Solder tools wiki

It makes everything easier by removing oxides that build up on PCBs over time, and stopping oxidation during the soldering process. This will make your solder melt, and flow painlessly. Solder pumps and desoldering wicks are used to remove solder from the board.

Either work, and it's up to preference on which you want to use. Pumps are easier to use, but I've yet to find a solid one that doesn't get jammed, or breaks from use.

Wick takes more work, but is reliable. A general rule of thumb is to use pumps on big stuff, and wick on small stuff. Tabiger Solder Sucker. MG Chemicals Desoldering Wick. When using either to desolder, especially with desoldering wick, you need to use flux to get the solder flowing.

This isn't always required with a pump, but is always needed when using wick. You really can't go wrong when buying a wire stripper, you can pay for fancy auto-adjustment or a bit better build quality, but generally they all get the job done. Eclipse Tools Wire Stripper. Aven Nitrile gloves are nice to use when soldering to stop flux, or isopropyl alcohol from getting onto your hands.

Can also prevent getting burnt from a hot iron if you accidentally tap it. Isoprobyl alcohol makes cleaning PCBs, and shells very easy. It's non-conductive, evaporates quickly, and gets all the gunk on the board off. A bottle will last you a very long time, and only costs a couple of bucks. It's generally cheaper to go to a pharmacy, or any general retail store Walmart, Meijer, etc to buy this. CHP Cutters. Wiki Content. Explore Wikis Community Central. This creates a vacuum which pulls the melted solder up into the pump.

Most pumps either have replaceable tips or are cheap to begin with, but you can try to reduce the damage by pausing for a moment after melting the solder. Melted solder can harden again quickly. Work with only one terminal at a time. For the greatest efficiency, hold the soldering iron in one hand and keep the desoldering pump ready in the other. Empty the desoldering pump into the trash.

After each use, push the pump down again over a trash can to re-arm it and to clear out the solder. If you leave the old solder inside, it can leak back out as you go to vacuum the next terminal.

Troubleshoot difficult connections. It often takes multiple passes with the soldering iron and pump before the component is free. If you're not making progress after a few tries, try any or all of these adjustments: Apply flux first to help the melted solder flow.

Melt a little new solder to mix in with the old, hardened solder. For through-hole connections, use the tip of the soldering iron to gently wiggle the terminal from side to side.

This breaks the connection to the sides of the hole. Clean the board. You may notice brown resin stuck around the solder pad, since this can melt when heated. You can remove this with a commercial resin cleaner, or scrape it away very carefully with a small, flat-head screwdriver or steel wool. Finish by cleaning the area with a toothbrush dampened with isopropyl alcohol.

Sometimes, the pressure from the iron or pump will shift the solder pad slightly. It should still work as long as the traces connecting the pad to other components are still intact. If the traces are broken, you will need to solder on new ones. Method 2. Choose a braid slightly narrower than the solder pad. Also called a solder wick, this tool is a braid made from fine copper wires.

Choose a braid the same size or smaller than the solder pad on your circuit board, and slightly wider than the tip of your soldering iron. If the braid is too large, it could burn the board or take too long to heat up. Add a little flux to the braid. Most desoldering braids already have powdered flux distributed on the fine copper wires, in order to wick the solder up into the braid.

You can brush a little liquid flux onto the end of the braid as well to make it more effective. Melt on a little more solder onto the terminal. Once you have plugged in and heated your soldering iron, it's helpful to melt a tiny bit of extra soldering wire onto the terminal. Withdraw the iron once you've done this.

Place the desoldering braid on the joint. Place the end of the braid over the terminal you are desoldering. Place the soldering iron over the braid. Let the iron rest on the braid without additional pressure, to avoid pushing the solder pad out of place. Once the solder has melted, the braid should wick it up and absorb it. Hold the braid by the bobbin it is wound around. The braid may get too hot to touch. Try cutting off the end of the braid and using that instead, holding it in place with the soldering iron.

Spool out more braid as needed. The braid will change color as the flux coating is used up and solder is absorbed. Spool out more of the braid and continue on to the next terminal. Even on a through-hole attachment, you may need to remove the solder around the component.

If you plan to reuse the component, keep the braid and soldering iron away from the component to avoid heat damage. Remove the component once cooled. Once all the solder is removed, give the area about thirty seconds to cool, then remove it by hand.

Method 3. Upgrade to a desoldering station. If you see a warehouse full of circuit boards in your future, consider buying a station that includes higher quality versions of a soldering iron and desoldering pump.

The station should allow you to choose a temperature appropriate for each project. This is especially useful when handling surface-mounted circuit boards i. Melt solder with a hot air. The brute force approach with an ordinary heat gun is a fast way to recover a board, but will almost certainly fry your components.

If you want a more accurate approach, you'll need a hot air rework station. This includes a small, high-temperature heat nozzle so you can quickly melt the solder with lower risk to the surrounding components. This expensive, bulky tool is recommended only for people who plan to desolder frequently, and who have some salvage boards to practice on.

Remove small parts with desoldering tweezers. Each pincer on these "tweezers" is actually a soldering iron. Just pinch each pin on a surface-mounted resistor, diode, or other small component to melt the solder.

Melt in a low-temperature solder. A few companies make a special kind of solder that melts at low temperature, sold specifically for desoldering.

When you melt this onto existing solder, it creates an alloy that lowers the melting temperature. This ensures that the solder stays liquid for longer, making it easy to remove using a pump or braid. Detach a line of pins using a wire. If you have a surface-mounted component attached with many pins, desoldering one at a time will be slow and difficult.

Instead, you can melt the solder on one side all at once, and use a fine wire to lift the pins up before the solder hardens again: [17] X Research source Apply flux and new solder across the whole line of pins, melting the old solder together. Use a desoldering braid as described above to remove most of this solder. Strip the end of a fine, enameled copper wire.

Tin this end that is, coat it in a layer of solder. Insert the wire underneath the line of pins, then solder the tinned end to the last pin to fix it to the board. Tug the wire upward while you heat the closest pin with the soldering iron, until the pin detaches. Repeat with each pin. Try not to pull too hard or at too steep an angle. Yes, you can, but it's not as effective.

If you're not careful you might damage the pcb or component by applying too much heat. Not Helpful 3 Helpful Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. If your circuit board is old and grimy, clear grease and dirt off the solder pad with rubbing alcohol before you begin. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. If you're willing to spend more, you can buy a desoldering pump with a heated tip, so you can melt the solder and vacuum it up with one tool. If using this, make sure the tip is no wider than the pad at the desoldering pump.

If the heated tip is too wide, it will burn the board. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Soldering irons are hot! Always be very careful while handling your iron. Helpful 6 Not Helpful 1. The spring loading mechanism of some desoldering pumps occasionally gets loose and launches out of the body of the tool.

Always point the pump's back end away from your face. Helpful 6 Not Helpful 3.