On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 23:59:06 GMT, Chris F. wrote:
Can anyone recommend a good used desoldering station? I've been looking
around on places like Ebay, and it seems even used ones can be pretty
expensive. Weller, Pace, and Hakko seem to be the predominant brand names.

I have a Hakko and like it. Picked it up used on eBay relatively cheap
a while ago. Had to get some parts for it, though, as it was not complete.
That probably helped the price.

Flea markets may be better shopping for you, if you're looking for used.
eBay tends to draw higher prices than local, if you can find somebody
selling local that isn't asking eBay prices. Or, if you can find a place
that deals in used gear, they may have a better price than you'll find
on-line, and with the benefit of getting to see the thing before you
buy it.

I basically need something for general electronics - TV's, VCRs, etc.
Something that can easily desolder a 64-pin IC, for example.

They all do one pin at a time...

A friend of mine has some recommendations on:

http://www.marvin3m.com/begin/index.htm

The Xytronic ($100) or MPJA sound like good prices, but the Tenma
($250 on sale) is probably your best bet if you're buying new.

I used the cheap Radio Shack sucker for a few years, and for being a
$15 tool it works pretty well. It's not a _good_ tool, but it's
surprisingly good for what you pay for it.

Whatever you get, remember that it has consumable parts (filters, etc.),
and be sure that you get some spares, and that you'll be able to get
spares in the future. Depending on the design, see if you can get a
spare filter tube for it, so that when it fills up, you can swap in a
fresh one while the full one cools. Emptying out a full, hot, filter
tube while you're working kinda sucks.

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