what is better for Desoldering braid or station

[robotsRcool]

Hi guys,
           i was wondering whether a desoldering station is more efficiant/productive than desoldering braid for hacking parts remote controlls and other stuff

[SmAsH]

Well, how much of it are you doing? desoldering braid is good but it costs money for each part you desolder...
Have you looked at solder suckers?

[Admin]

For through-hole components, I have a strong preference for solder suckers.

For SMD parts, I prefer to use thin solder braid.

Use the best tool for the job, they say

[SmAsH]

Just to add one more thing, i think desoldering stations are a waste of money.
I think the same effect is achievable with a solder sucker and an iron.

[Admin]

Just to add one more thing, i think desoldering stations are a waste of money.
I think the same effect is achievable with a solder sucker and an iron.

Not if you're in the business of scrapping electronics on a massive scale

[Joker94]

I too go through them crazy fast and agree that it is worth spending that little bit extra and getting a bulk supply if you plan to continue to make robots that is.

they are realitivley cheap so for not much you can build a good supply.

[Admin]

I too go through them crazy fast and agree that it is worth spending that little bit extra and getting a bulk supply if you plan to continue to make robots that is.

they are realitivley cheap so for not much you can build a good supply.

Replied in wrong thread? Sounds like the housings thread to me

[SmAsH]

Just to add one more thing, i think desoldering stations are a waste of money.
I think the same effect is achievable with a solder sucker and an iron.

Not if you're in the business of scrapping electronics on a massive scale

Hence why i asked how much in the first post

[duste83]

desolder wick does age and will not work as efficiently.  I do agree that desolder sucker does work great for most threw hole components and desolder wick works better for surface mount.  if your taking a lot of surface mount off why desolder when you just add some solder to heat both sides and remove.  its fast and no desoldering involved.  I did purchase a desoldering pen back when and for taking several lead threw components off it works great and fast.

[vinito]

I'll chime in from the perspective of a relative rookie.
I do a fair amount of soldering for a hobbyist. I'll repair a pinball machine board etc. or hack chips off to use them in something else now & then.
For the little I do, I still really like using the desoldering station I bought on eBay. It's a Hakko which may or may not make a difference since it's pretty good quality.
I had to buy a few parts to get it working right, but it wasn't too bad. Once I got it working, the first thing I did was desolder a 40-pin DIP to try it out. After I did pin 40 the dang thing just fell off the board! I was impressed and it still works just as well some four years later. It just blows a solder sucker's drawers right off.

So I'd say if you don't mind spending the money, go for it. The ease of use is worth it even if you don't use it all that much. I've seen a few close for pretty decent prices ($25 to $50) on eBay. You have to be patient to find deals like that, plus maybe do a little repair or maintenance first, but they do happen. Short of that, solder suckers will do the job eventually I think.

I kind of need all the help I can get, so I would probably melt chips by the time I got it disconnected with a solder sucker.

[robotsRcool]

Wow $25-$50 dollars that's cheap for a station !!! if i can find that I'll definitely buy it as I do a lot of electronic circuits and I do desolder parts quits often for use later

[vinito]

Yea that's dirt cheap. You can't find those any day of the week on eBay, but they do show up from time to time. There may be one there today but it might be several weeks before something decent shows up. It takes a little patience but it can pay off.

For what it's worth, the cheap import "Aoyue" stations sold by SRA from up northeast (MA ?) are physically very similar to Hakko and many parts will interchange. The important part (heating elements) are not what they are supposed to be and must be bought from Hakko, but I got a couple solder wands and a desoldering gun handle and a few tips of various sizes & shapes from them for pretty cheap and Hakko innards fit them perfectly. I know there are other good brands around, but all I know about is Hakko since that's what I got.

Honestly though I'm not a good source for recommending soldering equipment since i don't know much, but I do like using good tools and I felt I ought to put in my $.02 about using desoldering stations as opposed to solder sucker tubes and the like. I love using the station. It's simply way better than anything else I've tried. Of course it does make a difference what kind of work you're doing, but most of what I do is through-hole components and it's the bee's knees for that.

[Joker94]

I too go through them crazy fast and agree that it is worth spending that little bit extra and getting a bulk supply if you plan to continue to make robots that is.

they are realitivley cheap so for not much you can build a good supply.

Replied in wrong thread? Sounds like the housings thread to me

good guess admin must have had a few tabs up that day  :P

I like the good old soldering iron and sucker but i do limited de-soldering and for me that is enough but if you feel that you will get good use out of it go for it, it will save time in the long run.

[vinito]

I sound like I'm selling eBay, but I'm not. I actually really dislike what eBay has decided to become, but it is what it is, so...

Just an example though:
Today is nothing special, and there are a couple desoldering base stations which have no hand pieces, selling for under $20.
There are a couple hand pieces currently for under $20. This isn't as common on eBay, but there are at least three today.
The hand pieces may (probably?) need heating elements replaced, but maybe not. These are about $20.

So today is just another day, and a guy could get one together for about $80 including shipping. On a good day this can come down much more.
My rig was a Hakko 703B soldering/desoldering station. I picked up the base station for dirt cheap off eBay thinking it would be easy to get replacement handpieces. It wasn't as easy as I thought, but I eventually bought two soldering and one desoldering handpiece and some tips from SRA. They weren't compatible with the Hakko base station so I bought heating elements for each directly from Hakko and they were a screw-right-in fit with the SRA handles. I had to replace the connector plugs too, which were standard DIN plugs. Some reassembly and I was in business. If I could have been more patient and found actual Hakko handpieces on eBay it would have been easier and probably cheaper. All together my grand total was less than $150 for an extremely nice rework station and it could have been cheaper. I never need two different soldering irons with my limited knowledge and with what I do, but I guess now I have a spare in case it goes south someday, or if I ever do need two they are there.

Pace stuff is supposed to be really nice too and that brand is often found on eBay.