Re: What is a good de-soldiering iron/tool?

I use Hakko FR-300. Well worth the money. Works very well with large ground connections too.

Regular soldering iron and desolder pump is also good but only as long as the component is very loose fit in the PCB board and there are no large ground connectors. Regular spring loaded pump doesn't have enough inertia to suck the tin.

For SMD parts, something like this would work well
https://baumtronics.com/en/soldering...g-station.html

Re: SMD hot air rework station

I have 872D+, I really like this station, the pump is quiet and has enough airflow for most IC-s I have soldered. Its still working without any issues after 2 years. The iron heats up in seconds so you dont have to keep it hot just in case .I bought mine twice the price, but baumtronics seems to have it on sale
https://baumtronics.com/en/rework-st...k-station.html