On Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at 9:25:36 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Wednesday, 17 May 2017 14:02:59 UTC+1, bitrex wrote:
I have a Behringer EQ that has a bad front panel switch. It looks to be
a standard 3 pin SPDT type, surrounded by a metal bracket that holds it
fast to the PCB.

I've been having a lot of difficulty removing it from this PCB with
plated-through holes for replacement; it's resisted all my attempts to
pry it out using an iron/solder sucker or solder wick. I don't own a hot
air station unfortunately - any tips here?

With PTH you need to get lots of heat into the board - removing solder achieves the opposite. Put the sucker & braid away and solder it, then you can heat one pin at a time and bend the board ever so slightly, and slowly walk it out. Yes, it's slow. No, you mustn't overheat anything.


NT

Not a good plan IMO - if it's just a top and bottom conductor board, maybe. But if it's a multi layer I wouldn't try it. That kind of manipulation can cause a detachment of a middle layer conductor that would be tough to solve without a schematic or an identical board to trace out.

But you're correct about heat. When working on multi layer boards that require multiple through the hole pin extraction, I preheat the board to 125C and let it soak 15 minutes. Add some liquid flux and solder removal techniques are usually effective.