Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

[TheLaw]

I'm going to try to do a couple of recaps soon. I already have capacitors coming in for a LAN card recap. (Actually ordered them accidentally. See my thread in "Recapping Motherboards".

There doesn't seem to be a good mid ranged desoldering iron. I'm willing to spend ~$50 for a desoldering iron.

So I saw this desoldering iron at the Shack for $11 and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it? Are the tips replaceable? Is it any good?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...LAID=107592455

Just wondering...

Thanks.

[steve2]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

I used one of those here at home for many years (actually went through 3 of them over the years). I have been using a CSI701 for the last few years. The radio shack works fine and I think the tips were replacable as I went through them. Mainly cause I would unbend legs with it. I just had to order a new one for the CSI cause when I went to unbend a leg, it broke the side of the tip. $12 (included shipping). So , yes, for $11 You will be satisfied with the radio shack.

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Okay cool. I guess I'll go buy it. Not much of a loss if it stinks. I don't remember seeing replacement tips for it...Are they standard tips? Or is it Radio Shack proprietary?

[mathog]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

They work great on double sided PS boards but are worthless on video boards and motherboards.

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

They work great on double sided PS boards but are worthless on video boards and motherboards.

Why so?

[steve2]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

They have the replacement tips at radio shack. Like Mathog said, they don't work good on multi layer boards, but I don't use my CSI for multilayer. I use the solder iron to remove the piece then I put the solder iron on one side of the via and the sucker on the other side and clean the via out. You would have to leave the sucker by itself on the via too long for it to get hot enough to suck out. Would take a chance of ruining the via connections.

[momaka]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

ratdude747 has one too, and as far as I know he was happy with it. This is his thread:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12270

I'm tempted to buy one of those as well. My 30W "gun" style soldering iron (also from Radio Shack) is okay for most jobs, but it tends to struggle quite a bit on motherboards (sometimes I have to hold the iron for more than 10 seconds to clear the vias with a needle - never damaged one, though).

[Trinite]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

I have been using one for a while. Works great for most applications. It does have hard time on thicker, multi-layer PCBs; for those I just use it in combination with a regular soldering iron to push the leads through to the other side.

[mathog]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Why so?

It isn't an explanation, it's an observation - they will not suck solder out of vias on those types of board. At least not the lead free stuff one encounters these days. The most likely factors accounting for the difference are: the smaller diameter of the vias, the plating on the vias, the extra metal layers in the board pulling heat away from the solder, and potentially, some difference in the solder used on these high density boards vs. the solder used on low density ones.

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

So should I just used wick?

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Is a solder sucker good for computer related PCBs? I've heard otherwise...Maybe I should get one.

[mathog]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Is a solder sucker good for computer related PCBs? I've heard otherwise...Maybe I should get one.

It works well on double sided PCBs, like the power supply board on an LCD display.

It does not work well for high density multilayer boards, like motherboards or the video card in an LCD display.

[ben3843100]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

It works well on double sided PCBs, like the power supply board on an LCD display.

It does not work well for high density multilayer boards, like motherboards or the video card in an LCD display.

I have the Radio Shack desoldering iron as well and have found the same to be true. I have used it for a couple weeks now and it worked great on the double sided power supply PCBs I've been working on. I read in another thread that the heat output on these irons (mine is 45 watt) tends to degrade over time, but I haven't used it enough to experience this.

-Ben

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

So what is suggested for multilayer PCBs?

[severach]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Depends on how full the layers are. Simple soldering can be done on most multi layer boards with a 60W-90W regulated iron. On some boards there is so much copper those aren't enough. While it's tempting to use bigger guns like I did with the Weller 8200, that's the wrong way. The gun may be big enough but the solder points may be destroyed before they can fill the copper with enough heat to allow the solder to melt all the way through. Mistakes are easy with a big gun. Working with them isn't.

Preheating with a regulated SMD hot air gun is the right way. Once the part of the board being worked on is up around 70*C and a little flux is added, the copper steals much less heat and the normal size irons remove caps easily. Once you learn the temperature, the parts heated by air are taking almost no damage. The hole melts quickly so takes very little damage.

Hot air allows you to do a lot more work, faster, and with much less damage to the board. I used to dread 10 or more caps on a board. Now it's easy.

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Eh....If only they didn't cost so much. I've removed caps from multilayer boards probably in the worst possible ways...like completely wrong..and they've worked well.

