[sdiy] Desolder Station?

[Rob B]

Well, the problem is, you don't really gain much for the 1000 times expense
you pay for a *real* desoldering station.. Quite frankly, its more of a pain
in the *ss, just in a different way..

You are faced with a few things that you just cannot escape:

1) removing the solder
2) getting the part out
3) both 1 and 2 can become exponentially more difficult depending on layout,
type of parts on the board, whether you have SMT/BGA or mixed
thru-hole/SMT/BGA boards, heatsinks on board, etc.

If I needed to really *clear* whole boards, this is how I have done it
before, and it was faster than the 4k usd rework station we had..

1) useing a Panavise PCB clamp vise (clamps only the edges), clamp the board
at about a 45 degree angle with the heat gun underneath it, be sure to use a
fairly LARGE heat gun and just move the vise so that you heat the area
around the part, and use forceps to yank the offending parts quickly from
the board, then go back around with a decent priced solder suction gun, (we
used a metcal), and clear the holes of leftover solder.

But, you can also just heat the entire board and just go around quickly
plucking the parts.. But you still have to clear the holes later..

A desolder station just adds steps from what I have seen. I think most ppl
that have used them were fairly unimpressed.. Easier? Yes.. Faster? Depends
exactly what you are doing.. for removal, not really, but for reliable
salvage, sure.

Sometimes its honestly more cost-effective just to scrap it if you need to
do that much removal. We also learned that the hard way, which is why I
ended up experimenting with these methods. :)

Most rework/desolder stations I have worked with were hype.

Rob

aim : cybrgzr0 <--last thing is a number
----- Original Message -----
From: J.D.McEachin <jdm at synthcom.com>
To: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2001 12:16 PM
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Desolder Station?


> At 08:06 AM 9/29/01 -0700, patchell wrote:
> >    This depends...are you attempting to replace parts or salvage parts?
> >
> >    To replace parts, I clip it out of the circuit with wire cutters, if
at all posible (this is generally the case with IC's, resistors, most
capacitors, etc).  I
> >then heat the pads up one at a time and remove the rest of the leads one
at a time.  Then I just use a cheap desolder pump (basically a spring loaded
plunger in a
> >tube), and suck the solder out of each hole.
>
> Chip replacement.  This is EXACTLY how I do things now.  Like I said, I
have A LOT of desoldering to do, and if I use this method, I'm going get
"Nintendo Thumb" from pressing the plunger on the sucker so many times.
>
> I should have been clearer - I'm not interested in wick, bulbs, suckers,
or blowtorches; I want a DESOLDER STATION with a vacuum pump, one that's
dependable, easy to clean, and not the cheapest or most expensive.  I have A
LOT of desoldering to do.
>
> Thanks again,
> JDM
>
> PS Went through the archives and I appreciate the tips on solder and
soldering irons!
>
>