What is a mechanical solder sucker?

[stj]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

no, you didnt damage anything.

your tip needs a clean using some wire wool probably, then put some solder on it at a REASONABLE temperature.

what iron is it?

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

no, you didnt damage anything.

your tip needs a clean using some wire wool probably, then put some solder on it at a REASONABLE temperature.

what iron is it?

It's a Hakko FX888D. So you can clean the tip with wire wool? I know in the manual it says never use a file on the tip but I guess wool is ok?

Also every solder tutorial I look at show a component pad on the PCB that is easily noticeable, is it normal that I don't really see a pad on the motherboard, I guess it's there but really small?

[stj]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

888D has wire-wool in the iron-stand

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

888D has wire-wool in the iron-stand

That's true, lol. So I just rub the tip in the wool, or do you think I'll need to remove the wool from the stand and give the tip a good brushing in the wool by squeezing the wool with one hand and turning the iron with the other?

[stj]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

it works just fine in the stand - that's why it's there.
infact i only use wool - none of that wet sponge shit.

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

So I turned down the temp to 572 but it wasn't melting the solder on the board so I turned it up to 662 and now it seems ok. How do you pickup solder on the board when there is not enough to be picked up by a solder sucker?

[SteveNielsen]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

Use solder wick. See post #25.

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

Use solder wick. See post #25.

I tried it but its not wicking for some reason.

[rievax_60]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

I use a K type tip. Extra flux helps a lot.

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

I bought a flux pen but do I apply the flux to the solder to be wicked up or to the wick itself? I tried both but they dont seem to work

[rievax_60]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

Send us a photo of tip and the braid. applying the flux to the braid should be enough. A small amount of solder on the tip will help to wet the wick.

[dj_ricoh]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

I bought a flux pen but do I apply the flux to the solder to be wicked up or to the wick itself? I tried both but they dont seem to work

if the wick does not suck, cut only a small part and hold it with a tweezer.

in some cases the tip from the iron its to small and it can`t heat up the cooper wick and it does NOT suck.

that`s why i use 3 irons . 0.2mm 1mm and one extra i don`t know the size its so big.

[diif]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

Ensure it's good wick, i used to struggle with it until i bought some Chemtronics, it's already fluxed i believe.

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

The tip i am using came with the hakko and it's a 1.6mm chisel tip, is that too big? It's the T18-D16 1.6D.

[Uniballer]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

The tip i am using came with the hakko and it's a 1.6mm chisel tip, is that too big? It's the T18-D16 1.6D.

In my experience, that one is a little too small to move enough heat to get good results with motherboards. I mainly use a 3.2mm chisel tip for that (T18-D32). Personal preference and technique do come into play with tip choice, though.

[stj]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

you will never get stuff from a motherboard with 1.6

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

So is my tip no good anymore? Should I buy another one, or it's still good, I just need to re-tin and it should be ok?

if the tip is darkened and wont wet/adhere to the solder, it then becomes very hard to melt the solder and retin it again. another way u can also try instead of a wire wool is to use a tip refresher to burn away the darkened oxide layer and it also instantly retins the tip at the same time. this method seems easier for newbies. for wiping with a wire wool, u need to quickly retin the tip again or else it will become darkened again and u end up having to wipe it again and it becomes an endless loop.

however, be warned that those tip refreshers use a weak acid and is corrosive to pcbs. after dipping the tip in the refresher, make sure u wipe the tip on a wet sponge repeatedly to get rid of the acid and wash and rinse the sponge off and then wipe the tip on the freshly cleaned sponge again to remove all traces of the acid to avoid dmging boards.

[stj]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

worth saying at this point, there are many fluxes for different jobs.
some dont like high temperatures,
some dont like lead-free solder,
some will eat your stuff like blood from an alien!

i really need to make a post soon about solders and fluxes for people.
the right solder and the right flux - both in it and seperate, make a whole world of difference.
specially with a decent iron like the 888D

[johnnyh55]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

Ok so I took a picture of everything I am using right now. I also bought a 3.2mm chisel tip today, it seemed to help but I still can't pick up all the solder that i need to pick up. I tried both wick's to no avail. I also noticed sometimes when I tin the tip, the solder that was added to the tip gets transferred to the board and I end up with excess solder, is there something i'm doing wrong?

I know the super wick says for lead free solder but I don't know what kind of solder was originally used on the board, the nextech one doesn't meantion lead free but wether I used one or the other, it doesn't make a difference.

[stj]

Re: What is a mechanical solder sucker?

well the flux is o.k.
the mg braid is good, but probably not for this type of work.
the nexxtech junk is a mystery.

personally i would be using a pump - i'v never got braid to work on something large like that.