My Weller iron is only 40W max but I think that's plenty hot? 90W seems like a lot...Or am I wrong...

I still don't get it. :p

How about a regular iron and a solder sucker?

[TheLaw]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

So I bought one yesterday. I didn't really get a chance to use it until today.

Here's my thoughts about it.

Pros:


1.) Cheap cheap cheap!

-It's insanely cheap. $11 for a desoldering iron? Excellent. You really can't find too much cheaper.

2.) Decent quality construction.

-RadioShack isn't exactly know for selling the best irons out there, but to be blatantly honest, it really doesn't feel all that cheap. It has a nice rubberized handle. The heating element feels to be of a decent quality metal. Nothing too dodgy.

3.) Replaceable tips.

-I bought a few RadioShack irons back in the day. Unfortunately, I was too dumb to look for ones with replaceable tips. There are plenty of cheap desoldering irons with replaceable tips, but the good thing about getting a Radio Shack one is that it is readily available.

4.) Yup. It desolders.

-I'm in the middle of about 6 projects right now (a little exaggeration). My most recent one is refurbishing the crap amp in a Logitech subwoofer. Not all the parts are in yet so I just desoldered the main filter cap.

Instructions:

Squeeze the red bulb. Place the tip over the lead of the component. The lead of the component willl actually go INSIDE the desoldering tip. Wait a second or two for the solder to turn molten.Then release the red bulb and the solder will be sucked up into the iron. Take the iron off of the joint and forcefully squeeze the bulb so that the solder is ejected back out the tip.

5.) Comes with a stand, albeit a cheap one.

It does in fact come with a stand. It is a super cheap generic, stamped stand, but I am thankful for them actually including one. I've fiddled enough with trying to bend some solid wire into stands over the years.


Cons:

1.) Takes forever to heat up.

-I guess I should have expected this, but it takes a good 5 minutes to get it completely heated up. Once it gets heated up, it does a fairly good job of staying hot, but it still takes forever to heat up. My cheap $40 Weller soldering station takes maybe 1 minutes to get about 3/4 heat.

2.) No power switch.

-Again to be expected for a cheap iron. Since I'm spoiled by my Weller with a convenient power switch, I have the tendency to simply just flick the switch and not actually pull any plugs out. However, now I have to get accustomed to unplugging it after I'm done using it.

3.) Desoldering bulb feels a little loose

The big red bulb that responsible for creating suction seems to be attached a little loosely. A metal ring secures it in place. I may try putting a little silicon sealant around it to see if that can secure it a little better. Be careful though. This bulb is directly attached to the heating element so don't do anything stupid.



Final score. 8.5/10

It's a very decent iron for the price. I don't know how long it will last, but for now, it does a very good job at what it was intended to do. The problems I had with it were pretty minor ones, and most were to be expected from a $11 iron. It's a lot easier than using solder wick, though solder wick does have its advantages. It also winds up being cheaper than solder wick, in the end.

[mathog]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

Take the iron off of the joint and forcefully squeeze the bulb so that the solder is ejected back out the tip.

Best to stick the tip far down in a can before doing that. It tends to eject a fine mist in addition to the main blob. If it is held an inch or two over the can, then emptied, it will likely deposit a field of tiny solder balls on the surrounding work surface.

[ratdude747]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

it always helps to add some fresh solder to each joint before you desolder it. the flux in the new solder helps the old solder melt better.

the other bug is the tips die quick. supposedly there is a weller tip that fits just as well and lasts longer.

otherwise, I find it to be a nice addation to my soldering toolbox.

ps- i already had a thread on this tool:


https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12270

[larrymoencurly]

Re: Any thoughts on the $11 Radio Shack desoldering iron?

I don't know if Radio Shack still sells replacement tips, but the $2 "heavy duty" iron plated tips work better than the regular $1 tips, and some tips have an off-center hole that makes them wear out faster. The part that holds the tip can have molding flash that you may want to break off because it impedes air flow.

This iron can be made to work better, barely good enough to desolder 4-layer boards, if the heat losses are minimized by insulating the area above the tip and cutting the suction tube about 1/2" from the barrel and inserting a piece of silicone rubber tubing there. Some people have replaced the suction bulb with a soldapult plunger or foot-operated bicycle pump (reverse check valve, install an inline filter reservior to catch solder and flux). Others have even turned this tool into a hot air soldering soldering iron by hooking up an aquarium air pump and loosely stuffing some copper braid just above the tip.