Soldapullt original vs III

[Corey Cohen]

corey cohen
uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ
> On Jan 16, 2017, at 12:35 PM, Jon Elson <elson at pico-systems.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 01/16/2017 06:40 AM, Corey Cohen wrote:
>> 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.
>> 
>> 
> 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

Jon,
I have a hakko FR-300 desoldering gun and a knock off of a hakko station.  Your right about general use of the vacuum pump tools, but I need something I can use when it's not practical to drag my hakko gun around and also when I work on some disk drives where I can't easily get in to change caps but it's a bigger hassle to remove the board (i.e. The lamp amplifier board on a persci drive) 

So I'm hoping someone has some experience using both of these Soldapullt models so I can decide which one to order.  

Thanks,
Cheers,
Corey