Where to find desoldering tools in the USA?

[Michael]

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

 

[Rich Webb]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael <mrdarrett@gmail.com>
wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

This http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062731 may
be the least bad cheap option. They also carry the "regular" spring-
loaded suckers.

Look around someplace like http://www.howardelectronics.com/ for some
real stations, though. Good home/hobby/proto-lab stations aren't
terribly expensive and do make the work a lot easier.

--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA

 

[John Larkin]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael
<mrdarrett@gmail.com> wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

John

 

[Adam Di Carlo]

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> writes:

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael
mrdarrett@gmail.com> wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.


Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Seems pricey to me. How about buying a bulb tho?
mouser.com, p/n 384-1002, $2.79.

I have a couple of these and a push-down, and I like the bulb better.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

Agreed tho the bulb is nice for when there's a huge blob of solder to
clean up. Some people prefer the suction, I dunno, maybe I just don't
know how to work the solder sucker right.

--
....Adam Di Carlo...<adam@onshored.com>.......<URL:http://www.onshored.com/>

 

[Michael]

On Apr 30, 12:35 pm, John Larkin
<jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

I'm frugal, plus it sells for the equivalent of $2 outside of the
country...

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

Sounds like a good idea... will look into that.

John

Michael

 

[Michael]

On Apr 30, 2:17 pm, Adam Di Carlo <a...@onshored.com> wrote:

John Larkin <jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> writes:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael
mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Seems pricey to me.  How about buying a bulb tho?
mouser.com, p/n 384-1002, $2.79.

I have a couple of these and a push-down, and I like the bulb better.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

Agreed tho the bulb is nice for when there's a huge blob of solder to
clean up.  Some people prefer the suction, I dunno, maybe I just don't
know how to work the solder sucker right.

--
...Adam Di Carlo...<a...@onshored.com>.......<URL:http://www.onshored.com/

Yeah, my dad has a suction bulb... but he's 75 miles away... thought
I'd shop around at RadioShack or mouser.com, thanks for reminding me.

 

[jfeng@my-deja.com]

On Apr 30, 11:48 am, Michael <mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?
The going price on eBay seems to be US$5-6, including shipping (do a

search on "solder sucker"). Obviously, your need is not very urgent,
or you would have bought it from Fry's while you had the chance (what
is your time and mileage worth to you?).

 

[Michael]

On Apr 30, 2:36 pm, "jf...@my-deja.com" <jf...@my-deja.com> wrote:

On Apr 30, 11:48 am, Michael <mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:> Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

The going price on eBay seems to be US$5-6, including shipping (do a
search on "solder sucker").  Obviously, your need is not very urgent,
or you would have bought it from Fry's while you had the chance (what
is your time and mileage worth to you?).

Not especially urgent... was hoping to desolder a tiny transformer and
capacitor from a dead rechargeable shaver for use in future
experiments.

Fry's was on the way to Roseville last night so I stopped in to take a
peek.

Thanks,

Michael

 

[John Larkin]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:16:46 -0700 (PDT), Michael
<mrdarrett@gmail.com> wrote:

On Apr 30, 12:35 pm, John Larkin
jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?


I'm frugal, plus it sells for the equivalent of $2 outside of the
country...

What does a plane ticket cost?

John

 

[Michael Black]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010, Michael wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

First, you don't need any fancy tools for a lot of desoldering. Most

of them became common after circuit boards became common, where you
needed to clean the holes when removing parts.

If two wires are soldered together, all you have to do is heat up
the joint and then pull them apart. If there is a good mechanical
bond, it may be difficult, but no desoldering tool is going to get
all the solder out, so there will never be a time when you can
just untwist the joint.

Solder suckers are great, for specific uses, and really do have a lot
of suction power. I paid about ten dollars here in Canada over twenty
years ago for mine, it still works fine and it was a good tool to have
around. I actually bought it for one very specific desoldering task,
and having it for that one task was worth buying it for, but of course
I've had it to use for everything else ever since.

I don't find the bulbs particularly great. On the other hand, for
about ten dollars, also twenty years ago, I bought at Radio Shack
a desoldering iron, basically a soldering iron with a bulb attached
to it. That too was a good purchase, it serves in different ways
than the solder sucker, and has the advantage of the bulb attached
to the iron so it is much easier to use than if they were too
separate units. On the other hand, the soldering tip on that unit
was not plated so it wore down fast, and oddly, for some years Radio
Shack did not offer a replacement tip, even though the tip was
replaceable. That later changed.

Solder wick is more for cleaning up joints and holes after parts
have been removed or disconnected. For wires, one can just flick
the heated wire and the solder will fall off, being careful to not
let it land on bare skin, or fly into one's eyes. It can be very
useful when repairing circuit boards, because no matter how good
the suction of a solder sucker, there is often some solder left
in the holes, and if you are putting parts back in, the solder
wick cleans up the holes.

If you're just removing parts to use elsewhere, a solder sucker is good
enough. Even then, if there aren't a lot of leads to the component,
one can just heat up the joints on the circuit board and pull the
component off. If there are more leads, one may have to rock the
component, and of course move the soldering iron around the joints
to get them all heated up. Use something as a lever under an IC,
and one can get 8pin ICs off a circuit board just by heating the
pins in sequence, though that's not so smart if you want to reuse
the board (as when repairing the equipment and putting a new
IC in to replace a failed one). It's doable with 14 or 16pin ICs,
but it gets harder and risker, unless one has a better heat source
to get multiple pins hot at the same time.

