On 2008-01-30, Arfa Daily wrote:
My Weller 900 desoldering station, is of exactly the same construction, and
probably similar vintage. It has a vacuum gauge on the front, that reaches a
reading of "-0.6" - so I guess that's 0.4 atmospheres - when it is working
normally. But that's the trick to it. It works extremely well when it *is*
working well. It develops enough suck to be able to hear it 'slurp' up the

Exactly what I heard with the other vacuum pump.

solder from a joint, and will readily remove solder from around IC pins in a
thru' plated hole board - an action that's notoriously difficult to achieve.

Did exactly that yesterday, worked fine with the "real" vacuum pump.

But when it's not working well, then man, it's a dog. It requires regular
maintenance of making sure that the hole in the nozzle is clear, using the
proper ream-out tool, every few sucked joints.

I used a sewing needle.

About once a week, I clear out the passage between the tip, and the
solder collection chamber, again using the proper reamer. Once a
month, it will need the chamber cleaning out, and the felt filter at
the rear, just before the vacuum connection point, replacing or
cleaning. Once every couple of months, it will need the front
collection chamber gasket replacing, as the silicon rubber goes
hard. Occasionally, a blob of solder will get past the filter, and
lodge in the vacuum tube. It can get sucked quite a way in, so it's
worth feeling all the way back to the vacuum pump unit, to make sure
that there is nothing in there.

I will check the insides, indeed. I did check suction at the unit's
outlet, there was some, but very little.

About once every 6 months, I clean out the main vacuum passageways. That's
all of the solid pipe stubs that the various flexible pipes plug onto. It
includes the ones at either end of the main flexi to the iron, and also the
ones to the 'flywheel' chamber inside the base station. This also serves as
the holder for the station's own protection filter - which should be
replaced at this time, along with the exhaust filter - and the connection
point for the vacuum gauge. The final one is on the vacuum pump itself.
Despite all of the filters that are in line, all of these vacuum passageways
get clogged with solidified flux residue, which is very sticky like tar, and
needs poking out with a fine screwdriver blade, before finishing off with a
flux solvent. This clogging up of these tubes has a *very* significant
impact on the performance of the unit, and is the difference between the
thing being a pleasure to use, and a royal pain in the arse.

About once a year, I strip out the vacuum pump itself, and clean all of the
passageways, and the little rubber flap valves, which also get coated in
flux residue. Hope this helps you get a handle on how well your Pace
*should* work, as I should think that it is pretty similar to my Weller.

OK. I think that I will try to take time to do that right.

Thanks

i