@BobaMosfet I've done solder work and rework on boards with heavy ground planes and power planes. They use a pre-heater to warm the board significantly. I suspect you already know this much. Judging from the picture, a simple switch isn't likely going to be using high temp solder. Probably lead free solder, which IS harder to un-solder and to solder with. But your points are on target. To remove silver solder it takes more heat and more dwell time. Also a good "No-Clean" solder flux is a good choice for soldering. Even water soluble flux is good. Just have to remember to thoroughly wash the board, or the flux will corrode component leads and board traces.

Heated solder suckers are nice. But it's an expense that, personally, I don't see a real need for such a piece of expensive equipment. The ESD Safe solder sucker or solder wick usually do the job.

One other thing I've encountered when scrapping a board - - - sometimes the conformal coating on the board can be really robust and resist giving up their components. I have some control boards out of dish-washers that refuse to give up their components easily. Even large items like relays don't liberate without a fight. But the PCB shown in the picture is a simple push button tactile switch. It's probably a case of poor technique (not suggesting anything negative against the thread starter) and a lead free solder. Those ARE more difficult to remove than simple tin-lead solder.

 

After RE-reviewing the pictures it appears you were removing wires from the board. My technique is to snip the wires off as close to the board as possible, both sides. Thereby limiting the amount of heat that is drawn away from the joint.

 

@BobaMosfet I've done solder work and rework on boards with heavy ground planes and power planes. They use a pre-heater to warm the board significantly. I suspect you already know this much. Judging from the picture, a simple switch isn't likely going to be using high temp solder. Probably lead free solder, which IS harder to un-solder and to solder with. But your points are on target. To remove silver solder it takes more heat and more dwell time. Also a good "No-Clean" solder flux is a good choice for soldering. Even water soluble flux is good. Just have to remember to thoroughly wash the board, or the flux will corrode component leads and board traces.

Heated solder suckers are nice. But it's an expense that, personally, I don't see a real need for such a piece of expensive equipment. The ESD Safe solder sucker or solder wick usually do the job.

One other thing I've encountered when scrapping a board - - - sometimes the conformal coating on the board can be really robust and resist giving up their components. I have some control boards out of dish-washers that refuse to give up their components easily. Even large items like relays don't liberate without a fight. But the PCB shown in the picture is a simple push button tactile switch. It's probably a case of poor technique (not suggesting anything negative against the thread starter) and a lead free solder. Those ARE more difficult to remove than simple tin-lead solder.

My remark was not a statement on you or your abilities. It was for the TP- things to think about, as they sounded unsure as to why it might be difficult to come off.... I deal with silver solder a lot and learned this the hard way when I first started working on a board with a power & ground plain. Part went on, couldn't get it off.

 

@BobaMosfet I've done solder work and rework on boards with heavy ground planes and power planes. They use a pre-heater to warm the board significantly. I suspect you already know this much. Judging from the picture, a simple switch isn't likely going to be using high temp solder. Probably lead free solder, which IS harder to un-solder and to solder with. But your points are on target. To remove silver solder it takes more heat and more dwell time. Also a good "No-Clean" solder flux is a good choice for soldering. Even water soluble flux is good. Just have to remember to thoroughly wash the board, or the flux will corrode component leads and board traces.

Heated solder suckers are nice. But it's an expense that, personally, I don't see a real need for such a piece of expensive equipment. The ESD Safe solder sucker or solder wick usually do the job.

One other thing I've encountered when scrapping a board - - - sometimes the conformal coating on the board can be really robust and resist giving up their components. I have some control boards out of dish-washers that refuse to give up their components easily. Even large items like relays don't liberate without a fight. But the PCB shown in the picture is a simple push button tactile switch. It's probably a case of poor technique (not suggesting anything negative against the thread starter) and a lead free solder. Those ARE more difficult to remove than simple tin-lead solder.

It was my first time trying to solder or desolder anything so operator error is probably 90% of it.
I got a heat gun today and am going to try and warm it up a bit before i continue practicing desoldering the rest.

