Author Topic: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station  (Read 144396 times)

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Offline FrankBuss

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #25 on: November 01, 2013, 10:24:58 am »
I bought the ZD-987 here in Germany for EUR 150 (AUD 218). Looks like it is the same as the ZD-985, but with an additional soldering iron. I don't need the soldering part, because I have an Ersa i-CON, but the shop had just this combined station and was not that expensive. And always good to have some backup.

The desoldering capability is really nice. Was easy to desolder a 64 pin DIP from an old C64 board, and both the board and the chip survived it.
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Offline Kjelt

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #26 on: November 01, 2013, 10:26:35 am »
That seems to work better then my oldschool Weller, although I pimped that one with an external vacuum pump to reach -0.9 bar  8)

Anyway I am surprised to see it works so quick and clean without any pre-work, I usually first refresh the solder with new lead based solder before any attempt of desoldering, am I the only one doing that?  :-\
 

Offline FrankBuss

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #27 on: November 01, 2013, 10:45:28 am »
Anyway I am surprised to see it works so quick and clean without any pre-work, I usually first refresh the solder with new lead based solder before any attempt of desoldering, am I the only one doing that?  :-\
I do this, too, for old electronics, because the old solder doesn't flow that good anymore. But the boards in Dave's video looked just a few years old, which apparently don't need pre-work. And looks like Dave really enjoyed using it. Reminds me when I was a kid, happily salvaging carbon resistors and transistors with a cheap soldering iron from old TVs :)
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Offline Kjelt

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #28 on: November 01, 2013, 10:53:24 am »
Yup Dave is very enthousiastic  :-+ .
A few years ago I was afraid that electronics as a hobby due to the extreme small components and high learning curve was dying out (just as stamp collectors), Dave is making sure it stays around for some years to come  :-+

On topic: if I desolder very small through holes the solder from the other side just does not come through, I sometimes think at that moment it would be nice to revert from vacuum to hot airpressure to blow the solder out of the hole on the other side, bit messy but as long as the hole is clean the job is done. Anyone seen any of that sort of equipment?
 

Offline alanb

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #29 on: November 01, 2013, 11:19:00 am »
The ZD-915 is available in the UK from Amazon at £84.99. The difference appears to be the way the holder is attached to the case and no sponge.
 

Offline PlainName

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #30 on: November 01, 2013, 12:22:56 pm »
... to blow the solder out of the hole on the other side, bit messy but as long as the hole is clean the job is done. Anyone seen any of that sort of equipment?

Denon SC-7000 should do this - flick of a switch changes it from such to blow, so you can use it to rework SMT stuff as well as remove PTH parts.

http://www.denondic.co.jp/en/doc_sc7000z.php
 

Offline greatal

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #31 on: November 01, 2013, 12:54:56 pm »
Hi all
I do make my own disordering station under 15$(10$ for pump and tubing and under 5$ for iron) from a dual aquarium air pump manipulate to do both suction and blow by connecting dual output to one T junction connection and airtight all pump so it sock air from another hole by attach it to hand pump decoder iron with 65w I think so and it work great almost as good as Dave's there is a picture of it, it is not mine disordering station but just the same solution but with smaller pump than mine.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hot-air-soldering-gun-from-a-desoldering-iron-with/
 

Offline RRobot

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #32 on: November 01, 2013, 01:03:25 pm »
And what was the real temperature at the nozzle compared to the setting? Did they use magic solder that changes the melting point depending on where it is?
Sure it is a cheap unit, but from the times you have given, i'd say it's really crap as well.

Huh? I don't understand what you are getting at here.
What times?
Actual tip temperature is a complex issue, and depends on a whole range of factors. Every soldering tool tip temperature will drop when placed on a large thermal mass component. Fact this this iron has more than adequate thermal performance for the job, it is not crap in that department.

For tool tip temperatures, I'm probably going to order a HAKKO FG-100 for 15 bucks off of ebay (I'm guessing its most likely a knock off). Also I've got a Hakko 808 and while its worked great for the last 10 years, the temperature adjustment is not nearly as versatile as the ZD985.
 

Offline arekm

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #33 on: November 01, 2013, 01:11:31 pm »
Does any competition that's worth considering exist in the same price range as ZD985?
 

