Recommend a De-soldering station?

[katzcaps]

I was looking at the Hakko 808, X-TRONIC 4000, and a few others. $200 is about the max I would like to spend...

I have a decent soldering station now, and have the Radio Shack bulb/iron, but I am looking for something that works real nifty like the vidies I have watched on the Hakko.

Anyone have any experience with any of these or other De-soldering stations?
I was also looking at the Aoyue 701A+ solder/desolder station which looks really nice.

I would consider purchasing the Aoyue so I could save on space in my shop - one less tool to take up bench space!

Comments/suggestions welcome!

Thanks guys!

[KeriJane]

Re: Recommend a De-soldering station?

Hakko 808 works very well for me.

I also went through various pogo stick and bulb suckers.
The Radio Shack bulb one isn't all that bad but the Hakko is a whole different animal.

A couple of things about the Hakko:

The heat is adjustable and can be set very hot for multi-layer boards.
It has very good suction. This can lift over-heated or poorly adhered circuit traces easily.

It is fairly heavy, so if you aren't comfortable with a heavy power tool like maybe a small cordless drill, it might not be for you.

The tip seems to loosen from time to time. This causes it to go cold. Fortunately, the included tip wrench can be used on a hot iron.

It's a great, useful tool. After using one for awhile, I wouldn't be without it.

[katzcaps]

Re: Recommend a De-soldering station?

Thanks for the info. I hadn't given any thought to the suction lifting circuit traces but I can see that could be an issue. I see certain ones sell on auction sites for $60 & up.

I am considering one of those, but I am always leery of cheaper tools esp. if I can't locate reviews on them.

[Agent24]

Re: Recommend a De-soldering station?

I've used a Den-on tool very similar to the Hakko 808 and while it worked well and I didn't mind the weight, I didn't like how the pump vibrated the tool and hence the tip vibrated too.

Whether it was just a problem on my part from not using a tool like that before or not, I didn't like the vibrations, and I managed to make some marks on the PCB because of it.

If you can afford it, I would say a station-based desoldering tool would be better because then the pump is on the other end of a hose and you can't get vibrations from it in the hand-piece.


That said the Hakko 808 is likely to have better heater power and suction than the Aoyue tools. Of course if you pre-heat tricky stuff first you would probably be OK with either tool.


For reviews check out the Aoyue 474. It's the same as the 701 but without the soldering iron.

[katzcaps]

Re: Recommend a De-soldering station?

Hi Agent,

Thanks for that review. I would most definitely not like the pump/tool vibration either. That seems like really bad design on Den-on's part, especially to house the pump motor in the handle like that.

Also, if you are talking about the SC7000Z, that is a bit pricy for tools of similar design. $395.00? Ouch! The Hakko can be had for half that price! I'm still looking, weighing my options.

The Edsyn stations look very nice, I have watched the vids but $600 for their base model is a wee bit out of my range!

[Agent24]

Re: Recommend a De-soldering station?

Hi Agent,

Thanks for that review. I would most definitely not like the pump/tool vibration either. That seems like really bad design on Den-on's part, especially to house the pump motor in the handle like that.

It's not exactly a bad design - any powered vacuum desoldering tool without a base station is going to have to have the pump inside the hand-piece somewhere.

Also, if you are talking about the SC7000Z, that is a bit pricy for tools of similar design. $395.00? Ouch! The Hakko can be had for half that price! I'm still looking, weighing my options.

I had been using the SC3000 which is pretty much the same thing just older (By a couple of decades or more!) I don't know how it compares to the 808 as I never used one.

Yeah brand new they are quite expensive but they appear on eBay from time to time cheaper



If you want something cheap, the ZhongDi ZD985\987 got a pretty good review here: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/product...-and-teardown/