[SiBurning]

I did this today to an msb link dac trying to put a dip socket under the op amps.



It got me thinking how much it would cost to have a bad day like this on an expensive piece of equipment.

So I'm on a quest for a real desoldering iron. Dig that continual heat and suck action. It's rather sexy.

Yes, the board conducts fine as is, although I haven't plugged it in, and won't without a little more work. The capacitors were even harder to replace. Could it be the eutectic solder I just opened today? kester sn63pb37 "44" core. It's thinner than what I've used before. Nah! I'm sure it's just me.

And, yes. I really need to start using flux instead of letting it rot and leak out of the container year after year while I have another pad meltdown.

A desoldering iron isn't the only tool on this quest. Better magnification and maybe a panavise with the king fu gr... err... circuit board holder.

If anyone has experience with some really good desoldering irons or stations, please share. Or just share your... well... misery loves company.

sniff!... sniff! What's that burning?

 

[amb]

Search for Hakko 808. It's spendy, but ultra nice.

 

[SiBurning]

Was looking at the Hakko FM2024-21, but it requires a separate air compressor. I'm already married to a fp-102--it drives me nuts but I love it--and these two work together. Would marry another hakko any day. The 808 looks great, nice vacuum and temps, although I do prefer a pencil type.

Was thinking more like the Xytronic 999SD-A. Just placed a bid for a used one on ebay. Got outbid.

 

[deltaydeltax]

I use this system:
Pace Direct -Conductive Rework Systems

Do you have a plated thru-hole repair kit?

 

[linuxworks]

I've got an 808 that I just got a month or two ago.

it was not too expensive ($150 at frys) but it does not have any variability - only 'full heat' and 'on/off'. maybe that's enough.

 

[rembrant]

I use a digital station from Radioshat. I'm hoping it dies soon. So far, no such luck. I haven't even been able to wear out the tip yet. There is a way to make a hot air station out of the Radioshack desoldering iron. How-To: Make a surface mount soldering iron - Engadget

There are also various instructables on how to make them with a bit of heating coil and some other materials.

I have however found the perfect soldering pad. It is one of those silicon baking sheets from wamart. It even has a ruler delineated edge.

 

[SiBurning]

Repair kit? You mean like eyelets, a drill bit in a hand chuck, thin strips of copper, and crazy glue?

The board's actually okay. I checked with a meter and visually with a loupe. There's a coating on the board that might be interfering with soldering, and might be getting caught in the flux. There's the same fibrous glob in places I didn't solder. It started showing up when I used alcohol and a toothbrush to clean the resin--the whole board turned white in fibroush patters. The alcohol gets it off eventually. sigh! Seems I've been here before, but not like this.

Your Pace looks like a good system. Haven't found much on the internet about Pace. Wish I knew what to ask, but I don't know enough about these things yet. Could you give your experience using it? Like how do you use it, how loud is it, how much you can desolder before changing the filter, whatever? Any other functions you could talk about would be cool too.

Anyone else that's used a good tool or hacked one, please comment. There's plenty of threads where people talk about braid and bulbs, but not a lot there about more solid solutions with good, temperature stable irons. For example, one thing I read is that they're not much use on vintage equipment because they used so much solder you have to change the filter every 6 joints.

 

[deltaydeltax]

Yeah, an eyelet kit. I have this kit in my lab at work:
201-3140 Plated Hole Repair Kit
It has come in pretty handy from time to time. Every now and then, I get one of the EEs coming over with the same story. "Uh, I pulled out the hole..."

The Pace station works pretty well. It comes with a vacuum handpiece and one tip. The chamber it comes with is pretty lousy since it's cardboard. If you pull the documentation for the SX-90 tool, it'll have a list of parts. One of them is a glass chamber. The glass chamber needs to be cleaned out, and the ceramic filter changed periodically. It is far more convenient to clean out the glass chamber than it is to keep reordering cardboard chambers. So, if you go with the SX-90, and this particular Pace station, get the ceramic filters for the glass chamber, and also the larger round ceramic filters for the Pace station air inlet. You'll see what I'm talking about if you check the documents for the station, and SX-90.

If you want to solder with the Pace, I recommend the TD-100 iron. There are dozens and dozens of different tips available for the TD-100. The Intelliheat system is also highly recommended. Provided you keep the tips tinned, the thing works awesome.

I use the Pace tools in an electrical engineering lab. I swap out QFNs, SOICs, QFPs, 0201 and on up to thru-hole passives, and occasionally thru-hole parts. The only thing I'm not setup to change are BGAs. With the Pace tools, I have been successful at tacking a wire onto a BGA ball which the electrical engineer forgot to connect. If you have the right setup, there is just about no task you can't handle.

Pace Direct -Handpieces
Pace Direct -Consumables
Pace Direct -Consumables
Pace Direct -Consumables

 

[SiBurning]

Decided on a Hakko FM204. Like the Hakko 808, it has built-in vacuum, which is a pretty hard to find feature. Unlike the 808, it uses tips with a built-in heater core (which are expensive at $50-60us). This also upgrades me to varying temperatures from 400-840F--my FP102 is stuck at 4 fixed temperatures 650-800F. Will give a mini review once I get a chance to use it.

I looked at other brands, particularly Metcal (I really want one of those), but couldn't find anything with built-in vacuum and the other features I was looking for at the quality and price competitive with Hakko. The Pace ST 75 has vacuum at a competitive price, but I've read a few things online (always a precarious thing to base an opinion on, but) about Pace's reliability that make me hesitate. The Hakko could be better. It could have two ports to solder and desolder at the same time, but I have a second iron.

The DIY route seems like the way to go for this. Maybe all you need to do is hack an existing decent unit to use the desolder tips and plug in a vacuum.

To give you an idea of the crazy tip prices, I got 6 and spent over $250.
N3-13 desoldering nozzle $50
N3-L10 long desoldering nozzle: $60
T15-1001 SOIC tunnel: $42
T15-1401 10mm spatula (suitable size for 8-pin DIP): $83
T15-ILS long conical: $16
T15-DL52 chisel: $16

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltaydeltax /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, an eyelet kit. I have this kit in my lab at work: 201-3140 Plated Hole Repair Kit It has come in pretty handy from time to time. Every now and then, I get one of the EEs coming over with the same story. "Uh, I pulled out the hole..."

Circuitmedic has some really cool stuff, although it's pricey for a hobbyist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rembrant /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have however found the perfect soldering pad. It is one of those silicon baking sheets from wamart. It even has a ruler delineated edge.

Is it safe?

Brilliant! My desk has a plastic laminate surface.

Just make sure to get the right grade silicon. Some is safe to 480F, others are safe to 900F, and some is the cheap stuff coated with the good stuff. I'm definitely getting one.