Offline nmmbeginer

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #34 on: November 01, 2013, 01:58:02 pm »
This looks nice. right now im desoldering every thin with a soldering iron and desoldering braid.
 

Offline Winston

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #35 on: November 01, 2013, 02:19:19 pm »
The moment you said that such things were virtually guaranteed to work out of the box, I suspected you might be jinxing it.
 

Offline synapsis

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #36 on: November 01, 2013, 02:47:06 pm »
I sometimes think at that moment it would be nice to revert from vacuum to hot airpressure to blow the solder out of the hole on the other side, bit messy but as long as the hole is clean the job is done. Anyone seen any of that sort of equipment?

For this sort of thing I heat up the joint and then hit it with a short squirt of canned air. It blows the solder out of the joint and (most) of the time the solder cools before it hits something. I put an old heatsink up to catch the solder on big joints. Of course you have to be careful when shooting molten metal around. Aim down and away.

My Aoyue desoldering station doesn't give me near the same quality cleaned joints as Dave's station. I need to practice on some old boards again.
 

Offline mos6502

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #37 on: November 01, 2013, 03:49:39 pm »
Looks like it works really well. Unfortunately, I can't find one in Europe (or anywhere). The ZD-915 apparently used to be available, but is sold out everywhere.

Anyone know how the Aoyue 474 compares to this?
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Offline Rufus

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #38 on: November 01, 2013, 03:52:59 pm »
Was a pretty friendly board for desoldering. Clean (oxide free) solder, large holes, straight pins.

I would have liked to see:-

The tip temperature measured.

Considering the slow warm up power measurement (on the mains would give enough of a clue) to see if it really is 80W.

Scope the voltage on the not grounded tip.
 

Offline mos6502

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #39 on: November 01, 2013, 03:55:07 pm »
The ZD-915 is available in the UK from Amazon at £84.99. The difference appears to be the way the holder is attached to the case and no sponge.

No, it's not. Only the gun is available.

That price would be really bad, too. For the same price you can get the ZD-917, which includes a 60W soldering iron:

http://www.octamex.de/shop/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=1445
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Offline mos6502

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #40 on: November 01, 2013, 04:02:03 pm »
My Aoyue desoldering station doesn't give me near the same quality cleaned joints as Dave's station. I need to practice on some old boards again.

I've read some Amazon reviews on the Aoyue, and it seems unlike the ZD's, the Aoyue tips aren't tinned. Meaning they're inert to the solder. Is that true? If so, that'd be bad, you wouldn't get a good thermal contact with that.
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Offline grumpydoc

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #41 on: November 01, 2013, 05:13:09 pm »
The ZD-915 is available in the UK from Amazon at £84.99. The difference appears to be the way the holder is attached to the case and no sponge.

No, it's not. Only the gun is available.

That price would be really bad, too. For the same price you can get the ZD-917, which includes a 60W soldering iron:

http://www.octamex.de/shop/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=1445
Somewhat cheaper at CPC http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d00672/desoldering-station/dp/SD0138403?Ntt=SD0138403

I have the Duratool badged one and while it's been very useful it does have a few issues.

The vacuum line was kinked in the pistol grip when I bought it so no suction - it didn't reset itself though like Dave's.

I find the effectiveness varies quite a bit with tip diameter which has to be matched fairly closely to what you're trying to desolder, too large a tip and it doesn't work so well. This is fine except the tips seem to wear out fairly readily. Not a big deal as they're only a quid and a half each but you have to let the iron cool down completely before changing them.

It doesn't, as Dave discovered, do multi-layer boards all that well.

 

Offline mos6502

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #42 on: November 01, 2013, 05:29:36 pm »
I find the effectiveness varies quite a bit with tip diameter which has to be matched fairly closely to what you're trying to desolder, too large a tip and it doesn't work so well. This is fine except the tips seem to wear out fairly readily. Not a big deal as they're only a quid and a half each but you have to let the iron cool down completely before changing them.

I guess I could live with that. Are you saying the tips get eaten away by the solder like cheap soldering iron tips? Any guess on how many hours a tip might last?

It doesn't, as Dave discovered, do multi-layer boards all that well.

