removing small blobs of solder

sarabande

sarabande

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I remember seeing a demo by a chap using special tape to 'absorb' solder as it was heated. What's the proper name please ? Or, how else does one remove solder to release a component (in this case a small battery with lugs on it ) please ?


TIA
 
sarabande said:
I remember seeing a demo by a chap using special tape to 'absorb' solder as it was heated. What's the proper name please ? Or, how else does one remove solder to release a component (in this case a small battery with lugs on it ) please ?


TIA
Click to expand...

There are devices known as 'solder suckers' that actually suck the mouton solder of components by suction.

Very useful they are too; Maplin or 'on line' through internet tool shops etc.

Happy de soldering to you :)
 
sarabande said:
I remember seeing a demo by a chap using special tape to 'absorb' solder as it was heated. What's the proper name please ? Or, how else does one remove solder to release a component (in this case a small battery with lugs on it ) please ?


TIA
Click to expand...

Solder sucker is the best tool for the job. Maplin sell them, as do Farnell and everybody else. I used that wicking copper braid years ago, but I don't remember what it's called.
 
What you are looking for is solder flux (resin) impregnated woven copper tape. Sometimes called litze wire or de-solder litze. You can get from places like Maplin or any typical electronics or ham radio shop. À spring load solder sucker may be easier to come by from similar shops. Although this works through suction rather than capillary action, the results are very similar.
 
thanks everyone. Off to Exeter tomorrow in any case so will call in to Maplins.

(BTW, nothing hugely complex, just want to replace toothbrush batteries, but it 's bound to find a use on the boats :) )
 
Or for the professionals they have a soldering iron with flatish tip with a hole in it. This is connected via tubes to a vacuum pump. The solder sucker can pick up blobs of solder if it is melted but a solder wick is most successful. You put the wick on the job and the iron heats through the wick to the solder. As solder is taken into the wick you move on to a new poece of wick. good luck olewill
 
As a some-time professional at this, I generally prefer to use wich than a sucker, but that may be due to the particular things I work on.
I often use two soldering irons, to heat both ends of a component.

One or two tips,
A flux pen often helps the solder flow into the wick.
If the thing your working on is lead free, and you are struggling to desolder it, melt some lead based solder into the joint.
If there is no wick on the bench, multistrand wire or the braid from coax will do, if you've got some flux.
 
As lw395 says, just a length of multi strand copper wire with flux on it will do well to get you out of a jam. Even without flux it will work ok.
 
nigelmercier said:
Not sure if you posted these links to show how ridiculously expensive Maplin is, but this is quite a handy device if you don't have a desoldering station. Here it is at just under half the price of Maplin: http://amzn.to/1z8XtWs,
Click to expand...

Err, can I ask ?

Which pays UK tax ? MAPLIN or Amazon ?

So which company is best to deal with in long run ?
 
Capt Popeye said:
Err, can I ask ?

Which pays UK tax ? MAPLIN or Amazon ?

So which company is best to deal with in long run ?
Click to expand...

That Amazon item is in fact from a small UK company.
Amazon just do the storefront.
Pretty good price for a heated solder sucker.
 
I discovered another method the other day. There's a very low temperature solder that you can blob over SM chips. The ideas is that the solder stays molten long enough to allow all the pins to be melted at the same time. Then mop up the board with the solder wick later. Clever eh?!
 
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