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| Vacuum desoldering gun vs Hot air station |
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| nctnico:
--- Quote from: wraper on March 22, 2024, 11:29:58 am --- --- Quote from: PurpleAmaranth on March 22, 2024, 03:07:48 am ---Seems like hot air is more versatile, and works just fine for desoldering, so why buy these apparently rather expensive units? --- End quote --- Hot air does not work for large TH parts, nor it should de used on phenolic PCBs (FR2) due to very high chance of causing damage. These are very different tools for very different uses. If the question is which one of two you should get if you must chose only one, then it's a hot air as it's a must for SMD. However hot air has barely any use where desoldering iron is used. --- End quote --- I don't think you can say it like that (except for FR2). I'm using all techniques and it depends on the board and the part which way is the best one. For example: at some point I desoldered a pentium 1 processor with the heatsink stuck on from a 6 layer board. There was no alternative other than hot air (1500W heatgun) to get it off. It just takes carefully heating the board gradually. For reworking multilayer PCBs with lots of copper, a hotplate or pre-heater is an essential tool to make a board suck away the heat at a slower rate. Recently I had to replace a large QFP with thermal pad on a 10 layer board (each layer almost full copper) and with the use of a hotplate (and hot air), this is a quick & easy job to do. So far my experience with solder sucking irons (even with an upgraded vacuum pump) has not been stellar. I have not used mine (Ersa) in ages. I'm using desoldering braid from Chemtronics. Still, the Hakko unit mentioned by J-R looks like it is worth trying but the continuous vacuum system Tooki mentions sounds like the real solution. But likely expensive. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: nctnico on March 23, 2024, 08:16:37 am ---So far my experience with solder sucking irons (even with an upgraded vacuum pump) has not been stellar. I have not used mine (Ersa) in ages. I'm using desoldering braid from Chemtronics. Still, the Hakko unit mentioned by J-R looks like it is worth trying but the continuous vacuum system Tooki mentions sounds like the real solution. But likely expensive. --- End quote --- FYI, I found Ersa’s current vacuum desoldering iron (X tool Vario) to be disappointing, because it’s not reeeeeeeeaaaallly continuous vacuum. For those who haven’t used it: The handpiece has a mechanical valve which is normally closed. The vacuum pump has a pressure sensor and automatically pumps a vacuum, and re-pumps whenever the vacuum is lost, be it by leakage or by pressing the trigger, which opens the valve. So basically, everything behind the nozzle is kept at a vacuum until you press the trigger. The idea is that this creates a big rush of air when you press the trigger. But IMHO it’s just not strong enough, and then it takes a split second before the pump realizes “oh, the vacuum is gone, let me pump again”. And the pump isn’t that strong, so the continuous vacuum it draws is quite anemic. Given its very high cost, I’d expect way, way better. In contrast, the other three brands I’ve used (Weller, Den-On, and Pace) all use more powerful pumps that act directly when you press the trigger, and continue to pump until you let go. In the case of newer Pace gear, the pump is initially overdriven to double voltage for about a half second to create a big initial pulse of vacuum before continuing at normal suction, and the vacuum will always run a minimum of about 2 seconds even if you just tap the trigger briefly. All the name-brand desoldering stations are expensive. Pace’s single-channel desoldering station goes for around $1000, in the middle of the pack price-wise. |
| wraper:
--- Quote from: tooki on March 23, 2024, 12:38:26 pm ---And the pump isn’t that strong, so the continuous vacuum it draws is quite anemic. Given its very high cost, I’d expect way, way better. --- End quote --- I have previous X-tool with CU 100 A vaccum pump. I don't find pump anemic at all. The trick is to preheat boards with heavier copper and let a few seconds for joint to heat up before pressing the vacuum button. If it cannot pull all of the solder out it's not due to lack of sucking force but because solder is not entirely molten in the hole to begin with. Once it sucked solder from the surface, there is no longer good thermal transfer, and strong air flow provides cooling too. So solder in the hole stays solid. In case of failure I apply fresh solder and try again. |
| dorkshoei:
--- Quote from: tooki on March 23, 2024, 12:38:26 pm --- All the name-brand desoldering stations are expensive. Pace’s single-channel desoldering station goes for around $1000, in the middle of the pack price-wise. --- End quote --- I have a Weller WR3000M. I picked it up lightly used for $500. The desoldering pencil is excellent. I tested and the vacuum produced meets the published spec. It replaced an Aoyue that was useless, the pump barely produced any vacuum (measured at the pump output). The Metcal that use dedicated compressed air look nice assuming you have such a setup. Cleaning, replacing consumables (seals) and tinning tip is important but so is good vacuum. The one thing I dislike about Weller is that in the USA they've decided to not sell replacement parts other than consumables. In Europe you can buy a replacement pump, in the USA they require you pay a flat fee exchange for a new unit (obviously you can still order parts from Europe) |
| dorkshoei:
--- Quote from: wraper on March 23, 2024, 01:37:31 pm ---In case of failure I apply fresh solder and try again. --- End quote --- As previously mentioned ground planes can make certain pins on thru-hole challenging. If I can't get vacuum to work after applying fresh solder I'll usually use hot air to heat the last solder remnants and free the component but you have to be careful to avoid board damage |
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