Good advices for desoldering?

[DarthNuno]

Thanks to all of you for the help on this 

[level42]

Cirquitboard soldering http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHNDa2Wvk8I&feature=fvw

BAAAAD BAD BAD VIDEO ! Ignore this one please. The first one is better. He is heating it for WAY too long on this video. That "bubbling" is really not neccesary. Just see if the solder flows "like water". Once it's settled remove the heat. Not much of an issue on a big resistor and big soldering pad like that, but on IC's this is way too long.

Also, he's adding too much solder.  A good soldering looks like mount Fuji (or like the Atari logo ). No bulbs.

It _is_ true that a soldering should look shiny once done. If it's looking dull you probably moved the leg/component while the solder settled.

[Superully]

hey andré, can i book you for a weekend of "how to repair classic arcade games"? 

[level42]

Yup. Cost is one night of sleep, beer, bbq and lot's of chicks games to play with 

[liquidx]

Any good advice for a good (very good) Solder and more important Desolder Station to buy and where?
Thanks 

For soldering, if you can afford it, I very highly recommend a Metcal station, it's day and night compared to anything else I've ever used.
I have a Metcal SP200 and I'm set for life   ( http://www.okinternational.com/product_soldering/sp200 )

For desoldering, a desolder station with built in pump works best, they're not cheap though.
I have a Xytronics one that isn't bad, but I can pass these things off as professional costs which helps.

Then again, I've never had trouble desoldering with braid and the metcal (the temperature depends on the tip you use, it's automatic) either.

[Etienne MacGyver]

BAAAAD BAD BAD VIDEO ! Ignore this one please.

It's modified  

totally true, it looks like this guy is frying his parts  

[level42]

Actually, it's still very educational if it would say: How NOT to solder

[ombrenoire]

Nuno : when you will find the material you like, you can contact me because i am interested too buy this material for the Daytona USA video board.

Bad Video RAMs CMS on 2 boards 


Sorry for my bad english 


 

[DarthNuno]

Well, maybe this one 



Here's the specs (in French) :

Affichage numérique pour le fer à souder comme pour le fer à dessouder. Stabilité de température : la température de la panne est réglée avec une précision de ±3°C (6°F). Protection contre les crêtes de tension et les pointes de courant : pas d'interférence d'autres appareils grâce à la mise à la terre et la connexion 'zéro cross'. Réglage électronique de la température : température réglable sans remplacement de la panne. Commutateur à vide : la fonction aspiratoire est réglée par un thyristor à commande manuelle, qui se trouve sur la poignée pour des raisons pratiques. Pompe à vide indépendante, assure l'opération en continu sans maintenance. Alimentation isolée : station alimentée par un transformateur 24 VCA haute qualité. Les fers à souder (poignée miniature ergonomique) et à dessouder sont faciles à utiliser, démonter et remplacer. Alimentation : 230 VAC. Élément de chauffe : 60 W/24 VAC. Alimentation pompe à vide : 230 VAC. Température : soudage : 200 - 480°C (400 - 900°F) ; dessoudage : 300 - 450°C (570 - 850°F). Dim : 320 x 250 x 145 mm. Poids : 6,5 kg.

A little bit expensive, but it looks like a great 'all in one' : 309€ (here the link)

There is a build in 'vacuum cleaner', that would be a great help for desoldering 

[Etienne MacGyver]

that "vacuum cleaner" really does the job  thats why i love my PACE

[ombrenoire]

Ouch ! very expansive 
It's a Rolls Royce ?! 



well i continue my search for a good soldering station 

[DarthNuno]

I believe my soldering station is not enough powerful to do a clean job when I'm doing this   

LOL ... I understand now why It's so hard 



...only 15W  I really need something more powerful!

[Superully]

i have to dig up this thread with a solder question:

i need to solder some new capacitors onto a pcb. i can set my soldering station to different temperatures. which temperature (range) do i have to choose so that i'm not cooking the pcb, but have enough temperature to do a nice clean solder job?

come out, you solder experts! 

[level42]

370 degrees.


That's my "all-round" setting.

HOWEVER, not cooking a part has more to do with TIME then temperature.

If you apply the iron too long, you will start to bake/cook/burn. The parts are designed to be able to handle a certain amount of heat, but too long is not good. You'll probably start to burn the tracks sooner than the parts with those oldies though.....

Important:

Tin your iron before any soldering. Re-tin it every once a while during soldering and remove excess solder from the tip (sponge or "flick" it)

Add a little new soldering tin when trying to get the old solderings to flow. The flux in the new soldering will get the old solder running again (the flux in the old solder has dried out/disappeared over the years). If you don't do this, you can keep the hot tip to the old soldering for "ages" but it _won't_ flow, or will flow very late and poorly.

[Superully]

thx andré!

i'll have to get a board from an old vcr (or something similar) first to do some solder testing - don't want to ruin my pcb because of "noob-ness" 

what's the best method to get old capacitors off a board? turn the board on its back, heat the solder joints and suck off the old solder?