Desoldering station suggestion

[Lucky-Luka]

I'm looking for a desoldering station to easily recover multi pin components from old boards (< 800E).

[caprider]

I’m interesting in this too.

From what I’ve read Aoyue 474A++ is a fair option for about 135€.

I’m curious to know if this a good station and if there are better alternatives in about the same budget.

Cheers!

[Calvin]

Hi,

I´d be cautious! Got a INT2703A 3-in-1 station which also uztilizes a diaphragm pump -in this case to generate air pressure for hot air soldering and vacuum for the desoldering iron and solder fume extractor at once.
Seemingly one of the two diaphragms is pointing towards the vacuum inputs and is stressed overdue by the hot air from the desoldering iron and fume extractor. It becomes stiff and brittle fast.
Eventually the diaphragm develops fissures and the pump can´t build up enough pressure/vacuum any more. Took just about one year of useage for a 350€ station to become crap!
Though it´d be easy to service the pump and replace the diaphragms alone, it seems that You have to source and replace the complete pump and associated filter-tank assembly, which costs almost 40€.
ATM I´m waiting on a reply of the german distributor regarding replacement diaphragms, resp. a complete pump.

regards
Calvin

[caprider]

Yeah, makes a lot of sense to use individual stations for soldering, desoldering and hot air.

That’s why I’m only asking about a desoldering sucker station here.

[pope]

I’m interesting in this too.

From what I’ve read Aoyue 474A++ is a fair option for about 135€.

I’m curious to know if this a good station and if there are better alternatives in about the same budget.

Cheers!

I have a Aoyue 474A++. It's OK if you want to desolder a few components every now and then but if you want to do some heavy work I'd probably look elsewhere.

[LaurentR]

The Hakko FR-301 Desoldering Gun (self contained) is not bad.

If you have a (quite a bit) bigger budget, you can go for a Metcal solution (also needs a compressor as it's a venturi device). I have one of those and it's fast and painless. Only really makes sense if you're already Metcal-equipped.

[TheBay]

I'm really impressed with my Quick 201B.

[metan]

I do own cheap ZD-915 and it have been working quite well for years.

[BrokenYugo]

Something I never see mentioned with these Chinese desoldering stations is the consumables situation, are they all proprietary, or do some use Hakko or similar heaters, tips, etc. that will be available for the foreseeable future?

[edavid]

Something I never see mentioned with these Chinese desoldering stations is the consumables situation, are they all proprietary, or do some use Hakko or similar heaters, tips, etc. that will be available for the foreseeable future?

Hakko is quite aggressive about discontinuing parts for obsolete stations, so I would expect the Chinese parts to be available for longer.  Also, unlike Hakko parts, they're cheap enough that you can afford to stock up ahead of time.

[leftek]

At this budget you can see for high quality and superior support PACE.
I have one PACE desoldering station and i am very satisfied.
I had need two times some information from manufacturer and he response immediately with his knowledge.
If you can pay, buy from serious manufacturer with knowledge to enjoy high quality.

[Ice-Tea]

Got one of these recently:

https://benl.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-stations/1372292

I'm sure it can be traced to the chinese manufacturer but I'm quite happy with it.

[tkamiya]

I would recommend HAKKO solution.  I like it so much I bought a second one.

One great thing about HAKKO model is that parts are available for purchase from Hakko itself, so if anything goes wrong, you can fix it yourself.  For a good quality desoldering solution, it is inexpensive.

[Electro Fan]

Hakko FR-301

or maybe this:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/quick-201b-desoldering-station/

[tooki]

At this budget you can see for high quality and superior support PACE.
I have one PACE desoldering station and i am very satisfied.
I had need two times some information from manufacturer and he response immediately with his knowledge.
If you can pay, buy from serious manufacturer with knowledge to enjoy high quality.

Indeed. Pace is outstanding in this regard.

Here in Switzerland, it took 2 or 3 years for one to show up on the local auction site, but I got a used Pace desoldering station for around $120 shipped (including $50 worth of new tips and filters!) and then $15 of parts got it working and looking like new.

I highly recommend going this route if it isn’t urgent.

[Shock]

I've had a Pace SX 100 handpiece for almost 4 years now and it's been great.

Compared to the Hakko it's smaller, pencil style (which many prefer) and the body just houses the solder trap, so quite lightweight. It costs about $20 to service a worn handpiece which is considerably cheaper than other brands.

The Pace uses a station with built in vacuum pump, certain models can be both foot or handpiece actuated /controlled.

[all_repair]

From what I’ve read Aoyue 474A++ is a fair option for about 135€.
I’m curious to know if this a good station and if there are better alternatives in about the same budget.

I have one.  Is a white dead elephant now, suction power is not there.  I don't know where the design goes wrong, I have tried changing to a stronger pump, still giving me weak suction.  Go for Hakko, I have 4 hakko desoldering stations, but their main unit and accessories are getting more expensive.

Anyone knows how to "solder" back the wire to the heating element of Hakko head?  The joint break off after a while (predetermined cycles== planned failure), I have quite a few faulty heads lying around with this simple fault.