 

Even with a vacuum desoldering station, I still have to do a lot of prodding, prying, pulling, wiggling, and the occasional iron application to a solder blob on the end of a through-hole part to get it out of the hole. The station speeds up the "desoldering" bit but there is still the get 'er out the hole part to contend with. I have some "soldering tools" that help to pry em loose along with a pair of needle nosers. And sometimes the leg breaks off. Then comes the fun part. Testing and sorting and cleaning and packaging ad infinitum. Even then most of it is junk anyway but hey, I tried. I have lots of parts in storage drawers sorted by type that will probably never be tested and packaged unless I get really really bored for something to do. I do tend to clear out the dips and transistors at least.

 

My remark was not a statement on you or your abilities.

I didn't take it that way. I was only establishing a basis for what I had to say.

It was my first time trying to solder or desolder anything so operator error is probably 90% of it.
I got a heat gun today and am going to try and warm it up a bit before i continue practicing desoldering the rest.

I'm not sure you need that. The point a few of us have attempted to make is that it takes thermal mass and thermal conductivity to make solder flow. Comments such as keeping a clean iron tip and like pre-tinning your solder tip before you try to desolder are a few useful tips in understanding how to (de)solder. Use of a pre-heater is only necessary when the board is large and has large copper planes beneath the surface.

Since you're a beginner perhaps you're not aware of multi-layer boards. I've worked with boards that have had as many as 14 layers of copper. Even some high power inconel cores (heavy metal core that is not copper). Those boards are a bear to solder or to rework. That's when a pre-heater becomes necessary.

As far as my comment about a paint stripper heat gun, that was only for mass stripping of PCB's (Printed Circuit Board). Before I had the heat gun I used a torch. And the wife used to holler like hell about the smell of burning PCB's. It's still possible to burn a board. But with the heat gun it's easier to back away and hold a large area of heat to melt solder without burning the board. Though, I can still burn one if I get too close or hold too long on one area.

My advice: Don't go with the heat gun. Not unless you're a skilled solder technician and have a real need to pre-heat a board before soldering it. An iron with a good tip (larger for bigger jobs, smaller for precise work) will do the job well enough.

 

My advice: Don't go with the heat gun. Not unless you're a skilled solder technician.........

Skilled or not skilled hot air is king in rework (which is what looks to be going on in TS pic)
I love hot air, I use it for everything. The sooner you get started using and learning how to use it the better you'll be.

 

And crinkled aluminum foil is a very good vicar to the king. It doesn't take much to protect a nearby plastic thing from the direct or reflected "blast" of hot air. A little Kapton tape to stabilize it won't leave goo behind.

 

What kind of heat gun did you get?

 

I don't do a lot of rework. My gun is a very inexpensive Wagner HT400. It is called a "heat tool" for things like removing paint and is not temperature controlled. Recently, I used it to replace a 64-pin TQFP chip. As when torch brazing, you have to control the temperature by sight and feel.

My soldering iron is temperature controlled and was an improvement over my previous Weller iron that I still use when I need more heat. If I were doing much rework, I would definitely get a temperature controlled version with an assortment of tips.

 

I just went through this 2 days ago with a 28 pin TSOP. Flux alone didn't work. I put solder paste on the pins and it came right off as soon as the paste melted.

 

Which paste did you use?

 

I use Chipsquik lead free no clean for all my SMT work. Long shelf life too without refrigeration.

 

Chip Quik offers several versions of lead-free solder. One is low melting with bismuth; the other is SAC

https://www.chipquik.com/store/index.php?cPath=460&osCsid=cthfmut6tl7558qgaul9flroo3

Both versions listed above are two part, mix as you need them. It also offers no mix, single component versions:

https://www.chipquik.com/store/index.php?cPath=470&osCsid=cthfmut6tl7558qgaul9flroo3

Bismuth solders can be used to form low-melting allows with lead-free solder to make removal easier.

 

Skilled or not skilled hot air is king in rework (which is what looks to be going on in TS pic)
I love hot air

I'm using a hakko fx-888d with a smallish chisel. I've tried temperatures from 500-750. I'm not worried about ruining this board I just want to learn.

As underlined above; the TS is using an iron. Like you - I think hot air is definitely the way to go when doing rework. Even just plain old surface mount installation. However, the hot air blowing can shift a chip. There's a lot more to learn about hot air than just that it's hot and it melts solder.