Michael

 

[Bob Masta]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:46:07 -0700 (PDT), Michael
<mrdarrett@gmail.com> wrote:

Not especially urgent... was hoping to desolder a tiny transformer and
capacitor from a dead rechargeable shaver for use in future
experiments.

Here's a sneaky trick for stripping parts from
boards (to be used only with adult supervision!):


Cover a suitable area of your benchtop with a
sheet of wood (or whatever) to protect it. Wear
safety goggles. Heat up each solder joint until
it's molten, then SLAP the board onto the
protected benchtop. The solder will be ejected
from the joint and make a little splash spot.

After you've done this to each joint on the
component, use needle-nose pliers to wiggle each
lead from side to side (in case there is some
residual solder holding it to the side of the
hole), then pull the part.

This goes pretty quickly when you are removing
lots of parts from scrap boards. I amassed a nice
collection of expensive and/or hard-to-find (back
then) parts from scrap electronic fuel injection
boards when I was a whippersnapper working for GM
back in the early '70s. Stripped them over my
lunch break, on days when no other guys were in
the room to be annoyed by the loud noise!

Best regards,



Bob Masta

DAQARTA v5.10
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter
Frequency Counter, FREE Signal Generator
Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI
DaqMusic - FREE MUSIC, Forever!
(Some assembly required)
Science (and fun!) with your sound card!

 

[John Larkin]

On Sat, 01 May 2010 12:02:30 GMT, N0Spam@daqarta.com (Bob Masta)
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:46:07 -0700 (PDT), Michael
mrdarrett@gmail.com> wrote:

Not especially urgent... was hoping to desolder a tiny transformer and
capacitor from a dead rechargeable shaver for use in future
experiments.

Here's a sneaky trick for stripping parts from
boards (to be used only with adult supervision!):


Cover a suitable area of your benchtop with a
sheet of wood (or whatever) to protect it. Wear
safety goggles. Heat up each solder joint until
it's molten, then SLAP the board onto the
protected benchtop. The solder will be ejected
from the joint and make a little splash spot.

Use a heat gun or propane torch, and remove lots of parts
simultaneously.

John

 

[Michael]

On Apr 30, 7:14 pm, John Larkin
<jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:16:46 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Apr 30, 12:35 pm, John Larkin
jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

I'm frugal, plus it sells for the equivalent of $2 outside of the
country...

What does a plane ticket cost?

John

Silly... I'd pick one up on my next trip!



Michael

 

[George Herold]

On Apr 30, 3:35 pm, John Larkin
<jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

John

Solder wick for surface mount, but I love my solder sucker for
clearing through holes. It's an OK DP-100. I clean it regularly and
put some vacuum grease on the o-ring. Don't know the price, but I
wouldn't want a cheap one.

George H.

 

[George Herold]

On Apr 30, 5:17 pm, Adam Di Carlo <a...@onshored.com> wrote:

John Larkin <jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> writes:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael
mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Seems pricey to me.  How about buying a bulb tho?
mouser.com, p/n 384-1002, $2.79.

I have a couple of these and a push-down, and I like the bulb better.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

Agreed tho the bulb is nice for when there's a huge blob of solder to
clean up.  Some people prefer the suction, I dunno, maybe I just don't
know how to work the solder sucker right.

--
...Adam Di Carlo...<a...@onshored.com>.......<URL:http://www.onshored.com/

I put my finger over the hole. and 'click' the plunger. It should
stay in place.. if it rises up then I clean it.

George H.

 

[krw@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz]

On Mon, 3 May 2010 09:00:53 -0700 (PDT), George Herold <ggherold@gmail.com>
wrote:

On Apr 30, 3:35 pm, John Larkin
jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

John

Solder wick for surface mount, but I love my solder sucker for
clearing through holes. It's an OK DP-100. I clean it regularly and
put some vacuum grease on the o-ring. Don't know the price, but I
wouldn't want a cheap one.

I prefer solder wick for both, though thru-hole is a little trickier. A
little additional flux works wonders. As far as solder-suckers go, unless
it's vacuum driven, I have no use for it.

 

[T]

In article <k2bmt5h8e697hu5lbmifsgs1m86r48rn3f@4ax.com>,
bbew.ar@mapson.nozirev.ten says...

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael <mrdarrett@gmail.com
wrote:

Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

This http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062731 may
be the least bad cheap option. They also carry the "regular" spring-
loaded suckers.

Look around someplace like http://www.howardelectronics.com/ for some
real stations, though. Good home/hobby/proto-lab stations aren't
terribly expensive and do make the work a lot easier.

I have the RS tool. It's ok but I have a vacuum solder sucker and a
decent iron to heat things up. Much better than the RS unit.

 

[Cydrome Leader]

George Herold <ggherold@gmail.com> wrote:

On Apr 30, 3:35?pm, John Larkin
jjlar...@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:48:31 -0700 (PDT), Michael

mrdarr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Fry's wanted $13 for some push-down suction desoldering device.

Sounds reasonable to me. Why didn't you just buy it?

Anyone know where to get a desoldering sucker for a reasonable price?

Solder wick works better.

John

Solder wick for surface mount, but I love my solder sucker for
clearing through holes. It's an OK DP-100. I clean it regularly and
put some vacuum grease on the o-ring. Don't know the price, but I
wouldn't want a cheap one.

George H.

yeah, the blue OK Industries is sort of the standard for solder suckers. There are
black ones that are ESD safe and conductive or something like that.

I probably got my last one from digikey or allied.