Bulb desoldering iron or clicker

[Stonent]

While desoldering I've decided that I seem to spend way too much time heating and quickly switching to my clicker sucker. (And in some cases damaging the board)

Most of the time, the solder seems to have hardened in the 1/10th of a second it takes to switch.

When I was a kid, my had had one of the squeeze bulb style irons that seemed to be ok.



However I saw something today that I hadn't seen before which is a heated clicker style.  It's an iron with a clicker plunger integrated.



If you've used them, do the heated clicker style ones work as well as one might expect and/or significantly better than the bulb style?

[Corporate666]

While desoldering I've decided that I seem to spend way too much time heating and quickly switching to my clicker sucker. (And in some cases damaging the board)

Most of the time, the solder seems to have hardened in the 1/10th of a second it takes to switch.

When I was a kid, my had had one of the squeeze bulb style irons that seemed to be ok.



However I saw something today that I hadn't seen before which is a heated clicker style.  It's an iron with a clicker plunger integrated.



If you've used them, do the heated clicker style ones work as well as one might expect and/or significantly better than the bulb style?

I've used both - I prefer the spring-loaded type as far as effectiveness, but I have never ever ever had one that didn't break relatively quickly, usually because the screw-thread in the barrel broke due to the impact shock of the clicker mechanism operating.

[neslekkim]

I have seen Ben Heck use that clicker type, looked nice, but I newer found them myself (ended up with fr-300 instead, but I think that clicker would have worked well enough for the small use)

[ajb]

I had the air pump from a shitty hot air station laying around--the whole front end of the air gun went glowing orange for a bit, which was fun--so I got one of the clickers and 'improved' it.

I say 'improved', because while it's okay on small joints it really doesn't have the heat capacity for continuous sucking for any sort of serious joints.  And really, that's the biggest problem with either of the tools pictured in the OP, both are going to be wimpy compared to a proper iron, so in general I'd prefer a higher capacity iron with a separate sucker to either one of those options.  You also have better visibility of the joint as you're heating it, and with a good quality sucker with a high temperature tolerant tip you can stick it right over the joint with the iron for good, hot sucking action.

[Ian.M]

The problem is, you rapidly need to apply a strong vacuum pulse after the joint has fully melted.   Continuous suction simply cools the bit excessively and vastly increases the risk of clogging.

Done right, you'd need a vacuum reservoir with a volume at least an order of magnitude greater that the internal volume of the solder trap (filter) chamber and all the pipework, + a fast acting high volume solenoid valve to rapidly connect it to the handset, controlled either by a button on the handset or by a foot pedal.  The vacuum pump can either run continuously, or be triggered by a pressure switch monitoring the reservoir vacuum.

I wouldn't give either of the unmodified desoldering irons shown above bench space, as I'd far rather have a normal plunger type solder sucker and a choice of irons to use including a 100W Weller soldering gun.  All the manual desoldering irons I have used have had poor tip life and its a royal PITA keeping them well enough tinned to get good heat transfer to difficult joints.  Its far easier to keep an ordinary iron's bit in good condition. The Teflon tip on a sucker is a consumable item, don't be afraid of letting it touch the soldering iron bit as you press the button, simply trim it smooth if it gets ragged and replace it if it gets too short/wide.

[Shock]

The hybrid pumps are awkward to use, I think you get better control using a manual solder sucker (the spring loaded variety) and a temperature controlled soldering station with a decent tip. You do need to learn how to use them properly (practice PCB) but once proficient it takes only seconds to use.

The advantage of a professional or modded soldering pump is you can manipulate the components lead around and remove solder while heat is still applied, this is something hybrid ones can't do.

Adding fresh solder, flux and using desoldering braid/wick also makes desoldering a lot easier.

[Ian.M]

Its *ESSENTIAL* to keep your plunger type solder sucker well maintained.  Clean out *all* the solder in it, clean and lubricate the plunger seals (usually O rings, but older designs may use a cup shaped lip seal) with light silicone oil. and check that it can hold suction for about 10 seconds (before the plunger reaches the limit of its travel) with a moistened finger sealing the nozzle.

For suckers with a compression spring and the chamber, I cut about 5 or 6 disks from cartridge paper to very closely fit the bore with a hole punched in the middle to fit over the prodder on the plunger, and put them between the spring and the plunger and lightly oil them,  They act as a wiper to keep most of the solder dust away from the O rings and vastly extend the effective operating period between cleanings.   When you clean, discard the top one if solder is badly stuck to it and cut a new set when there are only three left.

Beware of using plunger type suckers on fine tracks/pads on high value boards.  The nozzle always hits the board due to the plunger recoil and can lift a track or pad by pushing it sideways if it is even slightly tilted.   Braid is far better for desoldering small delicate joints, but is too expensive for routine bulk solder removal.