Desolders

Aside from some super brief SMD stuff, I've only ever used the non-powered, spring-loaded solder suckers. Am I missing out?
 
I've got the same de-soldering iron.

My take? Its fine. It's best for when you have, like, *a bunch* of de-soldering to do. Like if you're scavenging components.

But it's bulky, and imprecise. And I don't trust the solenoid in it to like...not burst into flames in my hand. But it's definitely gonna be a bit more rapid-fire than a spring loaded jobbie.

Manual suckers...I've only ever had luck with the sacrificial silicone tipped guys that make a seal around the joint. Bonus points if you can heat from one side and suck from the other. Gotta suck it good.
SMSFTB?
 
I treated myself to purchasing one of these desoldering pumps on Amazon. Has anyone else tried these? I think it’s terrible. Wondering if I’m missing something.

The tips aren’t pointed enough to get into small areas so it is hard to aim and not burn stuff. It also takes too long to melt the solder. And finally, it is messier than just a normal $15 mechanical pump. I’ve switched back to using one of those instead. I thought I was upgrading.

Maybe the $200 ones are better?
Buy once, cry once. I've had my old Pace unit up for sale here for eons with nary a bite. For me it was most useful for DIP opamps and bigger ICs, but I just don't use through hole parts often enough to ever bother to break it out any more. I prefer desoldering braid to manual suckers, by a long shot.
 
after some years of using mechanical suckers and braid, I decided to buy once and cry once. Ended up getting the 301 and couldnt be happier. Through the years, I purchased more and more tips for both the 301 and 888 and eventually built an aluminum block that holds all the tips.

I still use braid and mechanical suckers for certain situations




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I bought mechanical ones from Amazon. 3 for something like $10. They work great. It easily desolders pots and switches, i have a couple of desoldering irons that work by squeezing and releasing the bulb. They take forever to get hot enough and work poorly.
 
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