[review] Weller Model 7880 Desoldering Pump

[Admin]

On my last trip to Thailand I had needed a ‘solder sucker’ so I went down to the locally famous electronics area and bought one for $1. How could I pass it up? And after trying it out, for the price it was a great deal.

After using it for a few months, it started jamming up on me. It was a pain to open up and clean out, as solder would gum up the internal spring and everything else. It’s sucking ability also . . . uhhhh . . . sucked (in the bad way). I finally realized how bad it was when I borrowed a friends solder sucker and noticed how much more effective it was, ie it works on the first time - not after several failed tries. So I was in the market for a new quality one. I wouldn’t mind paying say 3x more to get say 2x better quality. Just my luck, recently I was given a free industrial strength solder sucker by Newark in exchange for a ‘professional’ review of it. So here goes . . .



Price
At $24 it’s too expensive for your everyday savaging poor hobbyist. It’s priced for those willing to pay top dollar for quality equipment that lasts long and gets the job done right the first time. And as I’m no longer a poor student (ie I’m willing to cough up for quality equipment), it’s right around my price range.

Sucking power
It really sucks! (in a good way) You can probably even suck a cat into this thing lol . . . to be serious, I’ve never had a solder sucker that worked better than this guy. But then again, it’s also my first industrial strength solder sucker . . .

Usability
My biggest issue with this model is the size – it’s clearly for industrial use. I typically only need it for rare occasions and for small electronics, so I’d probably want a smaller version of it. On my older el-cheapo solder sucker, you can operate it entirely with one hand, using the thumb to lock the spring. On this guy it requires either two hands, or pushing the spring loader into something like your leg or table to reload. This will take a while to get used to if you’ve used only the el-cheapo brands all your life.




Cleaning
On my el-cheapo solder sucker, it would gunk up all the time as the spring is located in the air chamber. It was also very frustrating to open up, with a messy 10 minute disassemble-clean-reassemble process. On this Weller, it has an easy access feature where you can open it up in about 1 second, shake/scrape the solder out in under 10 seconds, and reassemble in about 2 seconds. But as it’s industrial size, and the spring isn’t located in the air chamber, it’ll be a long time before you even need to empty/clean it out.




This is the company that supplies it:
http://www.newark.com/weller/7880/tools-desoldering-pump/dp/90F5881
The picture is incorrect for many of their solder suckers; they definitely should update the listings.

[corrado33]

Admin, I don't make soldering mistakes so I don't need a desoldering pump.


 

On a serious note, good review.  It does seem huge (or you have tiny hands).  I'm sure it really sucks though (in a good way). 

Well, technically, as I learned in science in middle school, nothing sucks, everything blows.   

[Gertlex]

True, it does look pretty sizable... again industrial.

My smaller low quality one is attached.

[corrado33]

I have that exact design one ^^.  Not exactly the same colors, but the same design. 

I have a question about desoldering pumps though, do they have a heat resistant tip?  I mean because you have to heat the solder, then hurry and put the pump there.  Sometimes my soldering iron and pump run into each other.  I haven't melted it yet, so I was wondering why. 

[waltr]

The better de-soldering pump tips use to high temperature material like Teflon. I have malted the edges of the tip if pushed against the iron tip for more than a few seconds.

[Admin]

Gertlex, that's the same el-cheapo one I have. It's a huge pain to clean . . .

[Soeren]

Hi,

I have a question about desoldering pumps though, do they have a heat resistant tip?  I mean because you have to heat the solder, then hurry and put the pump there.  Sometimes my soldering iron and pump run into each other.  I haven't melted it yet, so I was wondering why. 

The tips are usually made of PTFE, so they''re somewhat heat resistant, but to improve the tip - and the sucking ability of any type, I use a bit of silicone tubing that goes just 1..2mm out from the tip and this also protects the PCB's from impact damage. I replace this around each 5 year and I just move it a bit down/out and cut it clean whenever needed.

I have a sucker, bought in the seventies, that still have the original tip, as the tip itself never sees anywhere near the full heat.
This sucker is made the same way as the Weller, with the spring being "in reverse" behind the piston, but it is the normal size (though still an industrial model (people in the industry doesn't have larger hands than everybody else ). Unfortunately, the top piece holding the spring gave in around thea year ago, so the spring cannot be cocked so next time I have a meeting with a block af alu and a lathe, I'll try to replicate it, as I haven't seen this model in a very long time and it really is superior to the ones with the spring in the vacuum chamber.

Weller writes about their new pump "Cushioned plunger, easy thumb activation and ribbed pencil grip".
But it haven't got the "half tube" support that helps a lot - having to cock a pump without that support gets very old in a short time (I had one without support that I tossed out since it was a pain to use).

[Afroman]

Nice review. Maybe post a quick video showing it in use? I'm curious to see the "recoil".

[Admin]

I used it again a bunch today.

Every single time I've used it, I haven't had to redo a suck. It's always a perfect suck every time, no retries needed.

I'm definitely getting adjusted to resetting the spring against my leg/table. It's really not a biggie at all anymore for me.

I also noticed that often when it's reset, it'll 'spit out' the solder as a single blob from the previous suck. It's a bit annoying as I work on a carpeted floor while at home, but at the same time it keeps the air chamber working at 100% without clogs. I got a vacuum cleaner so no biggie.

Afroman, the recoil is only slight faster than with the el-cheapo. This makes sense as the air chamber is ~2x bigger, so much more resistance from it. I do plan to make a video involving it and my entire soldering station, I just need to get around to it lol . . .

[corrado33]

I also noticed that often when it's reset, it'll 'spit out' the solder as a single blob from the previous suck.

That's what my el-cheapo one does too...

[Gertlex]

Is there a lot of recoil?  What happens to me is I have a board held delicately in my third hand, which means I can't hold the pump against the board... so I think most of my misfires are because my (left) hand can't stop the recoil from whipping the pump away from the board.