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    #1

    ratshack made a good one for once

    anyway, tomorrow i am teaching my friend to recap a board. however, i was out of braid, and i found out the electronics shop that has good, fluxed braid is closed this weekend. so i had to go to ratshack instead. they have crappy fluxless braid. and worse, only paste flux. ouch.

    i saw that they had a desoldering iron for $11. it was 45 watts... see this image:



    i was expecting it to suck donkey balls, but i was surprised. it did one hell of a good job... i was even able to pull an atx connector off a dead board for another project yet to be posted.

    it isn't grounded... but thats my only complaint.

    it sure aint a hakko eletric one (forgot the number), but for $11, i was impressed.

    comments?
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    #2
    Re: ratshack made a good one for once

    Ratdude
    I have been using mine for about 9 months ,I have no complaints,The tips are low priced also
    Al.
    Whatever I do, I consider it a success, if in the end I am breathing, seeing, feeling and hearing!

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      #3
      Re: ratshack made a good one for once

      I use to use one of these (still have it). Only complaint is the tip falls apart quickly.

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        #4
        Re: ratshack made a good one for once

        I haven't tried a bulb in a long time. I always found they didn't quite cut it vacuum wise.
        I use a standard blue Soldapullt spring loaded unit.
        I'd say if I used it on 5 caps on a board, at least 2 would actually fall out after 1 pass on each lead. the ones that don't fall out need just a fraction of a second of heat and they pull out.
        36 Monitors, 3 TVs, 4 Laptops, 1 motherboard, 1 Printer, 1 iMac, 2 hard drive docks and one IP Phone repaired so far....

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          #5
          Re: ratshack made a good one for once

          i have a pogo sucker as well... it blew an e clip, so i fixed it for good using some bare wire and some solder... its better for bigger amounts...

          the tips are cheap... someone in a review said weller PL111 tips fit it as well.
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            #6
            Re: ratshack made a good one for once

            aww man!

            it died. heater element went open according to my multimeter. it is riveted toether. exchanging it tomorrow
            Last edited by ratdude747; 11-28-2010, 01:04 AM.
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              #7
              Re: ratshack made a good one for once

              Made in China.

              I tried one of those and I hated it.
              It's in a junk drawer somewhere.
              If the bulb was offset 90-degrees instead of in-line it might have been okay but as is it was awkward.
              .
              Mann-Made Global Warming.
              - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
              -
              Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
              - Dr Seuss
              -
              You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
              -

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                #8
                Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                it is made the way it is so you can use it one handed. i liked it.

                tell me... what isn't made in china these days?
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                  #9
                  Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                  Originally posted by ratdude747 View Post
                  it is made the way it is so you can use it one handed. i liked it.
                  I like mine too. Works great on simple double sided boards, not so great on the one high density (video) board I tried it on. Mine is still on the first tip - I wipe it off on one of those bronze shavings tip cleaners after each use. Be careful when blowing solder out of it - it can apparently spray a solder mist quite far sideways, or at least that is where I think all the tiny solder balls came from. In the beginning I emptied it into a little aluminum foil tray, but afterwards found solder balls well beyond the tray. Now I stick the tip down in a glass jar and blow it out in there. A metal coffee can would be better, but we don't have any. Inspect pads after desoldering, I have seen one solder bridge formed. It was just a tiny whisker, but it was there.

                  I have not done so, but I think one could ground it by clamping a wire on the top metal tube next to the sucker. It isn't as hot there, and high temp wire should be able to take the heat.
                  Last edited by mathog; 11-28-2010, 11:30 AM.

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                    #10
                    Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                    Originally posted by ratdude747 View Post
                    tell me... what isn't made in china these days?
                    Reliable products.
                    Mann-Made Global Warming.
                    - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                    -
                    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                    - Dr Seuss
                    -
                    You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                    -

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                      Originally posted by ratdude747 View Post
                      it is made the way it is so you can use it one handed. i liked it.
                      Doesn't work for me.
                      I thought about attaching a foot operated vacuum pump to the where the bulb attaches but got busy with other things and lost interest.
                      .
                      Mann-Made Global Warming.
                      - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                      -
                      Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                      - Dr Seuss
                      -
                      You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                      -

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                        Originally posted by PCBONEZ View Post
                        Reliable products.
                        yeah.. and good luck affording them. since the supply of usa products has gone to virtual zero, the costs have gone up. samxons are chinese and they work fine.

                        the new iron worked well... since it was in the cold garage at my old house, it was no good on a couple joints that were on HUGE ground planes, but it was flawless on everything else. except for large joints and tiny blank holes. it kicks butt.

                        it tires my hands after heavy use to a degree. not too bad... I use my thumb to do the bulb...

                        since all it is a ratshack iron with a fancy tip, i might find a grounded iron with the same tip mount... and if i go with more watts or if i have tip issues, switch to a weller tip.

                        is the fact that it isn't grounded an issue? my normal iron is...
                        Last edited by ratdude747; 11-28-2010, 06:56 PM.
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                          #13
                          Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                          for blowing out the sucked solder, i used my bad caps bin... all the swollen sacons and wendells i pulled off my friends board were good for.

                          i had no solder bridge issues. my method for pulling bad caps with it was to add a little solder to the joint, put the desoldering tip over the lead, sealing the tip on the trace hole. release the bulb, repeat for other lead, pop out the cap. other than two that were in a huge ground plain (i had to do it my old house's cold garage, not my new house's warm basement), the device was flawless. not bad for $11, eh?

                          i noticed that it is a fancy tip in a ratshack iron... if grounding is an issue, i might find an iron with the same tip mount that is grounded and if it becomes an issue, a weller tip.
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                            #14
                            Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                            I'm going to an electronics store tommorow to buy one of these things. I need it for desoldering PCBs attached vertically to main PSU PCBs. Specifically Dell GX240 PSUs. I figure if I suck the solder out, it should come out with ease. Maybe I'll pick up some braid too if they have some.

                            By the way, if you want a free sample of fluxed braid, give these guys a shot:
                            http://www.easybraidco.com/request_sample.php
                            "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

                            -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

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                              #15
                              Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                              iirc there is a good place on ebay that has the good braid dirt cheap... iirc it was 50ft for $10.

                              be sure you add a little solder to the joint before you try to suck it... it helps with the heat transfer.

                              be sure to get the tip lined up with the pcb surface... the seal is what makes it work.

                              if you have no luck getting it to budge, use needle nose pliers to willge each lead free from the hole... sometimes they pop lose when you pull off the daughterboard or whatever you are removing, sometimes you have to mess with each lead individually.
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                                #16
                                Re: ratshack made a good one for once

                                Yes, someone linked to it here in another thread a long while ago. I remember that the shipping to Canada negated the deal for me at the time. Shame.
                                "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

                                -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

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