Ignoramus21405 wrote:
I tried using this heated air gun today. To those not familiar, here's
how it looks:

http://yabe.algebra.com/~ichudov/misc/ebay/Raychem/

(pictured is a similar unit that I sold a long time ago).

It is a FANTASTIC tool for component removal. What it does is it blows
air at 900F, blows away all solder, removing it completely. The
components do not seem to be affected too much. The way I used it was
to blow away solder from all holes, one by one, and then I gently pull
out the component, as if it was never soldered.

It needs a compressor to operate. Which I have:

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/CurtisCompressor/

The only concern I have is a health concern of blowing away hot molten
solder that possibly contains lead, in small caplets. Seems much worse
than plain soldering. I would only use it in a garage.


Seems pretty useless for removing components from a circuit board you'd
like to use again, or at least one where random solder bridges matter.