compressor out of a dead refrigerator would work, too, until the oil in its sump loads up with atmospheric water. The next part is an electrical power switch that works on vacuum instead of pressure. Probably need to build one out of something close to the right thing, but with separate ports for pressure and vacuum. The foot pedal air valve is a standard stock item at Graingers. I am guessing that some commercial solder suckers have a heated, hollow tip that can be powered up to the right temperature and allow air to be sucked through the hot tip. Presto! A dozen different places trying to hack together a top quality solder sucker from seemingly random parts. It could be just the right thing for a person that does a lot of that kind of work.

For now, it's just a pipe dream.

Why don't you build it ?????



I think both items have there place .. I have atleast 12 rolls of solder wick which I got off some guy on ebay for $1.50 a piece or something like that.. But I also have a couple solder suckers too.. But find most small solder suckers work pretty good but the bigger one works best for me but it can be a pain to use but I get the results with it ... Solder wick I use mostly after I use the solder sucker to get the last bit of solder and to cleanup the joint for repair .. I just picked up 2 desoldering irons for pretty cheap but they need new bulbs .. Will post up pics later but have to make french toast for my family...

 

Fun video!

No crushing doubts here. The portable pressure tanks are designed for maybe 125 PSI of internal pressure, but you don't need 125 PSI of vacuum (LOL) to run a solder sucker. Maybe 10 PSI below atmospheric pressure should do the job nicely. That's also why a worn out vacuum pump would work properly for this job. Originally designed to suck down to micron levels of pressure, even a badly worn vacuum pump can get down to -10 PSIG.

In that video, the tank was between 12 and 13 psi below atmosphere before the crush happened. Full vacuum is 14.7 psi (1 ATM) below atmosphere.

These guys came to inspect and consult on some tanks where I work.

 

I have thought about using a worn out vacuum pump from the Air Conditioning business and attaching it to a 5 gallon portable compressed air tank from Western Auto. A very minimal Freon compressor out of a dead refrigerator would work, too, until the oil in its sump loads up with atmospheric water. The next part is an electrical power switch that works on vacuum instead of pressure. Probably need to build one out of something close to the right thing, but with separate ports for pressure and vacuum. The foot pedal air valve is a standard stock item at Graingers. I am guessing that some commercial solder suckers have a heated, hollow tip that can be powered up to the right temperature and allow air to be sucked through the hot tip. Presto! A dozen different places trying to hack together a top quality solder sucker from seemingly random parts. It could be just the right thing for a person that does a lot of that kind of work.

For now, it's just a pipe dream.

Some domestic fridges fail by loss of the gas, the compressor may be GWO - very good chance you can get one for only a little effort with a hacksaw.

On that basis, I wouldn't bother hooking up a tank - when the compressor oil is full of solder blobs, just get another one.

 

I prefer to use a solder sucker rather than solder wick. Need to hold work piece securely, use good hot iron, melt solder then use sucker to remove solder. Heat pin, joint and give it a wiggle and out they come. Never really had much success with solder wick.

That's my preference too - as I mentioned in my post on the subject.

Its as well to mention that those have a bit of recoil, it takes a bit of practice to use them without damaging the solder pads.

 

Why don't you build it ?????

Because I don't need one enough to justify the price. This is like going to the scrap metal yard, seeing most of a car, and thinking, "I could build a Batmobile out of that for only $20,000 more and 2 years of my time. Then it could sit in Jay Leno's garage because it wouldn't be legal on the street." I see half the parts to build a solder sucker laying around here and I could build a good one for only $200 or $300 more in the price of parts and a week of my time. So what? I haven't sucked $10 worth of parts out in the last 3 years.

ps, you can't just connect a refrigerator compressor to a suction tube and let it run as hard as it can. The case around the motor will fill up with vacuum and start arcing around the motor windings like Frankensteins Laboratory.

 

Because I don't need one enough to justify the price. This is like going to the scrap metal yard, seeing most of a car, and thinking, "I could build a Batmobile out of that for only $20,000 more and 2 years of my time. Then it could sit in Jay Leno's garage because it wouldn't be legal on the street." I see half the parts to build a solder sucker laying around here and I could build a good one for only $200 or $300 more in the price of parts and a week of my time. So what? I haven't sucked $10 worth of parts out in the last 3 years.

ps, you can't just connect a refrigerator compressor to a suction tube and let it run as hard as it can. The case around the motor will fill up with vacuum and start arcing around the motor windings like Frankensteins Laboratory.

With a compressor butchered from a scrap fridge - the biggest expense is a couple of metres of flexible hose, replacement PTFE nozzles for a solder sucker that you can stick in the end of a hose don't cost much.

Last fridge I had that leaked all its gas, the compressor was used for many experiments - during one winter I coiled the copper pipe on the pressure side and wedged the coil into a portable LPG heater, a carburettor jet hammered into the end of the pipe then produced a thin jet of heated air hot enough to melt solder - I "processed" a couple of tea chests of scrap SMD PCBs, just provide a catch tub and blow the SMD parts into it.

AFAICR; flexing caused one of the pipes to snap off, the motor was still functional when I threw it in the skip.

 

Yeah, compressors are fun. One guy told me I couldn't use one for shop air to blow sawdust and metal shavings off my tools and work bench. I said, "You're probably right. It's been working for 6 years and probably won't last much longer".

Just, please don't let them pull a full vacuum if the case is on the low pressure side. The next thing you will smell is burnt motor windings.

 

Yeah, compressors are fun. One guy told me I couldn't use one for shop air to blow sawdust and metal shavings off my tools and work bench. I said, "You're probably right. It's been working for 6 years and probably won't last much longer".

Just, please don't let them pull a full vacuum if the case is on the low pressure side. The next thing you will smell is burnt motor windings.

I tried to collapse the little CO2 cylinder from a "pocket" MIG welder - it couldn't do it, but didn't burn out either.

 

Because I don't need one enough to justify the price. This is like going to the scrap metal yard, seeing most of a car, and thinking, "I could build a Batmobile out of that for only $20,000 more and 2 years of my time. Then it could sit in Jay Leno's garage because it wouldn't be legal on the street." I see half the parts to build a solder sucker laying around here and I could build a good one for only $200 or $300 more in the price of parts and a week of my time. So what? I haven't sucked $10 worth of parts out in the last 3 years.

ps, you can't just connect a refrigerator compressor to a suction tube and let it run as hard as it can. The case around the motor will fill up with vacuum and start arcing around the motor windings like Frankensteins Laboratory.

Oh OK I have a desoldering iron that needs a new bulb and was thinking it could have help you out with your build but thats cool..

 

I usually drip some liquid flux-like stuff on solder wick if I need to properly wipe clean a joint. But that might be due to the fact that I have crappy solder wick