"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

All of the advice given so far regarding the fault, is good stuff. As far
as
solder wick / solder sucker / desoldering stations go, it's horses for
courses. Contrary to what one of the posters said about solder wick "
sucking " ( or not ... ), in my experience, this is only the case when you
either buy cheap, or use the wrong size for the job. Buying cheap at radio
rallies, will just get you old stock, where the flux has gone off, and
then,
it doesn't suck. Using a solder wick with too big a size, with an iron
that's too small tip wise, or power wise, results in insufficient heat
transfer to the joint, and then it doesn't suck.

Well, my desolder braid is cheap and old, and PERHAPS a bit too thick for
the job, but it's worked well recently on similar-sized joints using the
same iron.


A solder sucker is very good for medium sized joints, but there is a real
technique to using one well, and if you use it on a ' poor ' quality
board,
it will readily suck the print off as well as the solder. There is a real
balance between getting enough heat into the joint to melt the solder to a
point where it will stay molten enough to be sucked cleanly off the board,
and not destroying the bonding between the copper and the substrate.

If you do get yourself a solder sucker, get a good one for which all parts
are available - nozzle, neoprene suction washer, circlip ( you'll lose it
! ) etc. Practice a lot on a scrap board to get the heat / time thing
right.
Clean it out regularly, and don't buy cheap !!

Thanks for the advice, have not used one before. Unfortunately where I live
there are very few stores which sell electronic parts and buying one off of
the internet generally costs twice as much when you get done with shipping
and taxes and the like.