How to remove leftover solder

[soldering nutt 63]

How do you remove that left over solder from a mother baords cap holes?
Tried many different pointed tools to clean it out & no such luck on some.
Used sucking heated & springloaded ones & wick ribbon.
Nothing works for me!
Thank's for any support please!

[popeye]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

you need a desolder gun like

BK 6000
Aoyue 474A etc

take a look on ebay

[larrymoencurly]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Wick with rosin and a hotter iron, maybe after adding solder to the hole?

[rilski]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Clean the tip of your soldering iron. Just repeat these steps. It should be cleaned w/ the proper use of a wick.

[severach]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Are you trying to clear the holes or clear excess gobs of solder around the holes?

[mockingbird]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

You first need to add a little bit of solder before you wick it away. The flux from the added solder, plus the mixture of lead alloy will help it wick into the braid.

You also need to use 0.50mm or less braid. The thick stuff will sink away too much heat. You can buy around 10 foot for $6.

Buy a $6 60w iron from China. I have one and I've been using it for the past few months, gives those fancy pants Hakko irons with their fancy boxes a run for their money. Make sure to get the 110V mains version, as a lot of them are 220V. I reckon that if you plugged in a 220V iron into a 110V mains, it would work at half the wattage.

[Krendoshazin]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

If the copper of the through-hole joint goes through the entire board, then it's often easier to attack it from both sides. First fill the joint with leaded solder, apply some flux, try to get as much out as you can with solder wick, and then turn the board over and use the wick on the other side of the hole to pick up what's left.

This method usually works out pretty well for me.

[Peter9DO]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Well, when you are soldering or de-soldering make sure you are using some flux. Next it's very easy if you're de-soldering with a de-soldering iron. You don't have to go spend a boat load of money on one. This one works great, and if you live near a Radio Shack you can go pick it up for $11.59. You really can't beat that! Here's the link:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062731

I have used this same de-soldering pump for years and NEVER had a problem with it! Stay away from the pumps that you have to go from the other side of the board. This one really is so much easier because it applies heat and the pump is all in one spot.

[LLLlllou]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Make sure to get the 110V mains version, as a lot of them are 220V. I reckon that if you plugged in a 220V iron into a 110V mains, it would work at half the wattage.

You mean 1/4 the wattage:

220v at 60W = about 800 ohms

110v across 800 ohms = .137 amps

110V times .137 amps = 15 watts

The heating element of a soldering iron is allot like the filament of a bulb, so the resistance will change with temperature, so it won't be exactly 15 watts, but close enough. Definitely too low for motherboard usage.

[severach]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

It's easier to do this formula: P=(V^2)/R. With a constant R, each halving of V quarters P.

[LLLlllou]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

It's easier to do this formula: P=(V^2)/R. With a constant R, each halving of V quarters P.

Yeah, but I did it with retard math.

[SolderTrouble]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Is it really necessary to clear the old solder from the holes? There are 3 posts in another forum thread that discuss an alternative when the old solder is hard to remove:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...?t=8053&page=3

The 3 posts are dated 8/20/2013 through 8/23/2013. The 8/20 was posted by c_hegge, and the other two by me. C_hegge wrote that he's successfully used the technique of heating both holes simultaneously (from the bottom side of the motherboard) to soften the old solder while pushing in the new capacitor (into the top side of the motherboard).

I'd already managed to clear the old solder out of one of the two holes but I'd failed at clearing the solder from the second hole. So I only needed to heat the one hole still clogged while pushing in the new capacitor. This technique worked well, after I learned it helps to trim the new capacitor's leads first so they won't bend while pushing in the capacitor. (If only one hole is clogged, only the lead that will be pushed into the clogged hole needs to be trimmed first.)

Here are my questions:
1. Why bother to try to clean both holes when it's so easy to push in the new capacitor after cleaning only one hole? (While heating the hole that wasn't cleaned.)
2. Why bother to try to clean even one hole if c_hegge's technique works? In other words, how hard is it to master c_hegge's technique of heating both holes simultaneously while pushing in the new capacitor?
3. Are there any tips or techniques anyone can share to maximize the effectiveness (minimize the problems) of c_hegge's technique? In other words, what's the best way to heat two holes simultaneously?
4. Does anyone manufacture a two-pointed soldering iron tip, to apply heat to two holes simultaneously?

[EDIT] Here's a tip I haven't tried... just speculating and seeking comments. When using c_hegge's technique, first trim the leads of the new capacitor to slightly different lengths. Heat the hole of the longer lead and push the capacitor in a little, until the shorter lead is stopped by its hole. Then heat both holes and push the capacitor in the rest of the way. The purpose of this is to make it easier to align the leads with the holes... only one lead will need to be aligned at a time if the leads are trimmed to different lengths.

[EDIT #2] I found another thread that already discusses most of this. See the "Favorite recapping methods" thread in the "Equipment Usage, Soldering, Techniques and Reviews" subsection of the "Electronics Theory and Troubleshooting" section of the forum. That thread is mostly about techniques for removing the old solder... which is less general than the name "Favorite recapping methods" suggests.

[mockingbird]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

1. Why bother to try to clean both holes when it's so easy to push in the new capacitor after cleaning only one hole? (While heating the hole that wasn't cleaned.)

I've since switched to this technique... But it requires a bit of experience, and you have to have a tip that is capable of holding a small blob of solder. Make sure the capacitor is lined up from the top of the board then make short dragging motions between the lead holes on the bottom side of the board and the cap will slide right in.

2. Why bother to try to clean even one hole if c_hegge's technique works? In other words, how hard is it to master c_hegge's technique of heating both holes simultaneously while pushing in the new capacitor?

Because lead-free solder doesn't heat very well. I always wick away as much of the stuff as possible and then fill the hole with leaded solder... Logic dictates of course that there must be enough solder in the holes for this technique to work as the cap leads fromt he top as well as the soldering iron from the bottom must both simultaneously make contact. Often one hole clears well while wicking while the other does not, in this case I only need to heat the one hole and the cap slides right in.

3. Are there any tips or techniques anyone can share to maximize the effectiveness (minimize the problems) of c_hegge's technique? In other words, what's the best way to heat two holes simultaneously?

Here is the technique I use:
1) Apply RA core solder to both leads, heat them both with a short dragging motion and pull out the cap in one motion (A benefit of this is that the cap leads come out cleanly and can be easily reused in the future if applicable)
2) Wick away all the solder I can from lead holes. I use rosin-fluxed wick which is most common, but in the future I intend to use RA wick so that the job looks a lot cleaner at the end because the rosin core residue is extremely difficult to clean completely.
3) Apply enough rosin core flux to the lead holes from the bottom of the board so that they "mound" somewhat slightly.
4) Clean all residue with acetone (Especially important if RA flux is used somewhere in the process)
5) Square up the capacitor leads (In other words, I use cheap sidecutters which flatten the cap leads while cutting. This will cause the pad to rip right off if inserted as is because it doesn't fit in the hole).
6) Get the capacitor in ever so slightly by heating each hole individually from the bottom so that the bottom of the lead is making sufficient contact with the solder in the hole.
7) Turn the board over with the bottom facing up and slide in the cap while making short dragging motions with the iron on both lead holes.

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

Iron's tip on solder

Probably no one told you that this work needs special tools too, that they cost more than your motherboard.

My tip of the day, pay 20$ to a specialist in your area so to do the job with out damaging the motherboard.

Or spent 200$ for a low cost hot-air rework station.

[mockingbird]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

[budm]

Re: How to remove leftover solder

I use stainless dental tool (straight sharp point on the opposite side of the board that I apply the soldering tip to and push the pointer through to clear out the hold.