Good points and nice tricks Wayne and Don. In my case I don't even try to save the part. Parts are cheap, relatively speaking. It is much easier to remove most parts one pin at a time.

Larry N8LP



Don Wilhelm wrote:
Wayne and all,

As you well know, de-soldering lead-free solder jobs is a chore.  My Hakko
808 is often unsuccessful.
My technique is to first suck out as much of the solder that I can, then
re-solder with leaded solder and suck it out again.

If I am not successful after 3 attempt at this, I give up and destroy the
component so it can be removed by heating one lead at a time and use the
stainless steel needle 'trick' to open the holes.  When destroying some
components such as relays, I take great care not to place stress on the
board - keep a clear head about where the pressure points are and use
whatever tools are available - a shortened hacksaw blade, large pliers,
small pliers, diagonal cutters and other similar devices may be used in
combination to get the bits of the device destroyed without damage to the
board.

I look for the straight stainless steel picks at hamfests and try to have at
least 2 of them handy at my workbench at all times, since they tend to get
lost under other items easily.

73,
Don W3FPR

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of wayne burdick
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 12:46 AM
To: Ron D'Eau Claire
Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Re: lead-free solder (plus bonus desoldering primer :)


Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

I wrote, "Lead-free solder melts at a higher temperature than leaded
solder. Higher temperatures mean it's easier
to lift a trace or damage a solder pad if you change a part."
This is certainly true. But it's worse than that. What I should have
said is that it's much harder to get parts off the board *at all* if
they were secured using unleaded solder. It's hard to get even one wire
out of a hole!

In 1999 I wrote about the joys of component removal:

    http://www.kkn.net/archives/html/QRP-L/1999-01/msg00445.html

Everything I said in this piece goes double for lead-free solder  :)

However, I must modify my original Technique #8. Rather than use a
component lead to clean out a solder-filled hole, I use a very thin
stainless-steel "pick" or a toothpick. The solder won't stick to such
tools -- a huge improvement over my original method.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.26/594 - Release Date: 12/20/2006
3:54 PM

_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com


_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

Reply via email to