From the pictures supplied, it looked like the TS was trying to desolder a wire. That's not as straight forward as some would think. Sure, you heat the joint and pull the wire out. But it takes more heat because the wire is bigger and has a tendency to wick the heat away. But if the TS was trying to remove the tactile switch, hot air would not be the way to go because of the fragile plastic. The right tip, the right solder removal (sucker or wick), technique and temperature all matter. Just jumping directly to hot air is not the way to learn to solder. Otherwise, why not just take a magnifying glass out in the hot sun and pinpoint melt the solder. But then again, you're going to melt the plastic body of that switch.

Hot air is great for removing chips and resistors and such. But for soldering 40 pin devices, my preferred method (Dear TS - you can see this can get complicated), my preferred method is to over solder all the pins, using liberal flux and dragging the solder ball across all the pins once you've properly aligned the chip. The remaining solder bridge(s) at the end of the stroke can be wicked away and reflowed with the right amount of solder added back. And yes, it DOES take practice and technique.

For now, the TS wants to learn how to solder. "Learn". And that's going to take practice and a little guidance. You wouldn't learn how to fly the space shuttle without first knowing how to fly. And you wouldn't learn to solder with a hot air pencil. Or paint stripper.

 

 

For now, the TS wants to learn how to solder. "Learn". And that's going to take practice and a little guidance. You wouldn't learn how to fly the space shuttle without first knowing how to fly. And you wouldn't learn to solder with a hot air pencil. Or paint stripper.

We are learning to solder, all types of soldering tools we are interested in should be used so that we can become familiar with them. I think you're not considering the context of the entire conversation we where having and assuming people where recommending TS to remove the button with hot air or suggesting TS learn to solder with a Hot air device instead of a iron all together?

Spaceships and flying? I dunno bout that....
To me it sounds more like comparing a Flat head to a phillips screw driver. They are both used for screwing things in but they have their own tricks and techniques that need to be learned individually.

Hot air is great for removing chips and resistors and such. But for soldering 40 pin devices, my preferred method ....

Bit off topic now but sure your right for having a preference for the iron in most cases but don't limit yourself because your scared to fly man, dream big! There are many spots where I see hot air can do a easier/better job even on large packages (with light touch up with iron). A common one I use hot air on would be some of the 9s12 144-lqfps. Trying to drag these guys tend to wreck the leads. Will TS ever have the need to do this? I dunno. I guess it mainly comes down to what your projects are. I'm just saying, have it in your tool bag if you do.

..... Still not real sure how we got here considering the original issues TS had was not being able to transfer enough heat to the joint in order to melt the solder, so it was suggested hot air helps in situations like these (similar to a preheater) so even if you never plan to set a large mcu, hot air is amazing for removing components and helping heat the area when your iron alone is not enough. That is why I called it the king of rework which almost always includes removing components..

 

I'm definitely not knocking the use of hot air. Hey! I've used hot air plenty of times. Thousands of components and many many more leads. But for a beginner like the TS, lets first learn to crawl before we walk. Before we run. Before we fly. Yeah, he'll get there, that I'm sure of. But for the child with a flat tire on his bicycle, you're not going to tell him to go grab a Sun Engine Analyzer to patch a small hole. The TS is learning. That's apparent. Our comments on using other methods may be valid from the standpoint of which is better, easier. But the basic understanding of heat transfer is the first most basic part of soldering. Managing that heat is secondary, but a very close secondary requirement. Not enough heat - no flow. Not enough thermal contact - no flow. Too much heat - damaged components. The most basic part of electronics is soldering things together.

I'm all for hot air. I'm all about hot air. I'm FULL of hot air (at times). But the conversation began with

I'm simply trying to learn and practice soldering and desoldering.

 

I'm using Oatey No.5 lead free solder paste flux. Its all they had at Home Depot.

I suspect this is intended for plumbing applications and will be an acid flux which is unsuitable for electronics.

Can you recommend a vacuum pump station? Hopefully they aren't overly expensive.

Depends on what you mean by "overly expensive". I used a spring loaded solder sucker for decades before I got a vacuum remover. Unless I'm salvaging components from a board, I still use the spring loaded solder sucker the most.

I also have a heat gun coming tomorrow, I heard that can help to pre heat the board a bit.

I've never had to use a heat gun to preheat a board.

Sometimes adding solder to a joint makes it easier to remove solder; particularly if the original solder is a no lead type. That's a little counterintuitive, but it works. Adding some flux might also help with heat transfer.