[tooki]

I've had a Pace SX 100 handpiece for almost 4 years now and it's been great.

FYI to anyone buying used: the SX-90 and SX-100 are identical, they’re just minor revisions, so minor that all parts are interchangeable. The SX-80 is identical to those except for the heater, so an SX-80 can easily (and officially) be upgraded to an SX-90 in order to use the improved SX-90 style tips. If you’re buying used, any of these is a fine choice.

The Pace uses a station with built in vacuum pump, certain models can be both foot or handpiece actuated /controlled.

Don't all of them have the pedal connection? (Incidentally, the pedal is a simple switch, so you can do like I did and buy a $10 guitar pedal and change the connector to the 3-pin mini-DIN instead of spending $100 on the official Pace pedal.)

[Shock]

I recall not all of them having foot control (such as the Pace ST-75) but yeah the din socket on the rear is a giveaway. The desoldering handpieces are much the same, it's more a case of figuring out if buying Sensatemp or Intelliheat wired versions.

[Hydron]

Just don't go Weller - I got a _new_ DSX80 handpiece from ebay for a sharp price and built a station using a pump, transformer and weller control PCB that I already had (just had to whip up a DC supply for the pump), but after a few years of hobbyist only (i.e. very low duty cycle) use the sensor inside the iron failed.

I thought I'd just be able to buy a heater/sensor assembly, but it turns out that it's almost the whole damn iron! The only thing you don't buy is the plastic handle and cord basically, and the replacement part is nearly the price of a whole new iron (and about 3x what I paid in the first place). It also seems that these I'm not the first with issues (reports on here about welds breaking etc).

I thankfully managed to fix mine with a sensor I salvaged out of a scrap 50W weller iron (a PT20 RTD, so good luck getting one another way) but it was a massive PITA and I'm not sure how long the fix will last. Had to pick out the ceramic potting, remove the dead sensor. spot weld a wire to the new sensor (one broke off when I salvaged it) and pot it back into the iron. No idea how well my DIY weld will hold up (weld failure is likely what killed the original), so fingers crossed it doesn't just die again soon.

Would go with almost any other brand in the future, the only reason I didn't give up on the weller when it died is due to having some pricey tips, consumables etc already.

[tooki]

I recall not all of them having foot control (such as the Pace ST-75) but yeah the din socket on the rear is a giveaway. The desoldering handpieces are much the same, it's more a case of figuring out if buying Sensatemp or Intelliheat wired versions.

I have an IntelliHeat ST 75 and it has the pedal input. I’m not sure off the top of my head whether the older SensaTemp ST 75 has it, though.

[knave]

I too ...

Sometimes I work with old (70s/80s) boards with (unsocketed) DIP parts, it gets tedious and I'm wary of damaging the traces.

The DIP28/DIP40 parts I need to remove carefully, smaller parts less so.


I am looking at the FR-301 (~$250) and also some of the cheaper options such as https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Desoldering-Station-Anesty-Professional/dp/B07542D82F/

If my main concern is avoiding PCB damage and then adequate performance.

Might the FR-301 suffice?  I have other HAKKO products and generally like them.

I hadn't considered the 201B until reading this thread, it looks good but the cost is quite high.  Metcal and Pace more so.
 

[tooki]

If you do such desoldering often, and you can machine copper, an interesting option is to make giant DIP desoldering tips. Take a block of copper about 1cm thick and the size of the matching IC socket, then either drill a blind hole for each pin, or mill a slot for each row of pins. Then figure out how to attach this to your soldering iron. (For example, for old-style Pace, with simple cylindrical tips, make a copper rod the right size, thread it on the working end, and drill and tap a hole on the copper block.)

The idea is that the block can melt all the pins at once. We had (commercially available) desoldering tips of this style at my old work, and they work superbly. They’re not made anymore, at least not for most soldering irons, hence the DIY instructions.

[Shock]

The Hakko FR301 is one of the heavier handpieces (due to it being an all in one) and has a standard tip range. The stand it comes with is very basic. Consumables and service parts are fairly pricey for what they are but not too bad compared to heater tips. I've not heard any real problems with the latest version of it, should be fine.

Vacuum desoldering I think is the safer method as it allows you to identify all the stuck pins fairly easily and has a relatively low risk of component and pcb damage. Otherwise there is a bunch of ways to go about it, some not as time efficient as others.

[pope]

If you do such desoldering often, and you can machine copper, an interesting option is to make giant DIP desoldering tips. Take a block of copper about 1cm thick and the size of the matching IC socket, then either drill a blind hole for each pin, or mill a slot for each row of pins. Then figure out how to attach this to your soldering iron. (For example, for old-style Pace, with simple cylindrical tips, make a copper rod the right size, thread it on the working end, and drill and tap a hole on the copper block.)

The idea is that the block can melt all the pins at once. We had (commercially available) desoldering tips of this style at my old work, and they work superbly. They’re not made anymore, at least not for most soldering irons, hence the DIY instructions.

Why not use a solder pot in this case? Much less fuss.