What temperature do you use? When I do it with the soldering station and the manual pump, I crank the temp up to 450C on stubborn PCBs. I find it's actually easier on the board to do it hot and quick instead of slow-frying it at a lower temp.
for(;;);
 

Offline grumpydoc

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #43 on: November 01, 2013, 05:43:08 pm »
Quote
I guess I could live with that. Are you saying the tips get eaten away by the solder like cheap soldering iron tips? Any guess on how many hours a tip might last?
Partly but also because wiggling the leads wears the inside of the tip - probably at some point you do wear through any plating and, assuming the tip is copper, it will start to dissolve in the solder.

Quote
What temperature do you use? When I do it with the soldering station and the manual pump, I crank the temp up to 450C on stubborn PCBs. I find it's actually easier on the board to do it hot and quick instead of slow-frying it at a lower temp.
350oC for most jobs, probably would benefit from going a bit higher but I find it becomes easier to lift pads and/or mark the board - probably need to practice a bit more on that one.
 

Offline mos6502

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #44 on: November 01, 2013, 06:07:29 pm »
Thanks for the info. I think I'll wait for them to show up on eBay again. The last price was 56 Euros.

There's also the Hakko 808 that you can get fairly cheaply from the US. Now that's a quality tool, and completely self contained. But it needs a step down transformer in 230V countries.

for(;;);
 

Offline Ericho

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #45 on: November 01, 2013, 06:16:35 pm »
Quote
I've read some Amazon reviews on the Aoyue, and it seems unlike the ZD's, the Aoyue tips aren't tinned. Meaning they're inert to the solder. Is that true? If so, that'd be bad, you wouldn't get a good thermal contact with that.

Yes its true, I have no problem with that, works just fine. I do have a bit of fresh solder in my other hand to add if the pcb is realy old and corroded or with battery acid damadged pcb's

I have like a 1.5mm nozle on there permanently, they last a long time. Can't be bothered to change it all the time, temp controll is good enough.
 

Offline darko31

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #46 on: November 01, 2013, 09:07:53 pm »
I've once desoldered 20-pin molex connector from a motherboard with cheapo 8 bucks soldering iron (also ZD) and a crappy desoldering pump. The most grueling bloody job I've ever done, pretty much destroyed the donor board that didn't work anyway, and did even messier job at desoldering the old molex, wiggling it around, and soldering back the good one. Somehow everything survived, good thing it was a multilayer board, otherwise every pad would been lifted. It's still working happily in my friends PC.

If I had something like this, I would made my life a lot easier, nice test/review/teardown Dave, keep it up!  :-+
 

Offline Lagger

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #47 on: November 01, 2013, 09:19:35 pm »
Hi all

I own a similar model SSD-15 rebadged Lafayette it's around 70Euro on ebay ( i'm in italy ).
Work quite well, cheap plastic but worth it.

 

Offline grumpydoc

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #48 on: November 01, 2013, 09:25:56 pm »
Anyone know if you can use  the Aoyue tips in the ZD-915 - the actual heating element looks very similar.
 

Offline LaurenceW

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Re: EEVblog #542 - ZD985 Desoldering Station
« Reply #49 on: November 01, 2013, 10:05:47 pm »
I've had a BlackJack (nope, me neither) BK6000 soldering station for a couple of years. It has a temp controlled soldering iron, hot air gun and desoldering tool, all in one. You can probably get a breadmaking attachment, too (not sure - haven't looked). It's OK, but has a couple of issues.

The desoldering gun looks identical to the ZD985, with the exception of the cream handle moulding (mine is black, and slightly differently shaped). The replacement desoldering tips include a thin hollow shaft, maybe 60mm long. This fits down through a hole in the heating element, and I guess is in part to transfer the heat to the tip. It also acts as the pipe through which the molten solder is drawn, into the spring-lined reservoir behind.  I find that this narrow tube is VERY prone to blocking. Looks like the end of the tube nearest the reservoir (furthest from the tip) runs cool, and the solder tend to solidify, there. GRR! Much poking with the wire tool (provided), and swearing (not provided). :--

It's still a useful tool, and MUCH better than a soldering-iron-and-bodge, for anything with two or more legs (which is most things...)
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