On Jul 2, 2:32*pm, "N_Cook" wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote in message

news




On Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:04:01 -0700, Jeffrey D Angus
wrote:

Peter Wieck wrote:
I use a solder-sucker.

One of these things:
http://www.eclipsetools.com/ProductP...s/900-001N.JPG

Those really suck.

The little rubber bulb squeezy things are inadequate to the amount
of solder to be removed from the terminals.

The rubber also seems to crack and crumble after a few years. *I had
several in my tool/junk box, all of which are now useless.

There are also fancy vacuum-aided devices for which I have never (yet)
had the need, but I hear-tell they are super at what they do.

They work quite well. *I have a Pace desoldering station and a much
cheaper Chinese clone at home. *I still use the solder pump, but for
unsoldering a board full of components, nothing beats the desoldering
machine. *Highly recommended, but not cheap. *Plan on buying some
spare tips and a tip cleaner as they do clog if used often.

For the most part, the vacuum pump desoldering irons are great for
printed circuit board work, but are also inadequate for vintage
equipment desoldering. The primary problem being the small size of
reservoir requires emptying about every 5-6 "normal vintage radio
joint"

It's not the reservoir that fills. *It's the cotton plug inside the
glass cylinder that fills. *However, it's not important as the tip
will clog long before the reservoir fills with dross.

My solution for large parts is a bit more disgusting. *I don't care
about saving the solder or where it lands. *So, I use an air
compressor to *BLOW* the solder off the terminals instead of sucking.
A piece of box cardboard serves as a sacrificial target. *Safety
glasses, gloves, and a long sleeve shirt are quite useful. *Get the
joint hot, and hit it with 120 psi of compressed air and it's
instantly clean. *The dross comes off easily from everything except
plastic and rubber insulated wire, which the dross will melt.

Incidentally, the air compressor technique is also effective for
deslobbering large circuit boards full of useful components. *In the
past, I would insert the board into a bench vice, heat up the solder
side with a propane torch, pull back on the board, and let spring
tension launch the components in the opposite direction. *Kinda messy,
but very easy and effective. *However, some boards simply will not
bend enough to make this method effective. *In addition, the
components near the bench vice usually fail to desolder themselves.
So, I now use a propane torch and air compressor to do the
desoldering. *That works much better, creates a more concentrated
mess, can be performed in any position, but does take somewhat longer.

In addition to the probe technique, I will heat up the terminal,
then wiggle the one lead in particular as it cools off. This gives
me a nice "cold solder joint" and makes it obvious as to which lead
is the one that needs to be gone. I'll use a sharp pair of cutters
to clip the specific loop around the terminal. When reheated again,
the lead usually pulls straight out and the wrapped part falls off.

Yeah, that also works. *I get the same effect with short blast of cold
air from the air compressor. *Instant dross.

Jeff

The other Jeff.

--
Jeff Liebermann * *
150 Felker St #D * *http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann * * AE6KS * *831-336-2558

I like this idea , I'll set my mind to how to get a short burst of
compressed air and give it a go. At the moment thinking of a pumped-up
innertube and a solenoid valve, I doubt full compressed air pressure would
be required for molten solder.
No workshop compressed airline unfortunately.

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list onhttp://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Vacuum generators are shown here
http://www.smcusa.com/sections/products/vacuum.asp
But I think you will need a fair ammount of air , not sure how it
would work with an inner tube, if you have a compressor that will fill
a small tank , it might work for short bursts.
Phil