I've also started reflowing and adding fresh solder before attempting to desolder. Could be better heat transfer, or just easier to suck up a larger blob.

On Jan 16, 2017, at 12:35 PM, Jon Elson <elson at pico-systems.com> wrote: Well, these things work, but if you've ever used a real desoldering station with vacuum pump (or venturi pump) you'll realize how second-rate they are. I routinely desolder things like 68-pin connectors with a Pace desoldering tool. The long-acting suction with a pump makes it work 10X better. The trick, as described in the Pace manuals, is you heat the connection for several seconds, then apply vacuum and orbit the tip so it moves the component pin in the plated through hole. That orbiting gets ALL the solder out of the hole. It is amazingly better than the piston-type solder pullers. There are also units that combine the heated tip with the piston suction unit, and work better, as the joint is kept hot while the solder is pulled out. This is kind of in between the two other types. Jon

So I think I need to upgrade to a real Soldapullt instead of the RadioShack special. Is the slimline III model as good as the original bulky one? I don't mind the xtra pressure to push down the plunger on the original, I'm concerned with the effectiveness and ability to get in tight places my Hakko FR gun can't fit easily or when it's not worth changing tips for a single different component.

On Mon, Jan 16, 2017 at 7:33 PM, dwight <dkelvey at hotmail.com> wrote: I've always had mediocre results at best when using a separate sucker, and good results with a vacuum desoldering station. I use a Hakko 472D-01, and it works beautifully. I've desoldered thousands of connections with it, and have never had any damage to PCBs or components. I have two different size tips for it, and haven't had any issue with the tip tinning. Once the solder melts and you hit the button, it extracts the solder far faster than it can cool, so I've never had any problem with cooling the joint to quickly. Patience is also required. Patience is almost always a good idea, but it's not required with a good vacuum desoldering station. Last fall I installed a DIN 41612 connector on the wrong side of a board, and only discovered that after soldering more than half of the 96 pins. I thought it was going to be a nightmare removing it, but the Hakko made short work of it (less than 5 minutes), and it came out very cleanly. Hakko says that the replacement for the discontinued 472D-01 (110W) is the FR410-03 (140W), and it looks like a nice unit, but it is much more expensive. The FM-204 (70W) would be easier on the budget, but I haven't tried it, so I have no idea whether the reduced wattage would be an issue. Some people may be unaware that with temperature-controlled soldering equipment, more wattage is almost always better. That is NOT true for uncontrolled (or poorly controlled) soldering equipment, such as cheap soldering pencils; with those it's quite possible and easy to damage boards, as a consequence of either too little or too much wattage. Eric